PETA

An Albany County Court Judge has dismissed a lawsuit from two New York taxpayers backed by PETA that attempted to block the State of New York from loaning NYRA $455 million that is earmarked for the construction of a new Belmont Park. The new Belmont Park is expected to open for the 2026 spring meet. The plaintiffs, Jannette Patterson and John Dileonardo, had argued that the New York State Constitution prohibited the state from giving or loaning state funds to any private corporation. The lawsuit, filed in June, was announced...

It's often been said that, no matter how hard the sport works to become safer, there will never come a time when there are zero fatalities. Unfortunately, that's probably true. But at the recently concluded Del Mar meet, not a single horse suffered a fatal breakdown during a race. Not once did a horse break a leg, crumple to the ground and then have to be euthanized behind a curtain blocking the view of a horrified public, the story making its way into the newspapers or the local news and...

by Beau Lane Rumor has it that Mike Repole said he was going to get out of the business if things didn't change. Well, I can see how Mr. Repole could feel that way; he's had some real kicks in the behind this year. But the racing industry needs more people like Mike Repole. He goes to the sales, buys nice horses, goes to the races, and takes his chances. He spends more than most and has Todd Pletcher for a trainer (there is no better), and so his chances...

In a letter released to the media Friday afternoon, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), along with 15 bipartisan supporters, are urging the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to launch an investigation into the equine deaths at Churchill Downs earlier this month. Addressed to HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus, Blumenauer's letter requests a response within 60 days and makes note of figures from the Equine Injury Database showing that between 2009 and 2021 some 7,274 Thoroughbred fatalities have occurred on American racetracks. The Congressman urges HISA to make the findings of...

PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo has released the following statement regarding the first races at Monmouth Park May 2 under the new whip rule: "PETA congratulates Monmouth Park and New Jersey officials for eliminating the most obvious and visible form of abuse in horse racing—whipping. Under any circumstances outside a race track, beating a horse can be prosecuted as cruelty to animals. Putting a jockey on the animal's back doesn't make it less cruel. While there is still much suffering in the horse racing industry, Monmouth Park is now...

At the start of last month, a small cadre of animal rights protestors snuck onto the Golden Gate Fields racetrack, lay down with arms interlocked in pipes, and halted live racing--as well as a vaccination drive on facility grounds--until police intervention saw their removal. While the incident had a flash-in-the-pan quality, it had the corollary effect of reminding those within the sport here in the Golden State of the somewhat precarious position in which it still finds itself--an important part of the economic puzzle, employing tens of thousands, but one...

In a vote Monday, California State Senators decided against reappointing commissioner Wendy Mitchell to the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), as first reported in the Los Angeles Times. According to the Times, Mitchell was headed for confirmation early Monday afternoon, but after a period of extensive lobbying on the senate floor, she subsequently lost the vote on a 17-20 denial. Mitchell has served on the CHRB since 2019 and has been principal of WM Consulting Inc. since 2006. Prior to her tenure on the CHRB, Mitchell served on the California...

After viewing PETA's video expose of the slaughter of racehorses in South Korea, including the stallion Private Vow, The Stronach Group is endorsing PETA's efforts to ban the sale of North American Thoroughbreds to South Korean racing interests. PETA can now show that Private Vow was sold to South Korea for stud duty in 2014 and ended up being slaughtered for meat in July. He sired 196 foals in the U.S. and South Korea. Belinda Stronach, chair and president of The Stronach Group, said, "The Stronach Group is urging all...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which has been buying stock in racetrack companies this year and earlier had purchased stock in Churchill Downs, submitted a resolution calling on Churchill Downs, Inc., to report to shareholders on the feasibility of replacing the Churchill main track with a synthetic surface. The Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database, which compiles statistics regarding racing fatalities, indicates fewer horses sustain fatal catastrophic injuries on synthetic surfaces than on dirt tracks. The incidence of fatality per 1,000 starts for dirt in 2019 was 1.6...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a longtime critic of many of the practices in horse racing, has purchased stock in four companies which own racetracks--VICI Properties, Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming, and Gaming and Leisure Properties—in order to make their case in the boardroom, according to a press release from the organization. The release says that, "PETA's proposed changes include replacing dirt tracks with high-quality synthetic ones, banning trainers who have multiple medication violations, and banning whipping. Tracks will be encouraged to work with state racing authorities when...

The office of California Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) announced Tuesday the introduction of AB 2177, the Equine Welfare and Safety in Horse Racing Act. Citing last year's rash of horse deaths at Santa Anita Park as the impetus, the proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "If the state is to continue to sanction horse racing and its wagering as a legal sport, addressing horse fatalities to the greatest extent possible needs to take precedence," said Kalra....

A small group of protestors and the news media were back in force at Santa Anita Sunday after Tikkun Olam (Temple City) collided with another horse on the training track and was euthanized. It was the third equine fatality in as many days at the track. Tikkun Olam's fatal injury followed breakdowns by Harliss (Midshipman) Friday and Uncontainable (Acclamation) Saturday, respectively--both of which were on the turf--and prompted the strongest denunciation yet from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "Three dead horses in three days requires immediate action," PETA...