Illegal Match Racing in California

[Marsalon]

Recently, a match race was busted-up on a ranch in Lodi, California. This match race had 75 cars attending with numerous people taking bets and selling joints and beer. Two of the jockeys had ridden earlier in the day at the State Fair! A few arrests were made but all the ring leaders got off with no jail time.

I had a Mexican gentleman drop by the ranch the other day looking for horses to buy cheap and race. In broken English he showed me pictures of "his" horses match racing in the orchards. He drove an old truck and there is no way this guy was a land owner or owned a training facility. But I know fit, groomed race horses when I see them.

With a number of my horses (including two stakes horses) permanently ruined by broken sesimoids, bowed tendons, and broken tibias in routine training (not racing or timed works) I started to become suspicious. I did some investigating and here's what I have learned:

Illegal racing in the orchards and vineyards in California is big money. Participants are often grooms and stable personnel at the major race tracks. These guys can easily clear $10-15K in an afternoon. Much of the money involved is drug money from Mexico. The horses used are STOLEN from the track and returned later in the evening. The very people benefiting from expensive day rates and post race tips are in some cases "borrowing" the horses they care for and racing them illegally. The owners of these horses never know that their horse is being used. The deep, uneven surface in orchards is fertile ground for hyperextension injuries when horses are redlined for 1/4 mile sprints.

Trainers themselves may be oblivious to the deeds of their stable hands, turn a blind eye, or be active participants. I've always wondered why certain trainers have such lower personnel turnover while paying minimum wage, if some of these folks were making big money on the side, the economics start to make sense.

As owners and breeders, we need to discuss this problem with our trainers. Be on the look out for any unexplained injuries like "he went out jogging, came back fine, but we discovered a broken sesimoid the next morning." Unannounced visits to the barn during non-prime hours might be time well spent. Branding race horses, as distasteful as the notion seems, might help prevent them being used illegally.

[foothillsequine]

What? Really? Do they not have security on the track? How does something like this happen?

[Marsalon]

A simple Google search yields the following:

Article on the subject:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/the-other-side/california-men-face-allegations-of-illegal-races-with-horses-on-coke-meth/story-e6frfhk6-1225905754507

Here they got off:

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110416/A_NEWS/104160330/-1/a_news09

Here's one in OK:

http://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/8801387.html

[foothillsequine]

Unbelievable. I did notice however, that the dates on the articles you so kindly posted were rather outdated. So, shall I assume this has been going on for quite some time? Again, unbelievable. If someone did this with one of my horses, they would know my wrath, in no uncertain terms.....

[Marsalon]

It's been going on for quite some time. However, the money and attendance is getting bigger and bigger. And with this growth comes the increased need for more horses.

Security at the tracks is a joke. Fill out a slip, put down a name, any name, and you're on your way . . . same with a return.

[Crystal]

sad, but it might be the only drug free horse racing in america.. well atleast for the horse and not the crack head "borrowing" horses..

[bdw0617]

I find it ironic that the only profitable racing in california is illegal horse racing

[Dave C]

I find it ironic that the only profitable racing in california is illegal horse racing

They learnt from the Wall Street Banks: If the horse breaks down it's yours, if it wins a purse it's theirs.

[Mickey the Marcher]

sad, but it might be the only drug free horse racing in america.. well atleast for the horse and not the crack head "borrowing" horses..

Hardly. These horses are often cranked up on all kinds of imaginable stuff. I've heard stories of Peyote buds being rubbed on horses hind quarters in parts of Coahuila and Chihuahua. Match racing is real big in northern Mexico and over the border in south Texas and parts of NM. With the migration of Mexican labor northwards in the last couple of decades you'll find it in places as far east as Florida and the Carolinas.
Some of these horses become local legends in Mexico and have Corridos (ballads) written about them.
You can find loads of youtube clips of these races.

[photofinish]

Real common in NM, they don;t even try to hide it. I don;t think there are any "stolen" horses, though, these guys have some really big bucks. One of the bigger trainers in NM (QH & TB) had a QH last year they ran in a $50,000 match. When these guys match they have to put up the purse money and it is winner take all. No Anglo beyyer show up at one without a damn good escort/invite, however. And, yeah, alot of the horses are hopped up an anything and everything. Lot of drug money fueling the "sport" .

As far as the guy who came to your place, don't be to hasty to judge. Not speaking English well has no direct bearing on intelligence. If he was looking for cheap horses he would not want to look too wealthy, now would he?

[Sysonby]

Real common in NM, they don;t even try to hide it. I don;t think there are any "stolen" horses, though, these guys have some really big bucks. One of the bigger trainers in NM (QH & TB) had a QH last year they ran in a $50,000 match. When these guys match they have to put up the purse money and it is winner take all. No Anglo beyyer show up at one without a damn good escort/invite, however. And, yeah, alot of the horses are hopped up an anything and everything. Lot of drug money fueling the "sport" .

Agree with all of the above including the skepticism about the horses being stolen. Even if everyone from the gate guard on down was in on it, I was trying to figure out the logistics of taking a horse from a California track to the San Joaquin Valley and back the same day. That's got to be 400 or 500 miles of hauling round trip and why do that when there are TBs available practically for the asking.

[griff]

I've done match racing in the FL Panhandle, even drove a sure fire sleeper over to red stick where they cleaned my clock.

I'm sure everything is differient now but I don't think I ever saw a horse at the races that i thought migh have come from a TB race track.. Fact is I don't TBs would have done very well in these 400 to 500 yard races.

Again, this was far far away in another time but can not understand how anyone could clear even close to $10k at one of these races.. Not a whole lot of money in the matches and the betting was not that serious..

there was ample beer and joints if you were so inclined but nothing really got out of hand as trouble seemed to attact the wrong people and was usually taken care of very quickly..

also, if you made a bet and won, the looser found you and paid his debt..Never saw that tradition fail.

griff

[toadie]

Security at the tracks is a joke. Fill out a slip, put down a name, any name, and you're on your way . . . same with a return.

Really? They certainly aren't that lackadaisical at Lone Star, but that's my only experience hauling in and out of a "rated" track. Training tracks around here are more nonchalant though.

[ireneinwa]

Ive never heard of anyone taking a horse from the track to a match race.

[Tucumcari]

I find it ironic that the only profitable racing in california is illegal horse racing

Epic post!!!
There are lots of guys who match race. I know of several.