Monzante

[Heidilady]

I did a search and didn't see anything on him. Have you guys been following this? First the tragic end of a former Eddie Read (G1) winner in a $4,000 claimer at Evangeline Downs, and there was an indictment of several people for allowing the horse to end up that bad off that after several lengthy layoffs, he just couldn't take it anymore. You can't keep up with every horse the way things are set up now, but this one should've been more obvious. We were led to believe he died on the track after sustaining catastrophic injuries. Not so. It gets worse. Monzante didn't have to die. He really could be a version of Ferdinand in terms of a symbol that leads to greater change.

http://www.drf.com/news/monzante-deemed ... lator-says

The Steve Haskin piece was taken down, then put back up by Bloodhorse, probably after making sure they couldn't be sued. There's going to be an investigation. Here's Haskin's piece: http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-ra ... grace.aspx It was written before we knew about what the owner/trainer did. If ever someone deserved to be drawn and quartered...

[ArchDandy]

He also didn't have a registered work for a month or months prior to the race. I've no issue with older horses racing, but not when they are not sound/ not fit/ just plain not taken care of. I'm sure many would have paid the 4k claiming price to own this horse- but you can't claim unless you have a license.

[ageecee]

The horse had a work June 1st. In order to race in Louisiana you have to have one work in the 60 days before you run. The horse was eligible to run.

[Affirmed1]

Plenty of people would have been willing to rehome this horse. The so-called private veterinarian who made the decision to euthanize this very salvageable horse should lose his licence, as should the horse's trainer. I'm glad the Bloodhorse is publicizing this.

[ageecee]

The state vet didn't make the decision. The trainer made the decision to put the horse down. Vet just followed orders but if im the vet why would I put the horse down when the horse was salvageable?

[IcouldbeU]

Sorry but I see nothing wrong with the horse being euthanized. Just because one "expert" describes the horse as "salvageable" does not mean that euthanizing him was inhumane or the wrong thing to do. We do not know what kind of injury was sustained. Would he always have to be on expensive medication to stay somewhat sound? Who would want a horse that could be no more than a pasture pet on meds for the next 10-15 years?

I cannot give an opinion on whether or not this horse should have been on this race on this day but I think the final decision was a kind one.

[winds]

I guess people are wondering why he was running anyway. Why hadn't he been retired to live a life of leisure? It's obvious he needed time off before this last race so why wasn't he just retired? It's not as if there aren't retirement facilities around. I'm sure they could have found someplace for him.

winds

[ArchDandy]

I guess thats a rule that needs to be changed, no horse is race ready with no work 60 days prior to a race. Everyone understands that everything that transpired was legal, but it is hurting the sport. Horses that have been on the vet's list so many times shouldn't be allowed to go so long without works, or even be allowed to use pain-masking meds.

[karenkarenn]

Speaking from experience, not all tracks have clockers there. Trainers can post a workout anytime before the race, even if the horse didn't workout. My horse ran a race with almost a years layoff.

[sulphurfire]

okay I can say at least the horse wasn't brought to the sale barn, lots of racehorses end up there. I can go to the local horse sale and see several horses still with racing plates on, freshly bowed, too slow etc. With some having run just two nights prior.

[TJ]

The horse had a work June 1st. In order to race in Louisiana you have to have one work in the 60 days before you run. The horse was eligible to run.

Hi agee,
A ruling like this is the reason why so many sore horses find their way to Evangeline Downs. In most jurisdictions the cutoff date is 30 days and even that is stretching it, because 30 days of inactivity can hide many serious issues....60 days is simply permitting crippled horses to race. If a horse hasn't raced in more than 2 months, a workout should be seen within a 10 day period prior to racing to assure soundness. If this can't be done the horse is not sound enough to race. If a horse has been running, a work should be shown within 3 weeks of his last race. These two rules would cut down drastically on break downs and borderline horses racing, but would most likely effectively close bottom feeder tracks like Evangeline and others like it. The bottom line is the LA rules of racing allowed this horse to race even though anyone with a clue knows this is not a sound horse. The trainer was within the rules of LA racing to run this horse as well as to euthanize him after the break down. Who is to say a horse is salvageable after this breakdown without taking pictures. The state vets couldn't find a reason to scratch him before the race, so they tried to cover themselves and the bad LA rule, which permitted this horse to run in the first place. This is the reason why the state vets put a cast on him and sent him back to the barn for final evaluation, likely knowing the trainer's vet would have to euthanize this horse (which humanely should have been done by the state vets on track). It was at the pre-race examination where Monzante was in a position to be saved....not on the track after he broke down. Instead they allowed him to run even though they knew he showed no works in almost 60 days and to race this horse would endanger his life. The fix is to change this 60 day rule (below) and allow the examining vets more discretionary power to scratch a horse that is inactive on the work tab and obviously being held together to get one more race out of him.
As you can see below (the actual LA rule) it leaves open the opportunity to race even if the 60 day rule isn't met. Such racing meets with rules this lax are not worthy of being licensed. Yet if these rules are needed to fill their card, then anytime a horse breaks down due to such lax rules the track should have their license suspended till they remedy such abuse of common sense horsemanship. Any works missed by the clocker's in the AM is the fault of the trainers not announcing the work and being present at the clocker's stand to point out such an important work in progress. No announcements at the track should be allowed of such a "missed" work by the clocker's. This just affords to circumvent even this ridiculous 60 day workout rule and run a horse that couldn't stand a work 60 days prior to the race he was entered in. TJ

§6319. Publication of Past Performances
A. No horse shall be permitted to enter or start unless
approved by the association. Further, the stewards shall
require that published past performances, in races or
workouts, be sufficient to enable the public to make a
reasonable assessment of its racing capabilities. No horse
shall be entered to race that has not had a published workout
or a race within 60 days of the date of the entered race.
Horses without sufficient workouts must be scratched by the
stewards before any wagering begins on that day's race
program. Late workouts shall be posted for public view in at
least one conspicuous place in the public enclosure, and
announced to the public via public address system.

[TJ]

Right after I wrote the above, I went to DRF and found this article concerning Monsante and his trainer. Seems the state vet (who said he was salvageable) was present at the barn when the decision to euthanize him was made due to his suffering. This was done after the pain killer's, (which were administered to Monsante) by the state vets on track after his breakdown wore off when returned to his stall. TJ
http://www.drf.com/news/trainer-says-mo ... -suffering

[Heidilady]

Right after I wrote the above, I went to DRF and found this article concerning Monsante and his trainer. Seems the state vet (who said he was salvageable) was present at the barn when the decision to euthanize him was made due to his suffering. This was done after the pain killer's, (which were administered to Monsante) by the state vets on track after his breakdown wore off when returned to his stall. TJ
http://www.drf.com/news/trainer-says-mo ... -suffering

Seriously? Drugs wear off and this is what he has to say? Has he never heard of giving the horse another injection? This a long term healing process. Did he think they only gave Paynter one dose? I call BS on Thacker. He didn't want to pay for more drugs or surgery, esp. for a gelding that couldn't race again or reproduce, and if he died after spending all that money, well talk about terrible. The vet who thought he was salvageable was in a position to know. His wife did a search for other horses and he thought that was valid medical reasoning to euthanize? Someone on the DRF piece pointed out, if nothing else call a person like Dr. Richardson who specializes in this and get a consultation. Take x-rays and send'em, something. He didn't want to spend the money, but he could've gotten donations to pay for it. I've seen enough campaigns for saving horses from kill pens to know, saying 'I wanted to save this horse but I don't have the money and he needs a home' would've led to something. Retirement at Old Friends following rehab, for instance.

The deaths of those horses he's making claims about are really just his side of the story. They may not've felt they had the ability to get a conviction, but that doesn't mean innocent. He's saying that horses arrived in poor condition and he didn't do anything about it immediately? They didn't drop dead the instant they came off the truck. Call the cops and put it on record that they didn't arrive in good condition and say you're trying to treat them so they don't have any reason to blame you. You can make it clear that it isn't your fault. Horses with poor body scores can be rehabbed. It seems to come down to a horse being in a bad state and Thacker doesn't do anything to make them right again. I'd call it a pattern.

[Georgerz]

It is the right of the horse's owners to dispose of it as they seem fit. That is the meaning of private property, and they don't have to ask permissions to end the horses life, if they so desire.

[TJ]

Right after I wrote the above, I went to DRF and found this article concerning Monsante and his trainer. Seems the state vet (who said he was salvageable) was present at the barn when the decision to euthanize him was made due to his suffering. This was done after the pain killer's, (which were administered to Monsante) by the state vets on track after his breakdown wore off when returned to his stall. TJ
http://www.drf.com/news/trainer-says-mo ... -suffering

Seriously? Drugs wear off and this is what he has to say? Has he never heard of giving the horse another injection? This a long term healing process. Did he think they only gave Paynter one dose? I call BS on Thacker. He didn't want to pay for more drugs or surgery, esp. for a gelding that couldn't race again or reproduce, and if he died after spending all that money, well talk about terrible. The vet who thought he was salvageable was in a position to know. His wife did a search for other horses and he thought that was valid medical reasoning to euthanize? Someone on the DRF piece pointed out, if nothing else call a person like Dr. Richardson who specializes in this and get a consultation. Take x-rays and send'em, something. He didn't want to spend the money, but he could've gotten donations to pay for it. I've seen enough campaigns for saving horses from kill pens to know, saying 'I wanted to save this horse but I don't have the money and he needs a home' would've led to something. Retirement at Old Friends following rehab, for instance.

The deaths of those horses he's making claims about are really just his side of the story. They may not've felt they had the ability to get a conviction, but that doesn't mean innocent. He's saying that horses arrived in poor condition and he didn't do anything about it immediately? They didn't drop dead the instant they came off the truck. Call the cops and put it on record that they didn't arrive in good condition and say you're trying to treat them so they don't have any reason to blame you. You can make it clear that it isn't your fault. Horses with poor body scores can be rehabbed. It seems to come down to a horse being in a bad state and Thacker doesn't do anything to make them right again. I'd call it a pattern.

Hi Heidi,
The state vet had a chance to save this horse twice, once before he ran (all he had to do to circumvent the 60 day workout rule was say the horse wasn't going right and put him on the vets list). Then they would have to work him again (drug free) under state vet supervision in order to race. Then he stood by and watched the horse being euthanized....if he thought he was salvageable he should have stepped in and said something before they put him down. I believe the state vet needs to be heard from after this article...it's possible at that point, he too agreed to put Monsante down. No matter what the article contends, it still doesn't bode well for the 60 day workout rule....that's absurd and certainly not horse friendly. That rule needs to be changed and was the reason why Monsante was eligible to race without a recent workout to affirm his soundness. TJ