Suffolk Downs begins zero-tolerance slaughter policy
June 29, 2008 - Thoroughbred Times
Suffolk Downs has established a new policy holding trainers accountable when their horses are sold for slaughter.
Sam Elliott, the track's vice president for racing, has informed the leadership of the New England Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association that any trainer found to have sold a horse for slaughter will have his stalls revoked and be denied stalls at any time in the future.
Elliott said the plan has the complete backing of Richard Fields, the real estate and casino developer who purchased a controlling interest in Suffolk Downs last year.
"If a horse goes from here to the slaughterhouse, that's completely unacceptable," Elliott said. "That trainer won't be here. I don't think that's anybody we'd want to have around. Mr. Fields is a strong believer in retirement idea. He's a big backer of it. The two are incompatible."
Elliott commended local horsemen and several local Thoroughbred retirement organizations for offering several options for retiring racehorses.
"I think it's become a non-issue," Elliott said. "The best way to make it a real non-issue is to have this kind of sanction in place. That's our policy. My hope is we never have to use it."
Elliott intends to address horsemen at a general meeting within the next two weeks.
"They would have our backing," said Al Balestra, president of the New England HBPA. "It's not the proper thing to do, not with all the options they have. There's no reason why that should happen nowadays. There shouldn't be any horses going to killers. It's a different era in racing, it just shouldn't happen."
Read the rest of this article referencing Richard Fields at the Thoroughbred Times.