Hell Horse Racing in the USA

The American Quarter Horse is the most numerically common horse breed in the world, with over 4.6 million registered horses.

A new 10-month PETA undercover investigation into underground horse racing exposes widespread doping, the use of electric shock devices, fatal collapses of horses, and injuries and deaths of jockeys.

From June 2021 to the end of spring 2022, PETA investigators documented hundreds of races – in which two to six horses are forced to race at breakneck speed – taking place at Rancho El Centenario in Milner and at Rancho El Canelo in Dalton.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal gambling were uncovered at Rancho El Centenario, the largest black-market racetrack in Georgia.

PETA has now filed complaints with federal, state, and local authorities, calling for criminal investigations into these and other actions that apparently violate numerous laws.

With no oversight by a state racing commission, horse doping is rampant. PETA investigators collected dozens of discarded syringes and/or needles used to inject horses shortly before races, and tests revealed that the syringes contained cocaine, methamphetamine, methylphenidate (Ritalin), and caffeine.

Jockeys whipped the horses relentlessly – often 20 times in a row – and used electric shock devices (also known as «Buzzers» or Chicharras), which would result in multi-year bans on conventional racetracks.

No veterinarians or ambulances were on standby. Numerous horses died, including both horses in a race in March 2022. One collapsed catastrophically, staggering with a broken, dangling leg, was shot in the head, and then dragged down the track by a tractor. The «winning horse» – just 5 years old – died of a heart attack. Jockeys also suffered serious injuries, including the notorious jockey Roman Chapa, who died from injuries sustained during a race at the track.

Jockeys and owners often earn more money at these black-market races than at regular Quarter Horse races. Large amounts of cash changed hands in person, and the races were streamed live on Facebook so that people could bet remotely.

«These unregulated races are a hotbed of drugs, whipping, electric shocks, and gambling – with horses doped on cocaine and meth and shot dead right on the racetrack«, said PETA Vice President Kathy Guillermo. «PETA is calling for an immediate criminal investigation into this shady underworld and the closure of this and similar racetracks.«

Unfortunately, it is known that there are unlicensed racetracks like Rancho El Centenario in at least 28 other states.