Nine of 10 Trainers in Belmont Have Drugged Horses; Drug Violators Should Be Banned, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
June 10, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
Elmont, N.Y. — Union Rags wasn't the only focus at last night's running of the Belmont Stakes. That's because a strategically placed PETA member held aloft a sign reading, "Ban Horse Dopers," in the winner's circle just as Union Rags' owner was presented with the trophy. PETA's point? That the horseracing industry isn't taking serious measures to end the use of damaging, performance-enhancing drugs. According to The Associated Press, nine of the 10 trainers remaining in the race following the departure of I'll Have Another's trainer, Doug O'Neill, have violated drug regulations, including D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, Dale Romans, Ken McPeek, Manuel Azpurua, Chad Brown, Doodnauth Shivmangal, Michael Matz, and Dominick Schettino. Only Kelly Breen, trainer of My Adonis, has a clean record.
"Racing in America today is a drug pusher's game, and it's killing 24 horses every week," says PETA Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "For the sake of the horses and spectators, racing officials must take a zero-tolerance approach and ban drug violators."
Injured horses who can no longer run are often sold to slaughter. In the last year, PETA has rescued two thoroughbreds bound for slaughterhouses: Secretariat's grandson Royale With Speed, who was already on the truck headed for a Canadian slaughterhouse, and Coming Home, the granddaughter of Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, who was bought from a kill buyer just hours before transport. (Photos and video footage of both horses after their rescues are available upon request.)
For more information and to see another photo of PETA's sign at the Belmont Stakes, please visit PETA's blog.