Horse racing evokes images of fame, fortune, powerful horses and champion riders. It’s a world where the world’s richest people, gather to mingle and show their knowledge of the sport. This business has been under scrutiny for many years. The reason: some races were fixed. This all stems from the years where the mafia was extending its tentacles.
These kingpins saw in horse races a chance for money laundering. Initially, they only wanted to launder their winnings in their other lines of ‘business’. But some of them saw that there was a lot of money to be made in this sport. They saw that rich people were willing to bet big dollars in races. The only thing they needed to know was who the winner would be.
This is when they started to work with riders and own their race tracks. Having everything under their control ensured that they could dictate winners and get even richer in the process. They only needed to find the races where the rich were willing to bet millions and then bet millions on the ‘winner’. By doing this, it allowed these kingpins to operate their other shady businesses without the need of being physically there.
It also gave them an alibi in case there was a criminal case against them. Their fortunes grew but, in the end, everything was uncovered, and these people ended up paying for their crimes. After the arrests were made, there were some people who knew they needed to find a way to still make substantial amounts of money, but legally.
That’s when the practice in the following video was born. It’s known as the “Throwaway or disposable foals.” In this practice, some mares are impregnated with the sole purpose of favoring future racehorses. Basically, what they do is take the mother of the foals, who are not genetically favored and use her to lactate the more genetically favored horses.
After they finish lactating a few of these champion foals, they have almost no milk to give to their own offspring. No one really takes care of them. They are left for dead basically without anyone to defend them. But do you think that grim practices like these are still being done? Unfortunately, they are.
Fortunately for these horses, there’s still a haven they can go to. The name of this place is “The Last Chance Corral.” They are a large group of volunteers who help these horses who are the product of greed and so-called “business.” The horses go there and get the chance to live with dignity and surrounded by people who truly care about them. If you are curious about this place and the wonderful things they do, click on the video link below!
