The stewards at Turfway report the following for Dec 27:

“The claim [sale] of Man of Mischief was voided when horse was placed on Vet’s List.”

“Pray for the Bear required the assistance of the horse ambulance. It was later reported that the horse had returned lame.” (The race chart, by the way, said nothing of this.)

“Wits and Wagers suffered physical distress.”

“Dia Estelar returned lame.”

Then there are these recent whipping rulings in harness world:

Dover, Dec 18: “With aggravating circumstances Ceba Horsey exceeded the 3-whip maximum while driving Duffy’s Opinion.” “With aggravating circumstances.” The “punishment”: 30-day suspension.

Dover, Jan 2: “Driver George Napolitano is fined $200 for using his whip in the Winner’s Circle after the finish of race 5.” Yes, he whipped his horse in the Winner’s Circle.

Miami, Jan 7: “While driving Fox Valley Carlin, David Ward did whip the horse excessively.” Then this: “Mr. Ward is driving on a probationary license.” Welcome aboard!

And finally, this from Charles Town last night:

“Going to Ombra, while getting saddled, reared and flipped in his stall. [Later], while waiting to load, [he] became rank and flipped over once again.” “Scratch” him? Not on your life. With taxpayer-subsidized Charles Town paying first-last, Going, despite flipping twice, was raced; he finished last (20+ lengths back), and his exploiters took home $140. He is, by the way, just two years old, and this was his second ever race.

Going wasn’t the only terrified young horse at CT last night, however:

3-year-old Castle of Cork “was very reluctant to load.”
3-year-old Maddie Ten “was very hard to load.”
2-year-old Pistol Penny “was very fractious in the gate.”
2-year-old Marsala “was very bad inside the gate.”

This is horseracing.

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