Monday September 7, 2009, 2:20 pm
Racehorse's health restored 1 year after hellish descent
Today, Freedom's Flight moves with powerful grace, as befits a scion of Triple Crown winners. Little more than a year ago, he was sick, injured and nearly starved to death.
Horse slaughters on rise in Miami-Dade
Seventeen horses have been mysteriously slaughtered and butchered in Miami-Dade since January. The SPCA suspects the killings are feeding a black market for horse meat. There is a reward being offered for information.
Miami Herald Staff
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Horse slaughters on rise in Miami-Dade
Seventeen horses have been mysteriously slaughtered and butchered in Miami-Dade since January. The SPCA suspects the killings are feeding a black market for horse meat. There is a reward being offered for information.
Miami Herald Staff

* Horse slaughters on rise in Miami-Dade

* Abused horse from Triple Crown bloodline gets new life after rescue

Related Content

* More information on rescuing animals

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com

When rescuers found the horse, he was tied to a palm tree on a Northwest Miami-Dade farm where animals die for meat: a skinny, diseased wreck with rotting hooves and hide.

Only the tattoo inside his upper lip hinted at his regal bloodline: Freedom's Flight, descendant of Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Secretariat.

``Anything that could be wrong with a horse was wrong with him,'' said Richard Cuoto, now Freedom's Flight's owner. ``He's a fighter, but he had his head down, like, `Just shoot me.' ''

Freedom's Flight's descent from the thoroughbred circuit's pampered paddocks into equine hell took just three months after a mishap at Gulfstream Park. It's not possible to document each step of his sad journey, but Cuoto, a board member of the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, believes he was destined for the underground horse meat market.

``He was thrown away three, four times,'' said Cuoto, 38.

Freedom's Flight was born Feb. 16, 2005, at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky's Bluegrass region, linked to greatness by sire and dam.

His father, Pulpit, is the grandson of Seattle Slew, who won the Triple Crown in 1977. Freedom Flight's great-great grandfather, the legendary Secretariat, won it in 1973.

His mother is Heather's Flight, granddaughter of Nijinsky, great-granddaughter of Northern Dancer.

Herman Heinlein of Plantation, a retired New York landscape contractor, owns Heather's Flight and expected great things from her foal.

``We had high hopes,'' said Heinlein, 76, ``but these things happen.''

After the horse failed to draw a six-figure bid at Kentucky's prestigious Keeneland Yearling Sale, Heinlein sent him to Florida, where he raced for the first time Dec. 22, 2007, at Calder.

On April 4, 2008, after another two races, Freedom's Flight made his only run as a 3-year-old, at Gulfstream. Seconds after clearing the gate, his front leg snapped but didn't pierce the skin. He came from the back of the pack to finish third anyway.

``He's a competitor,'' said Cuoto. ``When they're on the track, they know where the finish line is . . . The jockey didn't know he was injured. Right after finish line, he started to break down.''

Trainer Jose Pinchin called Heinlein to report the injury.

``They told me his racing career was over,'' said Heinlein, who owns 100 horses. He faced a choice: pay to euthanize Freedom's Flight or, as Pinchin suggested, give him to Marian Brill, a 44-year veteran of Florida racing and a horse rescuer.

To a racehorse owner, an animal that can't run ``is a broken machine that don't work,'' Brill said. ``They get rid of it.''

Heinlein says he kept title to the horse ``because I didn't want somebody to get him back to racing.''

Still a stallion, Freedom's Flight could have undergone expensive treatment for his leg then become a breeder, but ``he never proved himself as a racehorse,'' said Brill, and since his famous ancestors begat hundreds of offspring, ``Why breed the one that's farther down the line?''

Brill, 58, said she ``started rehabbing him'' but his injuries were too daunting. Then, she said, a man whose name she didn't know bought him for $500.

``They loaded him on a trailer and left,'' she said.

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Monday September 7, 2009, 4:28 pm
This shows us how little regard there is for race horses after they've served their purpose... money..what a heartbreaking story!

Monday September 7, 2009, 6:28 pm
This is so sad but at least this one has a happy ending
Thanks Raffi

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 10:18 am
This horse was lucky to fall into the right hands, am happy that he has been restored to his former health.... So sad that the majority of thee horses are just used and abused...

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 11:20 am
Horses suffer the same fate as greyhounds once they are no longer able to race--abuse and death. There is no respect for their life, only greed for the money that can be made. So sad. I'm glad this one was rescued but it is heartbreaking the ones that aren't so lucky. Thanks Raffi

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 11:43 am
am shocked & horrified to read this , all the horses should be set free from racing & bad owners & given vaste open wild lands to run & gallop 24 hrs a day & become immortal divine , & the grasses would still grow back under their hooves.

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 12:30 pm
thanks raffi its so sad about racehorses and greyhounds when they can't make money they are thrown away at least this one had a happy ending

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 3:13 pm
Oh, Raffi, it all seems so wretched ... always us humans imposing our will on animals and on top of it only motivated by greed! Bless this beautiful horse and all the people that made his rescue possible! But Damnation to the ones that had more sinister purposes for him!

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 3:20 pm
Thanks everyone for your comments. It shows you the depth to which humanity can sink-beyond comprehension-this is a disposable society. Everything is used and thrown away but this Valiant and amazing creature is representative of what we do it all for!

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 3:21 pm
Oh, after reading the whole article, I had no idea that they tatoo race horse on the inside of their upper lip ....? This seems horrible to me (just like branding cattle) and I sure hope the horses are properly sedated ... at least until hopefully a time comes when using animals for personal profit will cease once and forever!

Tuesday September 8, 2009, 3:33 pm
I hope that Freedom's Flight new owner will be gentle and kind to him. Horses should never be forced to race. It's disgraceful and so sad. Thnx Raffi.