Some three and a half years ago, I posted the following:

Every once in a while at one of our protests, a trainer or owner will approach me to attest to how well their horses are cared for. Some go even further, declaring their love, assuring that they view and treat their charges as they do their own children. Well, my first response is to ask if they’d ever dropped one of their horses in a claiming race. When, inevitably, they say yes, I then ask if they’d ever put one of their children up “For Sale” – at which point the conversation comes to an abrupt end.

The racehorse Klaatu just recently turned seven years old. On April 5, he was raced at Parx, marking his 62nd time under the whip. That he finished 26 1/2 lengths back is not the focus of this post. What is, is that he was “claimed” – sold – prior to the race. But this wasn’t the first time he was sold. In fact, not including the sale from breeder to first racing-owner, or any sales that may have happened in between races, Klaatu has been sold an appalling 14 times. In fact, during one stretch, he was sold before each of five straight races. Imagine this poor animal’s anxiety and stress – incessantly being shuffled among various trainers and barns. Is it a wonder, then, that some 90% of active racehorses suffer from ulcers? Yeah, they love them like children.

And now, an update…

The very next race after that 2021 post, Klaatu was sold again, and sometime between Aug 25, 2021 and Oct 5, 2021, again. From there, the sales stopped, but the abuse has only intensified.

Klaatu’s 18th owner and 17th trainer is Amy Sondej, and yesterday at Mahoning she put the now-10-year-old Klaatu to the whip for the 110th time. An obscenity. Not surprisingly, Sondej has raced Klaatu (44 times in all) exclusively in Ohio, where all tracks are taxpayer subsidized and pay first-last. In other words, she has every incentive to keep throwing him out there, for she will always walk away with cash. And once again, while the focus here is not on “performance,” it is worth noting that Klaatu finished 23 lengths back yesterday (with Sondej banking $111). Oh, and of course Sondej has Klaatu “For Sale” – dirt cheap ($4,000) – before every race. She is a horrible, horrible human being, but equally horrible are the so-called safety stewards in Ohio for allowing this to continue.

(A reminder: Should Klaatu happen to break down in race 111, 112, etc., and require euthanasia then and there, the track, not Sondej, will pay. And either way, euthanasia on track or back in the barn, the track pays for disposal. She’s playing with house money.)

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