PETA Statement: Recent undercover investigation of Thoroughbred trainer Steve Asmussen

For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2014

Recent statements from prominent members of the racing industry have implied or stated outright that the 9½-minute video that PETA released was not an accurate reflection of what occurred in the Asmussen barn. If anything, the video is not as negative as it could be. PETA has made the entirety of the video available to officials with the New York Gaming Commission, and we are currently arranging to do so for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Among the items that we have not released publicly: evidence of more injured horses, more injections, more horses with sore legs, more chemical paint burns, more scars from freeze-firing, more photographs of drugs, more photographs of drug records, more injured horses treated for soreness for weeks but raced anyway, more evidence of immigration violations, more evidence of mismanagement of pharmaceuticals, more discussion about illegal buzzer use, and nearly 300 pages of detailed investigator notes about chronic soreness, injury, drugging, and suffering of horses. We and the rest of the world are waiting to see if the U.S. racing industry will talk, argue, and do nothing or if it will take meaningful steps to purge itself of the cruelty that is now its hallmark.