Belo Horizonte

A 3000 breeding-point 2 year-old with impeccable breeding;  a 30-point bargain bred;  a $1 auction purchase that can’t break a 60 speed on the track. All stable owners have faced the dilemma of retiring or selling a horse that just doesn’t cut the mustard.  Even when we do take the pragmatic approach and get rid of the horse, a little piece of our soul goes with it.  Deep down we care about that horse, even if it didn’t fulfill the requirements we placed upon it.

That spot in my soul was touched by a rumor that there was a 3 year-old filly in the game that had raced 63 times! How horrific!  Therefore, I set out to investigate and see what kind of conditions the filly was living in and, daresay, possibly rescue her from the rotten conditions that world lead her to be raced 63 times by the middle of age 3.

Belo Horizonte (horse id 11500006312) (Muito Melhor x Latent Heat x Unbridled’s Song) is scheduled to race on Tuesday, July 21, in Louisiana, a $2000 Starter Allowance restricted to 3-yo fillies only.  This will be her 64th race.

In order to learn more, I signed up for a stable tour at the track.  I wanted to see what kind of shape Belo was in.  The tour took us onto the track, into the paddock, and into one of the training barns (unoccupied).  I asked our guide if I could go to Belo’s barn and the young lad looked at me with a stoned look and said “I have no idea what you’re talking about!” and led us on to the next spot on the tour.  I tried to slip away, but they were wise to my shenanigans and a 2nd “guide” named Guido was now helping herd our group along.

After my failure to find Belo, I knew drastic measures were called for.  I consulted with friend who runs a security business and he suggested I speak to “Mr. X” (name changed to protect his identity), a former Navy SEAL who handles all sorts of difficult investigations for the company.  I was expecting a 6′-4″ behemoth. Instead, I met a somewhat diminutive fellow who looked someone bookish.  Mr. X was moved by the apparent cruelty being meted out on a filly who had been raced 63 times and agreed to handle the hard parts of the investigation for free!  We agreed to meet 24 hours later and he would have all the evidence we needed.

Folks, the pictures will astound you!  Belo Horizonte is in a world being run by mad men, all focused on keeping her in some semblance of shape to race. There are systems of winches and power lifts in place to move her around.  There are doctors who administer to her every need, usually with some sort of injection.

From the photos, it appears Belo is being placed on her feet manually with a power winch and cradle system.  Her hooves fail to carry her entire weight as the team of doctors preps Belo Horizonte for her next race using a swimming pool.  The whole process is just sick, the efforts her owners go through to keep her race-worthy.

Your intrepid reporter reached out to Mike the admin about the cruel conditions that Belo is currently living in.  The most I expected was a brusque retort “Dude, these aren’t real horses”.  Instead, the silence is deafening.

So, I reach out to you, the horse-racing community, to start a campaign to save this poor filly from a fate almost as bad as death, the continual racing over and over.  I honestly don’t see how poor Belo is able to stand.

Reach out to Mike and beg him to send this filly to the farm where she can  romp and play in beautiful sunlight, not be cooped up in a dark,  chain-wridden environment.  Belo Horizonte deserves a good  retirement!