Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell initially used the legalization of slot machines as a way to save the horse racing industry. Instead, the casinos are literally killing horses.
The New York Times has another powerful investigative story that details how casinos have resulted in richer purses for races, prompting some trainers to use pain medication on horses who are then breaking down. 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,” The Times reports.
The result has been a 100 percent increase in the fatality rate of horses at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, where slot machines were recently added. A large chunk of the story focuses on the sharp increase in deaths of horses at the Penn National track near Harrisburg, Pa., home of the Hollywood Casino.
At Penn National, jockeys have refused to ride any horses owned by Michael Gill, who made his fortune in the mortgage brokerage business. Nine of Gill’s horses died in 10 months. The Pennsylvania Racing Commission and Penn National appear unprepared and uninterested in protecting the health of riders or horses. That’s because the influential casinos are all about generating money for the state and the politically-connected operators. As such, the state and the casino industry is willing to look the other way as horses die and the safety of jockeys is at risk.
It is yet another disgraceful example of how the river of casino cash has resulted in the state abdicating its responsibility to protect the safety and welfare of others. If lawmakers don’t care about the destruction of individuals and families at the hands of casinos, how does anyone think they will give a crap about horses or jockeys.
Look for more of the same problems in New York as it moves to legalize commercial casinos across the state. That’s why Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scrambling to do damage control to wallpaper over the problem until the state Constitutional change is rammed through. But when it comes to casinos and the lip service about helping the racing industry, it is clear that state lawmakers put profits before people and horses.