Running Scared
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Horseracing Wrongs
April 2019

"We could be one or two accidents away – where nobody did anything wrong – from a referendum (to end the sport in California).” – Tim Ritvo, COO of Santa Anita owner The Stronach Group (Paulick Report, 3/31)

It’s not just the horses who are running scared:

“I am terrified that one horse – one we did five exams on, and the track was perfect, and everything was going good – could go down. We could be one or two accidents away – where nobody did anything wrong – from a referendum (to end the sport in California).” – Tim Ritvo, COO of Santa Anita owner The Stronach Group (Paulick Report, 3/31)

“I’m concerned about the publicity we’ve been getting. This is our March Madness. But we’re having the wrong kind of madness. We feel like we’re all under the gun.” – Bob Baffert, Hall of Fame trainer (The New York Times, 4/1)

“We know what the stakes are and understand that we might be the place that kills horse racing in California. Yes, we are worried…” – Ritvo (The New York Times, 4/1)

“The horse deaths have become a rallying point for the animal rights movement, which is particularly strong in California, where it would take 600,000 signatures on a petition to prompt a ballot initiative on whether horse racing should continue to exist.” – Joe Drape, writer and racing apologist (The New York Times, 4/1)

“I think it’s pretty depressing and fraught with danger for the sport.” – Stuart Janney III, Jockey Club chairman (The New York Times, 4/1)

“It has reached a tipping point. This is Santa Anita. It’s not like the Chattanooga Blue Devils; this is the New York Yankees or the L.A. Dodgers. Things happen here and they are going to get reported on. Social media has gone crazy.” – Jim Cassidy, president of the California Thoroughbred Trainers (Los Angeles Times, 4/1)

“This is going to have a ripple effect everywhere. Unfortunately, I’d like to say [a horse death] will never happen again, but it will. It seems with each one of these, [the outcry] gets stronger and stronger.” – Ritvo (Los Angeles Times, 4/1)

And lest we forget these from March 14 (FoxLA):

“[The Santa Anita meet has been] a nightmare for everyone connected with Racing…and we can’t seem to wake up.”– Rick Baedeker, executive director of the California Horse Racing Boardd

Baedeker, when asked if a Blackfish moment could happen there: “It could. It could.”Baedeker, when asked if a Blackfish moment could happen there: “It could. It could.”

Baedeker, when asked about the future of California Racing: “Well, I think it’s at risk. I think it’s at risk.”

And from the Lies and Deceptions Department:

“I think it’s just an anomaly. Here we’ve been running for [the] last 40 to 50 years, the same whips, medication. Now all of a sudden, boom, we’re having problems.” – Baffert (Los Angeles Times, 4/1)

Nothing “all of a sudden” about this, Mr. Baffert, and you know it. Horseracing has always killed horses, but the public had always been – purposely, of course – kept in the dark. Now, with this website, there’s no excuse.

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