Six Jockeys & One Bookie Charged After Undercover Investigation Exposes Animal Abuse In Horse Racing

Six jockeys are charged with cruelty to animals, along with a bookie, for felony commercial gambling in horse racing in Georgia. The charges are based on evidence gathered in PETA’s undercover investigation into unregulated Quarter Horse races at two separate “bush tracks.”

This progress comes after a PETA victory in California, where they presented their findings to the state’s horse racing board, which then passed a groundbreaking regulation to prevent jockeys, trainers, and owners from participating in or even attending unregulated races. With this measure, California became the first state in the nation to ban its licensees from any involvement in unregulated Quarter Horse races.

Five of the jockeys who face charges in Georgia also race at licensed racetracks across the U.S., including Horseshoe Indianapolis (Indiana), Turf Paradise (Arizona), Louisiana Downs (Louisiana), Prairie Meadows (Iowa), Remington Park (Oklahoma), Red Mile Racetrack (Kentucky), Belterra Park (Ohio), Emerald Downs (Washington), Sam Houston Race Park (Texas), and FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (Illinois).

However, convicted felon Arthur “Brutz” English—owner of Georgia’s largest black-market track, Rancho El Centenario in Milner—has not yet been charged and continues to operate races at which horses are horrifically abused and doped.

English recently taunted law enforcement by creating promotional ink pens in the shape of syringes, printed with his track’s logo. During PETA’s investigation into Rancho El Centenario, the undercover investigators collected dozens of syringes from the racetrack, where hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal wagers changed hands.

PETA brought the videos and syringes collected during their undercover investigation into Georgia “bush tracks” to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which then worked with the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on planning a raid. However, the “three-letter agencies” balked at busting the track, told the USDA to stand down, and abandoned the investigation, leaving enforcement efforts to the local sheriff.

PETA then met with Lamar County Sheriff’s Office investigators and local prosecutors, persuading them to charge six jockeys with cruelty to animals and a bookie with felony commercial gambling. However, doping charges couldn’t be pursued, as the USDA had destroyed all the syringes that were collected.

Meanwhile, convicted felon Arthur “Brutz” English IV—owner of the Rancho El Centenario track in Milner, Georgia—has yet to be charged and continues to operate races at which horses are abused, doped, and die in horrific breakdowns.

Please sign PETA’s petition urging Governor Brian Kemp to take immediate action to shut down unregulated bush tracks operating in Georgia so that no more horses will be injected with street drugs, electroshocked, or die in gruesome breakdowns, HERE!