KHRC clears Asmussen: PETA 'claims' unsubstanciated

[Kasept]

In obvious conclusion after hundreds of hours of investigation, KHRC says PETA allegations could not be substantiated..

[gamblin4ever]

They got their 15mins and was able to drag his name through the mud.
Do you think he will be able to get in the HOF now or will they keep him out
because of the allegations?

[ateamstupid]

Typically reasonable response from PETA:

@DRFHegarty 3m3 minutes ago
PETA: "The [KHRC] has today distinguished itself for being as uninterested in horse welfare as the Syrian government is in human suffering."

[my miss storm cat]

Good for them, good try. I love our game but I support their efforts because I think there is some truly outrageous and disgraceful stuff that needs to change. It seems like way too many people hide their heads in the sand and look the other way instead of aspiring to be leaders and to begin to make all that is wrong with the sport right.

Racing will never clean itself up. The nudge nudge wink wink mentality will go on and on, "suspensions" will be handed out and cheaters allowed to continue to stay in the game... nothing will ever change unless organizations like PETA bring attention to the general population and in a big way.

Kinda sad that we do not grab the reins and try to control our own destiny but I guess it's easier to pretend there's nothing wrong and hope they go away and leave us alone.

[skyfire]

PETA libeled and slandered Steve Asmussen and his operation - I hope he has legal recourse whereby his legal fees are repaid by PETA. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by skyfire

PETA libeled and slandered Steve Asmussen and his operation - I hope he has legal recourse whereby his legal fees are repaid by PETA. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

It's no surprise that they ignored subpoena requests for the unedited videos and all of the other proof they claimed to have.

[DaTruth]

Shame on PETA. Shame on Joe Drape for pushing the story because it fit his agenda. Shame on those in the industry who suggested Asmussen essentially disappear on Derby Day so as not to put the sport under a cloud of suspicion.

[jnunan4759]

Curious timing of this. I think it's coordinated, they let things blow over this year, pull him off the ballot and maybe will put Steve on the ballot next year or the year after. Fishy.

I'm not real happy the way KY and NY handled this. Entirely too long. This has come at great cost to Steve Asmussen. He's lost big clients and been publicly disparaged in a year he was up for the HOF. He has handled this all with class.

The only thing we learned is that Scott Blasi has a potty-mouth and that Nehro had bad feet.

This was a "hit-piece" and PETA didn't come up with very much. I think the way they did it was very suspect.

However, they screwed Steve Asmussen and accomplished nothing, corrected nothing and accomplished nothing. But that's OK.

There was nothing to accomplish, nothing to correct and nothing to accomplish. But that's OK, too.

The horse business is 99.99% ethical. I've been in it for years. you do have some nasties, as you do in anything in life. However, most in this business work hard for the benefit of the horse. Mostly at their financial disfortune.

I've had many horses who just sucked my wallet. I've re-homed almost all of my horses, except the one's that got claimed. Cost me a bunch of money, but thought it was my duty. I actually bought back some that were claimed and re-homed them. They ended up as hunters, jumpers and other stuff. They liked it.

i kind of treated my horses like people. They were all different. I've liked all of them. And I've always tried to do the best by them.

[jnunan4759]

Funny. I go to Saratoga every year and a good friend of mine stays in a B&B on Union Ave. I used to hang with him and we'd stay at the bar and I got to hang out with Drape. He seemed OK, we we're talking horses. My buddy told me he won like a Pulitzer Prize or something, not sure about that. He seemed OK. Seemed like a horseplayer.

I'm from Philly and don't read the NYT. However, I started reading his stuff and really turned on him. I thought he might be a great horse racing journalist from what people were telling me. I'm thinking Joe Hirsch or something. But nothing is farther from the truth.

He is no friend of racing, I've only found him to be a friend of Joe Drape.

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Good for them, good try. I love our game but I support their efforts because I think there is some truly outrageous and disgraceful stuff that needs to change. It seems like way too many people hide their heads in the sand and look the other way instead of aspiring to be leaders and to begin to make all that is wrong with the sport right.

PETA is contemptible and I don't support their efforts in the slightest. They don't want to clean up horse racing, this is merely their attempt to chip away until they end it. They won't be happy until it's over. The idea of doing anything with animals for entertainment includes horse racing, horse shows, etc. I once had to spend time with a girl into that stuff who refused to ride in a cart in a foreign country pulled by a horse. We explained to her that that was his job and it's in a rural community that mainly used animals so it's not like they could bust out an SUV. She didn't care, she refused and walked.

Instead of fighting to end slaughter and prevent transport to slaughter, they support it because in their opinion it's the lesser of two evils compared with putting horses in a transport out of the country to do it. What? What about ending it full stop? PETA euthanizes thousands of healthy animals a year because they feel they're better off dead than being adopted--members of PETA once adopted 3 perfectly healthy dogs including purebreds the shelter warned them were highly adoptable, then took them to be euthanized and dumped their bodies behind a Burger King. Their shelter in Maryland has a 90% kill rate.

Support Old Friends. Support TRF (whatever BS the NY Times might try to make up). Support retraining programs. Don't support bad people because they mean well. PETA is not someone you side with because 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' They are nothing but the enemy. They'd try to convince you that Jimmy Jerkins was inhumane if they could. I don't love Asmussen, but fair is fair.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Good for them, good try. I love our game but I support their efforts because I think there is some truly outrageous and disgraceful stuff that needs to change. It seems like way too many people hide their heads in the sand and look the other way instead of aspiring to be leaders and to begin to make all that is wrong with the sport right.

Racing will never clean itself up. The nudge nudge wink wink mentality will go on and on, "suspensions" will be handed out and cheaters allowed to continue to stay in the game... nothing will ever change unless organizations like PETA bring attention to the general population and in a big way.

Kinda sad that we do not grab the reins and try to control our own destiny but I guess it's easier to pretend there's nothing wrong and hope they go away and leave us alone.

I agree with you 100%. The only time anything ever changes is when outside groups publicize what is going on. When racing gets some bad publicity, that is when they make some changes. I am actually somewhat optimistic that racing is starting to take some positive steps. They may be doing it kicking, screaming, and dragging their feet, but at least they are starting to make some positive changes. They have a long way to go but at least the ball seems to be rolling. I don't think any of these positive changes would even be happening if it wasn't for negative publicity. I look at negative publicity as a good thing because it is usually a catalyst for change.

With regard to Asmussen specifically, he's probably not too much worse than many of the other trainers out there. There wasn't really anything earth-shattering on the video. The video just kind of showed some of the stuff and some of the culture of the backstretch. There was nothing all that shocking to people that have spent a lot of time on the backstretch. But it was probably very surprising to many in the general public that have no idea about the extreme use of legal drugs on the horses. It is a shame that the sport has come to this, a point where drugs (both legal and illegal) have such a huge impact on the results.

One thing that was somewhat surprising was the admission from Blasi that Santana has carried the machine at his request. I haven't heard anyone explain the defense of that one and I'm not sure why nothing was done with regard to that admission on Blasi's part. When a guy admits to doing something totally illegal such as that, you would think that the KHRC would take some action. Does anybody know what Blasi's defense was on that one? Does he claim that he simply made it up to impress the girl?

[Kasept]

For the hysterically overwrought (while simultaneously too lazy to seek out and read the 200+ page KHRC investigation findings), here's a direct link: http://www.khrc.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by Kasept

For the hysterically overwrought (while simultaneously too lazy to seek out and read the 200+ page KHRC investigation findings), here's a direct link: http://www.khrc.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx

The footnotes are particularly interesting.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

The footnotes are particularly interesting.

Yes..

[Kasept]

I'm sensing that the most gullible and preening altruists out there are still eager to believe a completely discredited fabrication, here's Matt Hegarty's detailed follow-up to the initial report, including the annals of Nehro's feet, the grandest distortion in a waterfall of distortions..

---------------------------------------------------------------------

KHRC report: No substance to PETA’s claims against Asmussen
By Matt Hegarty

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For Steve Asmussen, it would be hard to imagine a more satisfying result to an investigation into allegations that horses in his care were mistreated than the report issued Thursday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

The report, which included interviews with dozens of racetrack workers, veterinarians, and racing experts, not only took to task the organization that made the accusations, but it came to the conclusion that, contrary to the allegations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Asmussen’s horses were “well cared for.” That assertion included the barn’s treatment of Nehro, the horse who was euthanized in May 2013 after an acute episode of colic. Nehro played a starring role in a video PETA produced alleging mistreatment, creating a highly sympathetic rallying point for those who backed PETA’s assertions.

In painstaking detail, the commission report describes the various treatments the Asmussen barn used to deal with Nehro’s stubborn foot issues, which the report called “neither unusual nor unmanageable,” citing the conclusions of a handful of independent veterinary experts.

Furthermore, the report concluded that “Nehro’s feet were being properly cared for and managed,” in direct contradiction to PETA’s claims, which relied on the observations and opinions of a stable worker, Kerin B. Rosen, who was working on behalf of PETA in the Asmussen barn, and a veterinarian, Holly Cheever, who, according to PETA, reviewed materials provided by Rosen from footage she secretly shot with her cellphone camera while working in the barn for four months in 2013.

“PETA alleged that Nehro was lame and was suffering ‘severe pain,’ ” the report states. “However, none of the information supplied by PETA corroborates this claim. The video footage shows Nehro standing quietly in a stall or in the shed row, bearing weight evenly on all four feet and demonstrating no behavioral signs of fear, distress, or pain. ... Rosen herself indicated that on the occasions when she walked Nehro, she noted nothing unusual about his gait, demeanor, or anything else that would make Nehro stand out from any other horses she walked.”

The report refutes much of the evidence PETA had for its allegations about the mistreatment of Nehro’s feet, including the now-infamous assertion that Nehro was lame and suffering because a veterinarian is seen in the video saying that the horse “has no pulse” in his left front leg. In fact, being able to manually detect a pulse in a horse’s foot is a sign of inflammation, not the other way around.

However, the report does raise questions about what led to Nehro’s euthanasia. According to the report, Nehro began exhibiting acute signs of physical distress on May 4, 2013, at Churchill Downs just after receiving his morning feed at 3:30. Ken Reed, a veterinarian, was called to the barn and immediately began treating the horse with fluids and sedatives, under the belief that the horse was colicking. Nehro did not respond to the treatments, was loaded onto a van for a 90-minute ride to Rood & Riddle Equine Clinic just outside of Lexington, but was so violent and unresponsive that the horse was put down on the van just outside Churchill’s stable gate.

“During their interviews more than one year after Nehro’s death, [assistant trainer Scott] Blasi, Asmussen, and Dr. Reed were all visibly upset revisiting the events and still struggling to understand what happened,” the report states. “They all indicated they had never seen a horse react to colic the way Nehro did. The evidence establishes that Asmussen, Dr. Reed, and Blasi provided ethical and appropriate care to a very sick horse.”

A private necropsy commissioned by Nehro’s owner, Zayat Stables, indicated that the horse had acute inflammation of the colon and kidney lesions, which were likely brought on by colitis and bacteria in the horse’s blood, which is often called “blood poisoning.” While the necropsy supports a diagnosis of acute colic, the horse also did not have torsion of the intestine, a common condition in acute colic cases.

KHRC officials reviewed the necropsy report during their investigation. Several officials involved in the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said that while the necropsy report was satisfactory, it would have been ideal for additional toxicology tests to have been done on the horse’s tissues, since PETA had an undercover employee working in the barn and the death would become an object of investigation one year later.

“When the horse went to necropsy, there was no understanding that an undercover investigation was under way,” one of the officials said. “By the time we got this, there were no tissues left to test.”

While the report vindicated Asmussen and his staff, it was highly critical of PETA and its tactics, containing dozens of instances in which PETA misrepresented facts or omitted recorded footage that would have contradicted its assertions. In one of the more egregious instances, PETA edited out a comment from Blasi saying that he would not run a horse, the 2-year-old Teardrop, if the horse was not sound. In another, PETA overdubbed footage of Blasi talking on the phone with a conversation from a separate recording.

Moreover, the commission said that PETA did not comply with a subpoena to turn over all of the material it claimed to have in the case – more than seven hours of video and a “258-page report.” The material it did provide, 30 minutes of video, was “extensively edited, and audio has been overdubbed,” the report said, with “conversations provided out of context and contrary to the substance of the conversation as a whole.”

PETA supporters are not likely to accept the KHRC report – comments on news stories from PETA supporters are already claiming that Asmussen and his team paid off the KHRC.

But the report, in one sense, does provide some validation for PETA’s view that horses are overmedicated on racing’s backstretches. Nehro, for instance, was administered five painkillers in the month prior to his death, the report states, which is not a particularly aggressive treatment regimen. However, in PETA’s view, the administration of even a single painkiller is tantamount to abuse.

In addition, one of PETA’s specific accusations against Asmussen was that 15 horses he trained at Churchill were “maintained in poor physical condition and forced to run at Churchill Downs while in these unfit conditions.” The KHRC said a review of the horses’ workouts and races at Churchill, along with the fact that none failed state veterinary exams, could not come close to substantiating that assertion.

But here’s where PETA and its supporters can still claim victory: All 15 horses ran on Lasix, which PETA considers a performance-enhancing drug used to treat a condition, bleeding in the lungs, that is symptomatic of a horse in ill health.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Kasept

For the hysterically overwrought (while simultaneously too lazy to seek out and read the 200+ page KHRC investigation findings), here's a direct link: http://www.khrc.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx

After reading some of the report, I see that Santana denied using the machine. I guess that means he didn't use it. I guess Blasi just made that up.

With regard to Nehro, Blasi said it was disgraceful that the horse was not retired. Blasi spent a lot of time with that horse and said the horse had terrible feet and should have been retired. He sounded like he was angry with Zayat for not retiring the horse. I obviously do not hold that against Blasi. I hold it against Zayat. The point is that this is not an isolated incident. There are plenty of horses out there that should not be running. Sometimes it is the owner who refuses to give a horse time off and sometimes it is the trainer who refuses to give a horse time off. I don't know what the answer is to that kind of thing. Maybe the state vets need to be even more stringent on which horses are allowed to run. The latest research has shown that most breakdowns are due to pre-existing conditions. It is usually a bunch of BS when they claim that the horse "must have taken a bad step".

The bottom line is that the sport needs to be cleaned up. I don't know anyone who would deny that. As I said before, there was nothing earth shattering on the PETA video. Some of the stuff was legitimate. Some of the stuff was a little misleading. But overall I'm not going to have a problem with a person or group that says the sport needs to be cleaned up. The sport does need to be cleaned up. The truth of the matter is that if there were hidden cameras and hidden microphones in every barn and everything that went on (both good and bad) was revealed, it would be far more damaging than anything on the PETA video. In another words, I think that people would be outraged if they knew everything that went on on the backstretch. I'm not saying that there aren't good people on the backstretch. There are plenty of good people that love their horses. But there are also plenty of people that just look at the horses as a commodity, and they have very little feeling for the horses.

[pointman]

Edited and dubbed over footage?

Did the NY Times fail to investigate the integrity of the videos or deliberately ignore it?

Now that it is known that PETA edited and dubbed over footage, does anyone want to guess the chances of Drape and the NY Times printing a retraction highlighting their shoddy journalism?

I hope Asmussen and Blasi sue PETA and the NY Times, but they better do it soon as the statute of limitations is running out, I would love to have this case!

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Good for them, good try. I love our game but I support their efforts because I think there is some truly outrageous and disgraceful stuff that needs to change. It seems like way too many people hide their heads in the sand and look the other way instead of aspiring to be leaders and to begin to make all that is wrong with the sport right.

Racing will never clean itself up. The nudge nudge wink wink mentality will go on and on, "suspensions" will be handed out and cheaters allowed to continue to stay in the game... nothing will ever change unless organizations like PETA bring attention to the general population and in a big way.

Kinda sad that we do not grab the reins and try to control our own destiny but I guess it's easier to pretend there's nothing wrong and hope they go away and leave us alone.

Good for them? Nice try?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

PETA is contemptible and I don't support their efforts in the slightest. They don't want to clean up horse racing, this is merely their attempt to chip away until they end it. They won't be happy until it's over. The idea of doing anything with animals for entertainment includes horse racing, horse shows, etc. I once had to spend time with a girl into that stuff who refused to ride in a cart in a foreign country pulled by a horse. We explained to her that that was his job and it's in a rural community that mainly used animals so it's not like they could bust out an SUV. She didn't care, she refused and walked.

Instead of fighting to end slaughter and prevent transport to slaughter, they support it because in their opinion it's the lesser of two evils compared with putting horses in a transport out of the country to do it. What? What about ending it full stop? PETA euthanizes thousands of healthy animals a year because they feel they're better off dead than being adopted--members of PETA once adopted 3 perfectly healthy dogs including purebreds the shelter warned them were highly adoptable, then took them to be euthanized and dumped their bodies behind a Burger King. Their shelter in Maryland has a 90% kill rate.

Support Old Friends. Support TRF (whatever BS the NY Times might try to make up). Support retraining programs. Don't support bad people because they mean well. PETA is not someone you side with because 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' They are nothing but the enemy. They'd try to convince you that Jimmy Jerkins was inhumane if they could. I don't love Asmussen, but fair is fair.

I am embarassed that i gave the peta report any credence when it first came out. But, people tend to project their traits onto others, which is why it didnt occur to me that they had taken footage and severely edited it so as to paint asmussen in the worst possible light. Had they a leg to stand on, had they had what they needed, there would have been no need to do so. They disgust me, they have no credibility whatsoever, and their refusal to work with the investigation is the icing on the cake.
not good for them, not a nice try. Bad behavior by some in this sport should be stopped, but that end wont be justified if these are the means to that end.

They should face charges and suits over this.