NO MORE MEAT-MEN AT MOUNTAINEER RACETRACK!

It has come to our attention that racehorses are being routinely picked up at your racetrack and are being bought directly to SugarCreek Auction, a notorious meat-market equine auction house, where they are being sold to killbuyers who bring them directly to slaughter. Two of the most known and infamous "meat-men" at Mountaineer are Wilson Langley and Dick Rudibaugh who make regular weekley "back-door" pick-ups at the barn / stable area of your track. Mountaineer Racetrack and the racehorse slaughter issue were recently featured on an HBO special, here are links to the videos, Pt 1 & 2;

HBO Mountaineer Racetrack Pt. 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04mvw6tTHrs 

HBO Mountaineer RaceTrack / Sugarcreek Auction Pt. 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSboR03WnjI

All the horses listed below are from Mountaineer Track and were sold to the meat-man on April 18, 2008; 

No Day Off: 2004 Dark bay or brown filly. Tattoo # H19563. 10 starts 0-0-3. Earned $3,993.00. Last raced, 4-12-08 at Mountaineer Park for owner/trainer Ricardo Hernandez. No Day Off was sent to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08, only 6 days after having not been able to finish in her last race. The comment on her race record reads "gave way, eased upper stretch." No Day Off's only crime was that she was too injured to race competitively. No day off was bred by Jerome C. Burdick and was foaled in Pennsylvania. No Day Off was slaughtered in a Canadian horse slaughter plant in April of 2008 at only 4 years of age.

Balachour Prince: 2001 Bay gelding. Tattoo # E14092. 26 starts, 3-7-3. Earned $43,485.00. Last raced 4-12-08 at Mountaineer Park for trainer, Bart Baird and owner, The Estate of Dale Baird. Balachour Prince was sent to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08, only 6 days after his last race in which he finished 10th, beaten 151/2 lengths. The comment on his race record reads "lost ground, tired."
Balachour Prince was bred by G.J. Collins Bloodstock and Holly Collins and was foaled in Ontario, Canada. Balachour Prince was slaughtered in April of 2008 at 7 years of age.

Crow Autumn: 2002 Dark bay or brown mare. Tattoo #F20759. 37 starts, 0-2-4. Earned $26,370.00. Last raced 4-12-08 at Mountaineer Park for trainer Bart Baird and owner, The Estate of Dale Baird. Crow Autumn was sent to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction only 6 days after her last race in which she finished 7th beaten 171/2 lengths. The comment on her chart reads, "in tight start, tired." Crow Autumn was bred by JB Enterprises Inc., and was foaled in California. Crow Autumn was slaughtered in April of 2008 at 6 years of age.

Arranged Marriage: 2004 bay filly. Tattoo # H27783. 6 starts, 0-1-2. Earned $18,897.00. Last raced
4-7-08 at Mountaineer Park for trainer Bart Baird, owner The Estate of Dale Baird. Arranged Marriage was sent to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08, only 11 days after her last race which she did not finish. The comment on her chart reads "bad step, vanned-off." Arranged Marriage was bred by Bass/Seeligson Partnership and was foaled in California. Arranged Marriage sold for $10,500 at the Barrett's Equine Limited 2007 Fall Mixed Sale. Arranged Marriage, clearly suffering from the injuries sustained in her last race, was slaughtered in April of 2008, at merely 4 years of age.
 
Point of Attack: 2004 Dark bay or brown filly. Tattoo # H05614. 22 starts, 2-1-5. Earned $25,654.00. Last raced on 3-25-08 at Mountaineer Park for trainer Penny L. Mathias, and owner, The Estate of Dale Baird. Point of Attack was sold for slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08, only 25 days after her last race in which she finished 6th beaten 11- 1/2 lengths. The comment on her chart reads, " Rated pace, wore down.". Point of Attack was bred by Point Break Partners and was foaled in California. This daughter of Bertrando sold for $32,000 at the Barrett's Equine Limited 2006 Mixed Sale. Point of Attack was slaughtered in April of 2008 at only 4 years of age.

Explosive Light: 1991 Bay gelding. Tattoo # U00446. 16 starts 1-1-0. Earned $9,375.00. Explosive Light was a steeplechaser who last raced in 1997. At the time he was last raced, he was trained by F. B. Miller and owned by John H. Peace. Explosive Light was bred by Fares Farm and was foaled in Kentucky. The well bred son of Majestic Light (73) -- Explosive Tobin (86), by Explodent (69) sold at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 1992 for $220,000. Explosive Light was sold to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08 and was later that month slaughtered at 17 years of age, following many years of service to his human connections.

Emerald Crossing: 2002 Bay mare. Tattoo # F24713. 7 starts, 0-2-0. Earned $3,339.00. Emerald Crossing last raced on 3-8-06 at Penn National where she finished 2nd, beaten only 1-3/4 lengths. The comment on her chart reads, "3-wide, evenly stretch." At the time of her last race, Emerald Crossing was trained by George R. Albright and owned by Landslide Farm. Emerald Crossing was sold to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08. Emerald Crossing was bred by Redmond C. S. Finney and was foaled in Maryland. Emerald Crossing was slaughtered in April of 2008, at 6 years of age.

Bohica: 2002 Bay mare. Tattoo # F34049. 34 starts, 3-7-3. Earned $33,290.00. Bohica last raced 7-9-07 at Mountaineer Park for owner/trainer Ashley J. Lewis, where she finished 9th, beaten 32-1/2 lengths. Bohica was sold to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08. Bohica was bred by F. W. Allen and was foaled in Florida. Bohica was slaughtered in April of 2008, at 6 years of age.

Another Passion: 2004 Bay filly. Tattoo #H14386. Starts 2, 1-0-0. Earned $6,925.00. Another passion last raced on 6-17-06 for trainer Art Sherman and owner Frederick J. Liebau, Sr. Another Passion won her last race by 3 lengths. Another Passion was sold to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08. Another passion was bred by Janet Sexton and was foaled in California. In January of 2008 Another Passion sold for $900.00 at the Barrett's Equine Limited January 2008 Mixed Sale. Another Passion was slaughtered in April of 2008 at only 4 years of age.

November News: 2003 Dark bay or brown gelding. Tattoo # G28014. November News never raced. He was bred by Kathryn C. Schultz and was foaled in Florida. November News was sold to slaughter via the Sugarcreek Auction on 4-18-08. November News sold for $3,000 at the Ocala Breeder's Sales Company 2004 Winter Mixed Sale. November News was slaughtered in April of 2008 at only 5 years of age.

We the undersigned, implore you to do away with the "meat-men" at Mountaineer Track. Do not allow these unscruplous meat-men on your property and find some other way to have the owners dispose of their racing industry "cast-off" horses. There are plently of rescues that would love to take those "unwanted" horses from the owners to save them a terrible fate. You might also want to consider starting a retirement fund for xracehorses that are no longer useful for racing, anything but the slaughterhouse, please. Americans wont stand for it anymore.  These horses have given their all to the cause of running for their owners pleasure and deserve a peaceful, easy retirement, not slaughter. Please keep the meat-men off your track find a way to help these horses into new homes or retirement. We, the horse lovers, protectors and advocates all across the Nation will help you.Just ask and help with come!
 
Below is a link to the Mountaineer Racetrack Horsemans Benevolent Association whos mission, in part, is to improve the image of thoroughbred racing in the state. Call them and let them know that they could GREATLY IMPOVE the image of horseracing in their state if they would NOT ALLOW the slaughter-house meat-men on the racetrack premices, reminding them that it  just dont look good for the industry to allow this practice, and that by allowing it, they are facilitating the slaughter; Here is the link to the On-Track Association;

http://www.mphbpa.com/about.php

and the phone number (304) 387 - 8334

You can also email the track manager at: Rwilliams@MTRGaming.Com
and let him know your thoughts on this.

Also, here is a petition to stop the cruelty at Leroy Bakers Sugarcreek Auction as featuted in the HBO videos above;

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-more-animal-cruelty-at-sugarcreek-please

We thank you for caring.