An animal welfare group opposed to horse racing sounded alarm bells this week after a collision led to the death of a horse at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack on Sunday.
The Kill Racing Not Horses organization said that the California Authority of Racing Fairs confirmed that the racehorse, a 3-year-old gelding named Goodbye Kai, died on the track “without euthanization” after a collision with another horse during the 10th and final race of the afternoon.
“#2 Toppers Wager came up on #1 Goodbye Kai and clipped heels,” Larry Swartzlander, Executive Director of the CA Authority of Racing Fairs, was cited as saying. “#1 Goodbye Kai then flipped and in the process apparently fractured its neck and was pronounced dead on the track — no euthanization drug was administered. #2 Toppers Wager walked off on his own and was then taken to the test barn where he was examined and is fine.”
Jockey Catalina Martinez is currently in the hospital and being treated for a possible neck injury, said Swartzlander, who added that Jockey Assal Espinoza, who was on Toppers Wager, “is fine.”
A video of the race and collision was posted on the Kill Racing Not Horses Facebook page.
Kill Racing Not Horses said Goodbye Kai’s death is the 44th horse fatality reported on California horse racing tracks in 2024. It is also reportedly the fourth horse death in this year’s Alameda County Fair Horse Races at the Pleasanton Racetrack.
“No legitimate sport would tolerate the deaths of 44 of its athletes in 26 weeks of competition in just 1 state (California), much less 4 deaths of its athletes in 4 weeks of competition in just 1 venue (Pleasanton Racetrack/Alameda County Fair Horse Races),” the animal rights group said.
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