No Horse is Physically (Skeletally) Mature Before 5.5 to 6 Years Old

Our Mouse, coming up on physical maturity.
Almost ready to start at 7 years old. - See more at: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/no-horse-is-physically-skeletally-mature-before-5-5-to-6-years-old/#sthash.mVz9Vu4s.dpuf

Our Mouse, coming up on physical maturity.
Almost ready to start at 7 years old. - See more at: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/no-horse-is-physically-skeletally-mature-before-5-5-to-6-years-old/#sthash.mVz9Vu4s.dpuf

Mouse, coming up on physical maturity.
Almost ready to start at 7 years old. 

Our Mouse, coming up on physical maturity.
Almost ready to start at 7 years old. - See more at: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/no-horse-is-physically-skeletally-mature-before-5-5-to-6-years-old/#sthash.mVz9Vu4s.dpuf

Below are a few key quotes from the article (but I encourage you to take the time to read the entire paper). It teaches that no horse, of any breed, in any country, at any time in history either now or in the past, has ever been physically (skeletally) mature before it is six years old (plus or minus a few months), including every healthy, domestically-raised male and most female horses on the planet. Gaited horses (Tennessee Walkers, American Saddlebreds, etc) can require up to 8 years to fully mature skeletally.

The Link to the article:
http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

This article is written by Dr. Deb Bennett Ph.D. Dr. Bennett is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas, and until 1992 was with the Smithsonian Institution. She is considered by many to be an authority on the classification, evolution, anatomy, and biomechanics of fossil and living horses.

“Believe it or not many vets are totally unaware, as many members of the general public are also unaware, that horses have more than one “growth plate”, that there are multiple ossification centers pertaining to every bone of the body outside of the skull, and that the schedule of growth-plate closure (which begins around the time of birth and extends until the sixth year, and is coordinated with the eruption schedule of the teeth) has been well known to veterinarians, paleontologists, zooarchaeologists, and mammalogists since the early 19th century.”

“There is no such thing [as a] slow-maturing breed. The Quarter Horse is not an ‘early maturing’ breed – and neither is the Arabian a ‘slow maturing’ breed. As far as their skeletons go, they are the same. This information comes, I know, as a shock to many people who think starting their colt or filly under saddle at age two is what they ought to be doing. “

It’s about more than just growth plates:

“While growth in cannon bone length stops with the fusion of both growth plates at around 1 ½ years of age, increase in cannon bone girth does not taper off until close to 5 years of age, and essentially the same can be said for the girth of any other limb element, with those bones located higher up in the body maturing later.”

It is the spine, not the limbs, that the horse primarily uses to govern overall coordination of the limbs

“Most of the growth plates above the distal radius in a three year old horse are unfused, including, most importantly, those of the animal’s spine. It is the spine of the horse that governs the overall coordination of the limbs and the animal’s running “style”. It is the spine, not the limbs, that the animal primarily uses to compensate for potholes, slick spots, and other irregularities in the race track [or any track]. The higher the speed and the greater the physical effort, the more important it is that the animal have all of its joints mature and in good working order. While catastrophic failures are uncommon, more subtle distal limb disease and chronic pain and dysfunction in two and three year old racehorses are commonly diagnosed and are major causes for the “wastage” of young Thoroughbreds.”

“The demand for all-out speed from any animal that is not skeletally mature is a recipe for disaster.”

“What people often don’t realize is that there is a “growth plate” on either end of every bone behind the skull, and in the case of some bones (like the pelvis or vertebrae, which have many “corners”) there are multiple growth plates.”

“The lateness of vertebral “closure” is most significant for two reasons. One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates! Two: the growth plates in the limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular to the stress of the load passing through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel to weight placed upon the horse’s back. Bottom line: you can sprain a horse’s back (i.e. displace the vertebral physes – see Figs. 5 and 8) a lot more easily than you can displace those located in the limbs.”

“So do you then have to wait [to start your horse] until all these growth plates convert to bone? No. But the longer you wait, the safer you’ll be. Owners and trainers need to realize there’s an easy-to-remember general schedule of fusion – and then make their decision as to when to ride the horse based on that rather than on the external appearance of the horse. For there are some breeds of horse – the Quarter Horse is the premier among these – which have been bred in such a manner as to look mature long before they actually are mature. This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or more interested in their own schedule (for futurities or other competition) than they are in the welfare of the animal.”

“Bottom line: if you are one of those who equates “starting” with “riding”, then I guess you better not start your horse until he’s four. That would be the old, traditional, worldwide view: introduce the horse to equipment (all kinds of equipment and situations, with the handler on the ground) when he’s two, add crawling on and off of him at three, saddle him to begin riding him and teaching him to guide at four, start teaching him maneuvers or the basics of whatever job he’s going to do – cavalletti or stops or racing or something beyond trailing cattle – at five, and he’s on the payroll at six. The old Spanish way of bitting reflected this also, because the horse’s teeth aren’t mature (the tushes haven’t fully come in, nor all of the permanent cheek teeth either) until he’s six. This is what I’d do if it were my own horse.”

http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/no-horse-is-physically-skeletally-mature-before-5-5-to-6-years-old/ 

Below is the link to the best article I’ve ever read on this subject. It teaches that no horse, of any breed, in any country, at any time in history either now or in the past, has ever been physically (skeletally) mature before it is six years old (plus or minus a few months), including every healthy, domestically-raised male and most female horses on the planet. Gaited horses (Tennessee Walkers, American Saddlebreds, etc) can require up to 8 years to fully mature skeletally. Our Mouse (above) is a rescued Saddlebred.

The Link to the article:
http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

This article is written by Dr. Deb Bennett Ph.D. Dr. Bennett is a 1984 graduate of the University of Kansas, and until 1992 was with the Smithsonian Institution. She is considered by many to be an authority on the classification, evolution, anatomy, and biomechanics of fossil and living horses.

Below are a few key quotes from the article (but I encourage you to take the time to read the entire paper).

“Believe it or not many vets are totally unaware, as many members of the general public are also unaware, that horses have more than one “growth plate”, that there are multiple ossification centers pertaining to every bone of the body outside of the skull, and that the schedule of growth-plate closure (which begins around the time of birth and extends until the sixth year, and is coordinated with the eruption schedule of the teeth) has been well known to veterinarians, paleontologists, zooarchaeologists, and mammalogists since the early 19th century.”

“There is no such thing [as a] slow-maturing breed. The Quarter Horse is not an ‘early maturing’ breed – and neither is the Arabian a ‘slow maturing’ breed. As far as their skeletons go, they are the same. This information comes, I know, as a shock to many people who think starting their colt or filly under saddle at age two is what they ought to be doing. “

It’s about more than just growth plates:

“While growth in cannon bone length stops with the fusion of both growth plates at around 1 ½ years of age, increase in cannon bone girth does not taper off until close to 5 years of age, and essentially the same can be said for the girth of any other limb element, with those bones located higher up in the body maturing later.”

It is the spine, not the limbs, that the horse primarily uses to govern overall coordination of the limbs

“Most of the growth plates above the distal radius in a three year old horse are unfused, including, most importantly, those of the animal’s spine. It is the spine of the horse that governs the overall coordination of the limbs and the animal’s running “style”. It is the spine, not the limbs, that the animal primarily uses to compensate for potholes, slick spots, and other irregularities in the race track [or any track]. The higher the speed and the greater the physical effort, the more important it is that the animal have all of its joints mature and in good working order. While catastrophic failures are uncommon, more subtle distal limb disease and chronic pain and dysfunction in two and three year old racehorses are commonly diagnosed and are major causes for the “wastage” of young Thoroughbreds.”

“The demand for all-out speed from any animal that is not skeletally mature is a recipe for disaster.”

“What people often don’t realize is that there is a “growth plate” on either end of every bone behind the skull, and in the case of some bones (like the pelvis or vertebrae, which have many “corners”) there are multiple growth plates.”

“The lateness of vertebral “closure” is most significant for two reasons. One: in no limb are there 32 growth plates! Two: the growth plates in the limbs are (more or less) oriented perpendicular to the stress of the load passing through them, while those of the vertebral chain are oriented parallel to weight placed upon the horse’s back. Bottom line: you can sprain a horse’s back (i.e. displace the vertebral physes – see Figs. 5 and 8) a lot more easily than you can displace those located in the limbs.”

“So do you then have to wait [to start your horse] until all these growth plates convert to bone? No. But the longer you wait, the safer you’ll be. Owners and trainers need to realize there’s an easy-to-remember general schedule of fusion – and then make their decision as to when to ride the horse based on that rather than on the external appearance of the horse. For there are some breeds of horse – the Quarter Horse is the premier among these – which have been bred in such a manner as to look mature long before they actually are mature. This puts these horses in jeopardy from people who are either ignorant of the closure schedule, or more interested in their own schedule (for futurities or other competition) than they are in the welfare of the animal.”

“Bottom line: if you are one of those who equates “starting” with “riding”, then I guess you better not start your horse until he’s four. That would be the old, traditional, worldwide view: introduce the horse to equipment (all kinds of equipment and situations, with the handler on the ground) when he’s two, add crawling on and off of him at three, saddle him to begin riding him and teaching him to guide at four, start teaching him maneuvers or the basics of whatever job he’s going to do – cavalletti or stops or racing or something beyond trailing cattle – at five, and he’s on the payroll at six. The old Spanish way of bitting reflected this also, because the horse’s teeth aren’t mature (the tushes haven’t fully come in, nor all of the permanent cheek teeth either) until he’s six. This is what I’d do if it were my own horse.”
- See more at: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/no-horse-is-physically-skeletally-mature-before-5-5-to-6-years-old/#sthash.mVz9Vu4s.dpuf

South American Frogs Enhance Horse Racing Performance

 A Frog Picture on a Horse Blog • Read on

Racing regulators kept hearing the reports: trainers were giving their horses a powerful performance-enhancing potion drawn from the backs of a type of South American frog.

But for months postrace testing could not find the substance, a painkiller far more powerful than morphine. Then a lab in the Denver area tweaked its testing procedure, and in recent weeks more than 30 horses from four states have tested positive for the substance, dermorphin, which is suspected of helping horses run faster.

No trainer has yet been formally charged, although racing regulators expect that to happen soon. Because of its potency and ability to affect the outcome of a race, the use of dermorphin is considered to be one of the industry’s most serious drug violations.

“We hear about some pretty exotic stuff,” said Dr. Steven Barker, who directs the testing laboratory at Louisiana State University. “Frog juice — this is exotic.”

The discovery comes as the racing industry is struggling to counter perceptions of a pervasive drug culture. Indeed, dermorphin is the latest in a long list of illegal performance-enhancing drugs that have found their way onto racetracks. Cobra venom has also been used by trainers to deaden pain so that injured horses can race. It functions as a local nerve block, unlike dermorphin, a broader pain suppressant that is 40 times more powerful than morphine, Dr. Barker said. 

If horses cannot feel their injuries, veterinarians say, they are more likely to run harder than they otherwise would.Craig W. Stevens, a professor of pharmacology at Oklahoma State University who has studied dermorphin, said the substance makes animals “hyper.”“For a racehorse, it would be beneficial,” he said. “The animal wouldn’t feel pain, and it would have feelings of excitation and euphoria.”

Mr. Stevens said dermorphin is found on the skin of a frog called Phyllomedusa sauvagei, commonly known as the waxy monkey tree frog, which is native to South America.Dr. Barker said he suspected that most of the dermorphin had been artificially synthesized. “There’s a lot out there, and that would be an awful lot of frogs that would have to be squeezed,” he said, adding, “There are a lot of unemployed chemists out there.” 

Other performance-enhancing drugs found in racehorses include those used to artificially bulk up cattle and pigs before slaughter. 

“This is a tough issue,” said Edward J. Martin, president of Racing Commissioners International, a trade association for racing regulators. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game. As soon as you call out dermorphin, they will try something else. That is the daily battle that goes on.”

How often dermorphin is used in racing is not known — many states do not have the capability to test for it — but so far laboratories have found it in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Its use is also suspected in Texas. Some of the results were first reported on nola.com, the Web site of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans. 

“This whole thing has really taken us by surprise,” said Charles A. Gardiner III, executive director of the Louisiana Racing Commission. “It couldn’t have come at a worse time. We’re fighting back federal intervention. We’re under attack and losing our fan base. Fans believe that the sport is dirty, that there is cheating. And here we have an obvious attempt to cheat.”In Louisiana, Mr. Gardiner said, 11 horses, both quarter horses and thoroughbreds, tested positive for dermorphin, though none of them broke down. He said two quarter horses in particular earned big purses. “A lot of money’s got to be given back,” he said.

Four thoroughbreds tested positive, with three finishing first and one second, all in races in May. “I’m sure that there are more positives across the country,” Mr. Gardiner said. “It’s not unusual that something isn’t being detected.”Dr. Barker of the Louisiana State lab said 15 horses in Oklahoma had tested positive for dermorphin. Oklahoma officials declined to comment, as did racing regulators in Texas.

Vince Mares, executive director of the New Mexico Racing Commission, said Tuesday that a California lab had found dermorphin in six postrace tests in New Mexico.

Industrial Laboratories in suburban Denver was the first lab to successfully identify dermorphin in postrace testing. It was not easy. 

Petra Hartmann, director of direct testing services for the company, said clients relayed tips from racetrack workers that the frog secretion was being used, and later some seized materials turned out to be dermorphin.

“We identified dermorphin,” Ms. Hartmann said. “We knew it was out there.” But, she said, the lab’s test could not identify the drug in horses after they raced.After racing regulators kept insisting that the substance was in use, “We went back to the drawing board,” Ms. Hartmann said. Industrial’s chief scientist subsequently developed a more sensitive test, specifically for this compound, she said.

“There is no resting in this business,” she said. “You are always chasing something, trying to determine what’s rumor, what’s real.”

Ms. Hartmann said she did not believe the use of dermorphin was widespread. “The vast majority of horsemen would never subject their horse to this kind of chemical experimentation,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/sports/horse-racing-discovers-new-drug-problem-one-linked-to-frogs.html     Joe Drape contributed reporting.

"Notinrwildestdremz": Abused horse, rescued, runs in race

I have posted many articles about horse racing and the abuse that follows in its wake. The follow article is about hope for a new life at beating the odds.

May 18, 2012 10:07 AM
(ABC News) Erica Hill

 In the stands of Belmont Park Wednesday, Sean and Angelika Kerr were nervous.
Their four-year-old filly was about to run her first race.
The expectations for the rookie were admittedly low - in so many ways, her name, "Notinrwildestdremz," pronounced: not in our wildest dreams, said it all.
"I don't know if you remember the news, where some of these horses looked like Holocaust victims," recounts Sean.
In the spring of 2009, police and a local humane society raided an upstate New York breeding farm, where they found deplorable conditions: 177 horses close to starving, their bodies ravaged.
The animals were confiscated and put up for adoption.
Among them, two young fillies and a gelding - each of them severely underweight and in desperate need of care.
"So we drove up," recalled Angelika, managing partner of the 5R Race Horse Stable, "looked at them, and the decision was to be made which one we take. ... So, we said, 'Let's take all three of them."'
With that, Captain Crime Scene, Driving Miss Dixie, and Notinrwildestdremz suddenly belonged to the Kerrs.
With three recovering horses now in their care, the couple knew they'd need a little help.
They created 5R Stables, and sold shares to finance their new mission.
What are the five Rs?
"They stand for rescue, rehabilitation, racing, re-training and retirement," says Angelika.

More than 100 people have a share in 5R, whose goal it was to rehabilitate the three horses.
For two of the horses, the focus was on rehab - physical conditions as a result of their time at that breeding farm in upstate New York meant they'd never train as racehorses.
But Dremz - that's her nickname - stood out.
"She came out of the barn with this confidence. I went, 'Oh my God, she's a racehorse!"'
Through careful nurturing and rehabilitation, Dremz's potential began to emerge, and the Kerrs went looking for a trainer.
They found Billy Turner, who has a rich pedigree of his own. Turner trained 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. And though nobody imagines that kind of success for Dremz, Turner agrees there's something special about this horse.
"I must admit," he says, "I've been amazed at the progress that she's made."
Two weeks ago, on the muddy main track at Belmont, Dremz impressed during a training run. The Kerrs and Turner knew she was ready to compete.
Which brings us back to the nervous couple up in the stands and Wednesday's sixth race.
In the end, Dremz did not win. In fact, she finished dead last.
But that's OK, because the race itself was a victory. She'd already beaten the odds.
As Sean and Angelica hugged, he said, "She did it. She did it!"
 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57436903/notinrwildestdremz-abused-horse-rescued-runs-in-race/

 

Dremz • A Look Back

 Dremz • At the Belmont

Can Jockeys and Thoroughbred Owners Clean Up Horse Racing?

Clean Horse Racing is a national movement of veterinarians, breeders, trainers, owners, bettors, and fans who oppose drugs in racing and favor fair and safer competition.

If you are interested in any of these perspectives you may wish to read the copy (below) of a letter to owners, breeders, and racing professionals, as well as to horse lovers and horse protection activists.

-------------------------------copy of the letter from TOBA------------------ 

Dear Owners and Breeders:

The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) have launched an advocacy website, cleanhorseracing.org, to provide a platform for those supporting reform of racing's drug rules. At cleanhorseracing.org, people can receive the latest news, hear what others have to say and take action by contacting racing regulators. You can take action now.

The New York State Racing and Wagering Board have asked for input from the industry to assist in their consideration of changes to the rules regulating the use of furosemide (Salix® or Lasix®).

Please click on the link below and you will have an opportunity to let your voice be heard as New York considers possible changes to their rules.

http://www.cleanhorseracing.org/default.asp?full=y&page=common&sub=NY

Please add cleanhorseracing.org to your favorites list in your web browser and check back often to receive the latest updates.

We must attract new customers to reverse recent trends and grow Thoroughbred racing. In survey after survey, racing's current drug rules are most often cited as the major barrier for achieving growth.

We urge you to take action today and let's grow Thoroughbred racing in North America.

Thank you,

Clean Horse Racing

A copy of the request for comment from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board can be found here:

racing.state.ny.us/pdf/04301213381204.30.12.rel.ClaimPriceLasix.pdf.

Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/cleanhorseraces

Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CleanHorseRacing

Visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/cleanhorseracing

__._,_.___

The Horror of Horse Racing (Part 2)

Big Purses, Sore Horses, and Death

By JOE DRAPE, WALT BOGDANICH, REBECCA R. RUIZ and GRIFFIN PALMER

Published: April 30, 2012 NY TIMES http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/us/casino-cash-fuels-use-of-injured-horses-at-racetracks.html

Large payouts to owners make it profitable for owners to field thoroughbreds that are past their prime, sometimes with fatal results. As he trained for his first race, at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, the 3-year-old thoroughbred Wes Vegas galloped on the track most mornings and had two timed workouts. But his handlers also prepared him in another way: In the month before the race, records show, he received 10 intravenous injections of potent drugs for pain, one the day before he ran; two injections of a drug for joint disease; corticosteroid injections in his two front ankles; a sedative; and an ulcer drug.

For all the preparation, that first race, on March 3, turned out to be his last.

As he approached the first turn, Wes Vegas broke a leg and had to be euthanized.

A week earlier, another horse, the 4-year-old Coronado Heights, who records show had “early degenerative joint disease,” suffered a fatal breakdown at Aqueduct after receiving 13 injections for pain and cartilage damage in the month before his race.

Since a casino opened at Aqueduct late last year, offering vastly richer prizes, 30 horses have died racing there, a 100 percent increase in the fatality rate over the same period the previous year. Like Wes Vegas and Coronado Heights, many had been injected repeatedly with pain medication in the weeks before their breakdowns, according to a review of veterinary records by The New York Times.

Pain medication during training is legal as long as it does not exceed certain levels on race day. But the prevalence of drugs is a graphic illustration of how the flood of casino cash has created powerful and dangerous incentives to run sore, tired or otherwise unfit horses in pursuit of that big score.

“If the public knew how many medications these horses were administered after entry time, I don’t think they would tolerate it,” said Dr. Rick Arthur, equine medical director of the California Horse Racing Board.

Amid the uproar over the Aqueduct death toll, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York ordered an investigation to “ensure against needless injuries to horses and to riders.” Experts are examining various factors — not just drugs, but issues like track conditions and pre-race inspections.

But what is indisputable is that casinos opening at Aqueduct and a growing number of racetracks have recalibrated the age-old economic equations of the horse-racing game.

To survive amid a riot of new, technologically advanced gambling options, track owners have increasingly succumbed to the gambling industry’s offer to sweeten racing purses with slot machine revenue. But if casinos promise to prop up a struggling sport, they can also erode the loyalty that owners and trainers feel toward their horses, turning them, in the words of Maggi Moss, a leading owner, into “trading cards for people’s greed.”

The casinos’ impact is greatest at the sport’s low end, the so-called claiming races, a world away from the bluegrass pageantry of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. In the claiming ranks — where some of the cheapest horses fill starting gates at tracks like Aqueduct, Penn National, near Harrisburg, Pa., and Evangeline Downs in Louisiana — the casino money has upset the traditional racetrack balance of risk and reward.

“It’s strictly self-centered greed of not thinking about the horse but thinking about maybe I can get one more race out of him and get a piece of the game,” said Dr. Tom David, until recently the chief veterinarian for the Louisiana Racing Commission.

To better protect the horses, some industry experts say, purses should be limited so the potential winnings in any race do not exceed the value of the horses running in it. That way, the incentive for the owner is to care for the horse over the long haul, rather than risking it for a single payday. A prominent veterinarians group, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, recommends that no purse exceed a horse’s value by more than 50 percent.

Yet that recommendation is widely ignored, The Times found.

At Aqueduct, horses worth $7,500 — at the lowest level of competition — recently raced for a $40,000 purse, nearly four times the recommended maximum. Two of them broke down and had to be euthanized. Both had been given pain medication in the days leading up to the race. In all, 19 of the 30 Aqueduct deaths occurred in races where the veterinarians’ standard was violated.

Nationwide, 57 percent of thoroughbred claiming races at casino tracks exceeded that 50 percent standard, and horses broke down or showed signs of injury at a 29 percent higher rate in those races, according to a Times analysis.

In a statement, the New York Racing Association said “it would be inappropriate and irresponsible of The New York Times to speculate on the reasons for breakdowns and injuries” before the governor’s task force has finished its inquiry.

Big purses have destabilized the racetrack economy in another way. Every claiming race is essentially a marketplace, with all horses for sale at a fixed price. But the casino money has set off a frenzy of horse trading at Aqueduct, with owners eager to buy and also to sell to slake the surging demand. Since the casino opened late last fall, nearly 500 horses and $10.7 million have changed hands, more than double the previous year, records show.

Again, the incentive is to push horses, fit or not, out onto the track.

“If horses don’t win, people just get rid of them,” Ms. Moss said.

The turmoil at Aqueduct over the last six months caught many in the industry by surprise. But a cautionary tale played out two years before at Penn National, where nine horses belonging to a single owner died while racing, prompting a boycott by jockeys. State investigators discovered evidence of serious problems in the owner’s operation: trainers and other employees injecting horses with illegal drugs and administering other illicit treatments at an off-track training center.

When the Hollywood Casino arrived in 2008, Penn National became part of a casino expansion that now encompasses more than a third of the nation’s thoroughbred racetracks. Gambling companies, state budgets and some horse owners have benefited, but the spread of casinos has left many people wondering if in the long run, casino gambling is hurting racing and the horses themselves.

“In spite of what they say, and they are my friends whom I love dearly, they do not care about horse racing,” William Koester, of the Ohio State Racing Commission, said recently of the casino industry. “They care about gaming. That is their mission.”

Lame and Still Racing

Melodeeman, a 10-year-old thoroughbred, had earned a rest.

He raced gallantly for six owners. He set a track record at Aqueduct for the fastest five and a half furlongs and earned more than $250,000 in his career. He raced even after a broken leg was put back together with three stainless-steel screws.

But by the evening of Jan. 21, 2010, Melodeeman had hit the bottom of the racing world. As the temperature hovered near freezing at Penn National, he prepared to compete among the lowest quality thoroughbreds.

In a different time, Melodeeman might have skipped this race, or retired altogether. Not now. Not here. Profits from the track’s casino had fattened the purse to $18,000, far more than the $4,000 for which each horse could be purchased, or claimed — precisely the kind of cost disparity that prominent veterinarians had warned against.

Eager to get in on the action, three people filed claims to buy three horses in the race.

No one tried to buy Melodeeman.

According to one exercise rider who saw the horse well before the race, Melodeeman was clearly lame. But Melodeeman raced anyhow that evening.

Turning for home, his front legs buckled, sending his jockey, Angel Quinones, flying. Melodeeman had snapped his right cannon bone and was euthanized at the track, almost four years to the day after he set his Aqueduct record.

State regulators were suspicious. Other horses belonging to the same owner, Michael Gill, had been breaking down in large numbers, and jockeys were complaining.

A subsequent necropsy revealed that Melodeeman not only had degenerative joint disease in the lower part of his two front legs, but that his fatal fracture occurred next to the earlier break mended with three screws. The examiners were concerned enough to have snapped a color photograph of the screws.

A prohibited sedative, fluphenazine, was also found in Melodeeman’s brain, according to records obtained by The Times. Fluphenazine can calm a horse that becomes agitated because of discomfort or injury, according to two veterinarians.

Melodeeman’s fatal breakdown was not quickly forgotten by jockeys on the backside at Penn National. A revolt was brewing.

Jockeys Fight Back

Mr. Gill made his fortune in the mortgage brokerage business before becoming one of the nation’s most successful — and controversial — thoroughbred owners. He was a winner of the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding owner, but tracks in several states denied him stable space because of brushes with regulators over his treatment of horses. He set up a training center in Chester County, Pa., giving him easy access to three casino tracks, among them Penn National.

Although the casino there does a steady business, the track itself seems almost an afterthought. It sits behind the parking garage, barely visible from the gambling floor. On many nights, the few racing fans who show up outside buy programs from a vending machine and beer at a single counter.

But there was no secret why Mr. Gill had made Penn National the hub of his operation: the hefty purses.

Now, Melodeeman’s death threatened to upend it all.

The next morning, Thomas Clifton, a veteran jockey, complained to the state racing commission’s office at Penn National that Mr. Gill’s horses were unsafe. He had been making similar complaints for a month.

“The horses go perfectly sound right up to the second they snap their leg off,” Mr. Clifton said. The following day he came back with a warning: “If we have one more horse break down, we are going to have a major problem on our hands.”

That night, riding in the fifth race, Mr. Clifton heard a bone snap and saw another jockey, Ricky Frazier, vaulting off a horse named Laughing Moon. Mr. Clifton yanked his own mount, but they still went soaring over Laughing Moon.

Within minutes, Mr. Frazier was in an ambulance and a veterinarian was administering a lethal injection to Laughing Moon, the ninth Gill horse to die racing in 10 months.

That is when the jockeys decided to take a stand: They would not ride in any race with a Gill-owned horse.

Their boycott cast a harsh light on the Pennsylvania Racing Commission and Penn National Gaming, which owns the track.

“It wasn’t the commission or the racetrack or anyone with any responsibility for horses and riders who took action,” said George Strawbridge, a prominent breeder and owner. “It was the jockeys who feared for their life. That’s not a shame. That’s a disgrace.”

Track officials and regulators had ample reason to question the integrity of Mr. Gill’s operation well before the boycott.

Regulators did not have the authority to monitor the treatment of horses on Mr. Gill’s ranch, but three months before the boycott, the commission and track security officers searched a van delivering Mr. Gill’s Lion’s Pride, who was scheduled to race that day. They found four syringes, and Lion’s Pride tested positive for a corticosteroid used to treat joint inflammation.

Lion’s Pride was not allowed to race that night. But on Dec. 18, 2009, after running barely a quarter of a mile, he suffered a fatal breakdown.

By then, an employee of Mr. Gill’s ranch had already told state police investigators that horses were being injected with drugs on race day, which is illegal. Investigators later heard accounts of snake venom injections and other performance enhancing treatments on race day, according to records obtained by The Times.

Dr. Jerry Pack, a former veterinarian for the racing commission who now works for Penn National, told the police that he suspected Mr. Gill’s horses received an illegal performance enhancing substance. He also said trainers were using shock wave therapy, which can mask injury. “This is also dangerous to the welfare of the horse,” he told investigators.

Suspicions were heightened by the backgrounds of some employees of Mr. Gill, including two trainers, Cole Norman and Darrel Delahoussaye.

Mr. Norman had been fined or suspended 30 times in four states for drugging horses. The authorities had accused him three times of administering an illegal “milkshake” — a concoction of baking soda, sugar and electrolytes delivered through a tube down a horse’s throat to combat fatigue by breaking up lactic acid. Mr. Norman was also incarcerated for killing a driver in a head-on collision while under the influence of prescription painkillers.

In 1984, Mr. Delahoussaye lost his Louisiana training license after a conviction for check fraud, and Ohio later suspended him for possessing syringes and drugs and for using a makeshift electric cattle prod on a horse. Mr. Gill himself had once been suspended from racing after syringes and needles were found in his barn at a New Hampshire racetrack.

A grand jury in Dauphin County, Pa., investigated reports of horse doping and other corrupt acts. But Mr. Delahoussaye was the only one charged, with doping. A plea agreement kept him out of jail — and out of racing in Pennsylvania.

In the face of the boycott, the racing commission ejected Mr. Gill and his racing manager, Anthony Adamo, from Penn National. They filed a federal lawsuit, saying that they were expelled for no valid reason and without a hearing. A trial took place last week and a decision is expected soon.

Alan Pincus, a lawyer for the men, said that they have been unfairly tainted with “all kinds of innuendo and lies for over two years,” and that the testimony showed that their ejection “was not based on any culpable wrongdoing.”

Mr. Gill said that he rarely visited Elk Creek Ranch, his Pennsylvania training center, and that he never instructed anyone to break racing rules.

Chris McErlean, vice president of racing at Penn National, said the investigation of Mr. Gill and the enforcement of racing rules was the responsibility of the state racing commission, which declined repeated requests for an interview.

Since the jockey boycott, change has come slowly at Penn National. The track began doing pre-race inspections of horses — routine at most racetracks in North America — only last October.

The track’s owner has declined to seek accreditation or to contribute to a fund for jockey benefits.

In September, an injured filly had to wait more than an hour to be euthanized because Penn National had no licensed veterinarian on duty during morning training. The company said it was not the track’s responsibility, though it is a requirement of accreditation.

“There’s cost issues and there’s problems we have with the process,” Mr. McErlean said of accreditation. “They are making racetracks solely responsible, presenting it as a racetrack-only issue. They don’t accredit horsemen, or breeders.”

For the complete article please go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/us/casino-cash-fuels-use-of-injured-horses-at-racetracks.html  there is a lot more to read.