[DickHertz]

In the last four weeks of racing, the following horses have either broken down or have been eased...all were owned by Mr. Michael Gill

October
14: Catch me (broke down)
14: BL's Lucky Appeal (broke down)

15: Invisible Fire (broke down)

20: Hooray Riverside (eased)
20: Mateland Close (eased) Has returned to run several races, however

21: Igor (eased)

24: Dippi Trippi (eased) Did return to racing in Texas in January
24: Smashing Glass (broke down)
24: Fancy Free Kelli (eased)

November
6: Skiptomloumydarlin (broke down)

7: Otis of Atlantis (eased) Returned to race one time in December

11: Monsoor (returned lame)

December

18: Lion's Pride (broke down)

January

21: Melodeeman (broke down)

23: Laughing Moon (broke down after wire)

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Yet, nothing is being done by the officials at Penn National. No pre-race exams, no monitoring of barns, very few post-parade scratches. And even worse, nobody seems to care or is embarrassed by the continuing trend.

Even if you figure Gill starts six per night, that's still an immensely high breakdown rate.

[judybigredpony]

If you think thats bad go have a look inside "Elk Creek Ranch" up tthe drive past the security gate.
Once inside you pass his neatly piled red canisters of "Bio Waste and Sharps right outside his fully stock in house pharmecy. With the banks of security cameras carefully watching everyones move.
Past the rows of wash stalls w/ horses either being injected, being prepped, or just finished, down the endless maze of clean stalls w/ fat, yes, shiny, yes, totally miserable faced horses. Some digging huge craters from pain of broken,chipped,slabbed, and achey joints (waiting for the weekly one way ride) to the new arrivels w/ freshly slit throats. A never ending factory for misery. And in truth they are well feed, well groomed and aesthetically well cared for horses. There are no rescues to be had or bought for rehab. Its a one way life for those horses and anyone who does NOT go claim their horse back needs to remember we all face a final judgement. This not a naive gospel rant, but when does this man get stopped. Ruled off forever, no horses ever to run in his name or any entity he is affiliated w/.
The revolving door of trainers there and on the track, the revolving door of help. A governing body unto the land of "Gill".

[AppJumpr08]

Makes me beyond sad and sick...

[cloudyandcallie]

Please keep reporting this. It's been going on at too many tracks for too many years. The horses are suffering and dying and the people responsible aren't being punished.

[Creaghgal]

Makes the ride to the slaughter house look like a fun ride after suffering in places like that......

Sweet release.

Too sad for words.

[DickHertz]

Please keep reporting this.

I will keep updating, hopefully, not that often. However, considering the person involved as well as the body overseeing this activity - I have a feeling there will be some saddening updates in the coming months.

[Barnfairy]

I really don't think it's a case of people not caring. I think it's more that the racing system as it stands is not set up to eliminate persons such as Gill, particularly tracks which are so desperate for entries (I don't know if Penn is one of those, but Suffolk sure is.)

[judybigredpony]

No one is going to put a stop to a person who fills entries.

Do you all want to make an impact...write, shout, and then start over.
Send leters to ever track commissioner and the JC and racing governing body, Loudly protesting and keep the pressure onnon stop, Name his break downs in bold letters dailey, Shun those who do his work.
Pressure every track vet to scrutinize his post parade horses.
Pressure to have everything he runs tagged n Super tested..every time...he will be getting days for sure. If they got pulled enough he would move to a new track and the pressure needs to be applied again and again. The Squeeky wheel gets the grease.
Some brave soul w/ some journalsitic b***s should go under cover @ his farm, now theres a smoking gun.
But none of this will get done. We will cry n denounce him but it will keep on going.
And No he is in such a minority he can not be lumped w/ other trainers, we should not villafey all for the few.
He is in the "land of Gill" a entitey unto itself.
Until the vets stop working for him, and trainers stop running his horses, stalls get denied, tracks refuse him license, ownership n abilitey to claim denied he will keep it up.
You don't sell him feed, or straw or hay, you don't shoe his horses you don't ship them and you don't take his money.
Some will but if enough say NO it slows the process...if he claims it go get it back. Start taking his stuff before he has it for to long.
Its all a one way street so start double parking and squeeze him.

[DickHertz]

I really don't think it's a case of people not caring. I think it's more that the racing system as it stands is not set up to eliminate persons such as Gill, particularly tracks which are so desperate for entries (I don't know if Penn is one of those, but Suffolk sure is.)

Penn Gaming can bar any person they want to at any time for any reason.

The last time I checked, Penn only trailed Evangeline Downs for number of horses per race.

[mroades]

No one is going to put a stop to a person who fills entries.

Do you all want to make an impact...write, shout, and then start over.
Send leters to ever track commissioner and the JC and racing governing body, Loudly protesting and keep the pressure onnon stop, Name his break downs in bold letters dailey, Shun those who do his work.
Pressure every track vet to scrutinize his post parade horses.
Pressure to have everything he runs tagged n Super tested..every time...he will be getting days for sure. If they got pulled enough he would move to a new track and the pressure needs to be applied again and again. The Squeeky wheel gets the grease.
Some brave soul w/ some journalsitic b***s should go under cover @ his farm, now theres a smoking gun.
But none of this will get done. We will cry n denounce him but it will keep on going.
And No he is in such a minority he can not be lumped w/ other trainers, we should not villafey all for the few.
He is in the "land of Gill" a entitey unto itself.
Until the vets stop working for him, and trainers stop running his horses, stalls get denied, tracks refuse him license, ownership n abilitey to claim denied he will keep it up.
You don't sell him feed, or straw or hay, you don't shoe his horses you don't ship them and you don't take his money.
Some will but if enough say NO it slows the process...if he claims it go get it back. Start taking his stuff before he has it for to long.
Its all a one way street so start double parking and squeeze him.

And then get sued for it......

[Arcadien]

And then get sued for it......

In light of this thread, and many questions in my head, I'm finally posting public - one of the horses I raised from a yearling til 3 was claimed by Gill in the spring.

He's run hard a few times for him in the last half a year, leading in the calls but not hitting the board, until just second last time out.

Keep hoping he's okay, or that he'll get claimed by someone else but as far as I know, I think he's still there. Not in the racing loop anymore, all I know are the old insinuations about Gill, not any facts. But you folks seem to know more, none of it good, so please,

What can I do? I think he is stabled at Phila Park, he runs there, sometimes at Penn Nat. His name is "New Yankee Man", a blood bay now 4 yo gelding, with white star.

PM or email me please if information is too delicate -

just want to keep track of this horse until he isn't earning his keep racing, especially since he seems to be in bad hands....so I can do as much as I can to be a safety net for him when/if he needs one...

Thanks,
arcadiafarm@juno.com

[Laurierace]

Contact Gill and tell him you want to provide a home if and when the horse needs one. You would be doing him a favor so he will be happy to hear the news. Then sit and wait and be ready to move the minute you get the call. And take the horse no matter what his condition. Here's hoping the horse is protecting himself and gets to come home to you shortly.

[TBMaggie]

Could someone here explain what the 'freshly slit throat' thing is about? I am very curious.. and would this procedure leave any tell-tale signs/scars?
Thanks! I have a gelding (13 now) who has a very weird neck scar.

[Laurierace]

He routinely does myectomies. This generally does not leave a scar but its possible. He claimed Sylvester from me years ago. Sylvester was nine at the time and had come very close to equally track records in his last few starts. I got him back the first time they ran him and he had a semi healed myectomy. I thought if ever a horse had proven he could breathe....

[Laurierace]

He routinely does myectomies. This generally does not leave a scar but its possible. He claimed Sylvester from me years ago. Sylvester was nine at the time and had come very close to equally track records in his last few starts. I got him back the first time they ran him and he had a semi healed myectomy. I thought if ever a horse had proven he could breathe....

[Calamber]

This man is a butcher, pure and simple. I would think that if you looked at the financiers, that is, who is Penn National Gaming Inc. you would get far more of an answer as to why there is no action against someone who commits such criminal acts. Can someone take pictures of the "sharpies" and any of the other activity going on there such as what has been described before, myectomy day where horses are just laid out with cut throats whether they need it or not? I know of one trainer at Charles Town (PNGI owned) who was thrown out because he had needles in his truck from the vet who worked on his horse. He forgot they were there. One time and he was out, but Dickie already had it out for him. Small time thugs, maybe sometimes big time thugs and people are afraid of them, sometimes for very good reason. I know I was always careful about where I went and when, when I was working for him. We had a high win ratio and we were not part of the GOB network.

It just takes one person to make this kind of torture go away, yes, you are in danger of becoming a "statistic" or unemployed if your livelihood depends upon this environment. It reminds me of what I think is going on at some of the breeding farms. I know that the youngstock are being given growth hormones to fatten them and overfed to give them "bloom" for the sales. There are vets who provide that service, same goes for them. Just like the narcotics trade, there has to be a customer and and there will be a provider, only unless you trace out the money trail will you be able to get the kind of lowlifes that protect them It is not something you want to do willy nilly and certainly not alone. It does take a community of people with guts and who will back each other up, keeping people afraid and pitted against each other, that is their MO.

As far as the person with the horse, I really feel for you but I do not think he will follow up or respond to your call about the horse you care about. As far as I know there are a few "trainers" who give orders that their horses are not to be given to "rescue", or to someone who they view as a "bleeding heart", and he sounds like just such a cold sob.

As far as I know, he will not let his horses go out the door unless they are sold, and only when they are used up or claimed before that happens. It is strictly dollars for him. Nothing more. If it were my horse and I could do it, I would just claim it, no sense in waiting for the inevitable.

[judybigredpony]

Calamber I was offered up 5-6 Gill horses...for free...and they were not worth the gas it took to drive over. A quick out forever was the kindest thing for them all.

Sharps containers...you can have what ever you want on your own property.
Don't look in my fridge or trash. Farms do not fall under any tracks jurisdiction.

Which is one reason why he has one, w/ Equisizer, gate and track. Private not visable from road w/ a security gated driveway and really no one knows the place is even there.

When he was in financial problems he tried to sell the place but none of teh sales ever took, and really is so big and such a "Warehouse" like place who would want to stable there.

Center area over offices n wash stalls is 2 story and houses help.

[DickHertz]

I think it should be noted that Gill's win rate and breakdown rate has increased since the hiring of convicted felon Cole Norman at Elk Creek Ranch.

[SleepyFox]

Dick, Penn really isn't doing pre-race vet checks? Are they scratching anything in the paddock?

I'm curious - how do Gill's horses look in the paddock and post? Are these horses visibly lame? Does he have trouble getting a jock?

I have a couple of points to make after reading the replies...
A track cannot single out one person's stock to perform random tests on. That's not a road we need to head down b/c it could just as easily lead to someone being excluded from testing. It needs to be random. Also, remember Gill has a high win percentage and starts a lot of horses - his stock gets tested pretty frequently.

Myectomies are not the same as "slitting the throat." Let's get real people. Gill (like most big barns) runs a cookie cutter operation. I don't think every horse needs a myectomy, but Gill thinks it can't hurt, so he does it. It's his money and it really doesn't hurt the horse. Painting the procedure as a sign of a butcher isn't accurate.

Sharps containers on the farm are actually a sign of responsible management (he knows how to dispose of needles properly!). Not a sign of a butcher. Assuming the presence of needles means something sinister is kind of silly. And, if he has a horse sore enough to be digging a hole in his stall, do you really want him NOT to treat it? That doesn't make sense.

I'm not saying the guy is a saint, but some of the accusations here just don't make sense.

[DickHertz]

Sleepy Fox. In the receiving barn, yes (a 20 foot jog only), on the backside, no.

However, as someone who used to ship into the receiving barn my whole life until recently, I've seen these horses come into the receiving barn and nod at a jog only to have the state vet say "ok". Part of the problem at Penn National is the State Vets SUCK. I mean SUCK. The lady with glasses and blonde hair does not know what a lame horse looks like unless it's leg is snapped off. I've seen horses limping in the paddock and looked at her and asked myself "are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Dr. Pack is no dummy, but he typically is not the scratching vet and in my opinion, he let's them run when he sees them sore.

Regarding testing, that is a whole different discussion. We all know the testing is a joke in this country.

Pre-race exams, not just jogging, and cameras in Gill's barn would at least chip away at the problem but not eliminate it.

Regarding the horses, they look OK. Not any better or any worse than the average horse at Penn National. The horses a lot of times don't look lame in the paddock because I'm sure they know how to take the pain away. Why else would an 8 year old (skiptomloumydarlin) break down? You don't see older horses breaking down very often because, if treated with respect, they run to their ability and soundness capability. Take the pain away and you have a catastrophic breakdown.

Regarding jocks...there is a never ending line of riders wanting to ride for him. Some have jumped ship. Horses not ridden by William Otero tend to be the ones with the most risk of breaking down. Otero rides first call, often on the sounder ones, then there's 4-5 riders who play roulette with the others (Garcia, Lloyd, Castro, et al)