Group Calls On All Racing States to Follow Suit and Bar Rick Dutrow
For
Immediate Release:
October
13, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn
Brooks 202-483-7382
Schenectady, N.Y. -- PETA is sending a large bouquet of flowers to the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for its decision on Wednesday to ban thoroughbred trainer Rick Dutrow from New York tracks for a record 10 years. Dutrow, who was the trainer of the 2008 Kentucky Derby winner, Big Brown, and whose horses have won almost $80 million in purses, has been cited nearly 70 times for a number of violations, including illegally drugging his horses. PETA is urging all other states in which horse racing takes place to take similar action to protect thoroughbreds.
"Mr. Dutrow is a danger to thoroughbreds, and he has no place on a track," says PETA Vice President Kathy Guillermo. "We're grateful to the New York racing commissioners for saying, 'Enough is enough,' and we urge all states that have racetracks to follow New York's lead and ban Dutrow."
The Association of Racing Commissioners International has determined that Dutrow illegally drugged his horses at a rate higher than any other elite trainer.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.