NY State Const Art. 1, Sec 3 is a performance enhancer for people that want to bet and /or work.
Where the hell is PETA to see that the above are ethically treated?
Sports
PETA Accuses Two Trainers of Cruelty to Horses
Over
a 26-year career, the trainer Steve Asmussen has built one of horse
racing’s largest and most successful operations. He ranks second in
career victories, with more than 6,700; has earned more than $214
million in purses, the fifth most in thoroughbred racing; and was
recently included on the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame
ballot.
But
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, after conducting an
undercover investigation, has accused Asmussen and his top assistant
trainer, Scott Blasi, of subjecting their horses to cruel and injurious
treatments, administering drugs to them for nontherapeutic purposes, and
having one of their jockeys use an electrical device to shock horses
into running faster. As a result of its findings, PETA filed complaints
with federal and state agencies in Kentucky and New York on Tuesday,
saying Asmussen “forced injured and/or suffering horses to race and
train.”
The
undercover inquiry was conducted by a PETA investigator who worked for
Asmussen for four months in the spring and summer of 2013 at Churchill
Downs in Louisville, Ky., and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs,
N.Y.
The investigator used a hidden camera to record more than seven hours of video
that showed mistreatment of the horses to be widespread and cavalier.
In addition, PETA produced a 285-page report about Asmussen’s operations
that consisted of the investigator’s notes, medical documents and
reports from veterinarians who reviewed the videotape.
“It
is certainly a surprise to Mr. Asmussen and Mr. Blasi that anyone would
deceptively get a job and keep surveillance and their notes on their
conduct for the agenda of others,” Clark Brewster, a lawyer for the two
men, said Wednesday. “They will reserve comment with regard to any
accusations until they have had the opportunity to fully review them.
Then they will respond factually.”
The
New York Times reviewed the video and documents, along with the legal
complaints, and interviewed the investigator and others involved in the
operation, but played no role in the investigation. PETA shared the
material on the condition that The Times not publish the investigator’s
name.
Video
clips and the report depicted the Asmussen barn and the backsides of
two of the United States’ most storied racetracks as places where horses
were treated as commodities and given numerous joint injections as well
as tranquilizers, painkillers and supplements.
Over
the past 30 years, PETA has aggressively assailed corporations for the
way they treat animals and has run undercover investigations. But the
Asmussen investigation was PETA’s first significant step into advocacy
in the horse racing world. The organization said the treatment of
racehorses would become a priority for the group.
“We
wanted to know exactly what happens to thoroughbreds in a top racing
stable,” Kathy Guillermo, the senior vice president for PETA, said. “It
was devastating to see sore, exhausted, drugged horses every single day.
Some were in so much pain it hurt them even to stand, yet they were
trained and run anyway.”
PETA
has also accused Asmussen of employing undocumented workers, requiring
them to use false names on Internal Revenue Service forms, and
conspiring with Blasi to produce false identification documents,
according to the complaints filed with state and federal agencies.
Asmussen also paid the PETA investigator $5.95 an hour — less than
minimum wage — and did not pay proper overtime wages, according to
complaints filed with the labor departments of Kentucky and New York.
Continue reading the main story
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Blasi
was recorded discussing injured horses, as well as how one of his
jockeys, Ricardo Santana Jr., 21, used a buzzer to shock horses, a
practice that is banned in racing.
Santana’s
agent, Ruben Muñoz, said the rider had never used an electrical device.
“He’s a good, hardworking kid,” Muñoz said of Santana. “I’d put my neck
out that he has no part of this.”
The
allegations come as horse racing continues to wrestle publicly with a
drug culture that its officials concede has badly damaged the sport. A New York Times investigation
in 2012 showed how a pervasive drug culture, encouraged by trainers and
aided by veterinarians, put horses and riders at risk. The Times found
that 24 horses a week died at American tracks, a rate greater than in
countries where drug use was severely restricted.
Congress
has held multiple hearings and proposed legislation that would create
stricter rules and give the United States Anti-Doping Agency authority
to enforce them.
Asmussen, who has a current Kentucky Derby contender in Tapiture, has run afoul of regulators before. In 2006, he served a six-month suspension
after a filly he trained tested 750 times over the legal limit in
Louisiana for the local anesthetic mepivacaine, which can deaden pain in
a horse’s legs. Instead of losing his livelihood, Asmussen turned his
horses over to Blasi, who won another 198 races as the stable finished
the year with more than $14 million in earnings.
On
the tapes, Blasi was a profane narrator to the murky goings-on at
American racetracks and was often heard bemoaning the lame horses in his
barn. At Churchill Downs, in the days before the Debutante Stakes last
June, Blasi was frustrated that the 2-year-old filly Teardrop appeared
to be injured.
“There’s always something wrong with ‘em,” he said at the end of a profanity-laced lament.
Four days later, however, Teardrop ran in the $100,000 Debutante, finishing seventh as the second favorite at odds of 8 to 5.
Blasi
also discussed in detail the chronic foot problems of Nehro, the 2011
Kentucky Derby runner-up, shedding light on why the son of Mineshaft
never lived up to the potential he flashed at Churchill Downs that day.
Nehro had hole-ridden hooves that were held together with filler and
even strong glue, according to the investigation.
On
April 17, 2013, only four days after Nehro finished fifth in an
Arkansas race, Blasi and his blacksmith, along with other members of the
Asmussen staff, discussed the horse’s tender feet and their efforts to
keep them on the racetrack. In the video, the blacksmith pointed to
Nehro’s right leg and said that it did not have a pulse and that one
barely registered in his left.
Video|0:50
Credit
PETA Investigation: Nehro's Feet
The trainer Scott Blasi discussed the poor
state of the race horse Nehro’s feet. Despite the horse’s condition, it
continued to train.
The horse was clearly uncomfortable as they poked at what they described as “a hole right through that sore right there.”
“His foot is a little bitty nub,” said the blacksmith, who was identified as “Dave” in the investigation.
On
the recording, Blasi acknowledged how much Nehro hurt. Still, the horse
continued to train. On the morning of last year’s Kentucky Derby, Nehro
got sick on the backside of Churchill Downs. Asmussen later said that
the horse died from colic in a van on the way to the hospital.
In
a separate conversation, recorded on Aug. 13, Blasi described Santana
as a good “machine rider,” referring to an electrical device to shock
horses into running faster.
Blasi
recounted a conversation he said he had with Santana. “You got the
máquina?” Blasi said he asked, referring to the Spanish word for
machine. “Boss, I got the máquina,” was Santana’s reply, according to
Blasi.
The
video and the report show how multiple drugs are given daily to
racehorses — whether they need them or not — by grooms and employees so
they can pass veterinarians’ visual inspections, make it to the
racetrack or perform at a higher level.
At
another point in the video, Dr. James Hunt Jr., a prominent New York
veterinarian, was shown giving a horse furosemide, a diuretic sold as
Lasix that helps prevent exercise-induced pulmonary bleeding. The drug’s
long-term effects have been a matter of public debate. It is prohibited
in most countries but is legal in the United States despite widespread
efforts to ban it.
Hunt
acknowledged to the investigator that many horses who received
furosemide did not need it. He did not respond to several messages
seeking comment.
“It’s a performance-enhancer,” he said in a conversation recorded on camera. “It makes them lighter.”
HI-
Thanks for
the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy,
if you give me a mailing address.
Claude Solnik
(631) 913-4244
Long
Island Business News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma,
NY 11779-7348
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LI Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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