![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/peta-HORSES-master675.jpg\")
<\/a>The trainer Steve Asmussen ranks second in career victories, with more than 6,700.
Credit Danny Johnston\/Associated Press<\/p><\/div>\n
But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, after conducting an undercover investigation, has accused Asmussen and his top assistant trainer, Scott Blasi, of subjecting their horses to cruel and injurious treatments, administering drugs to them for nontherapeutic purposes, and having one of their jockeys use an electrical device to shock horses into running faster. As a result of its findings, PETA filed complaints with federal and state agencies in Kentucky and New York on Tuesday [18 Mar 2014], saying Asmussen \u201cforced injured and\/or suffering horses to race and train.\u201d<\/p>\n
The undercover inquiry was conducted by a PETA investigator who worked for Asmussen for four months in the spring and summer of 2013 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Nehro, center, the 2011 Derby runner-up, died last year. PETA recorded discussions of his foot problems. Credit Rob Carr\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n
The investigator used a hidden camera to record more than seven hours of video<\/a> that showed mistreatment of the horses to be widespread and cavalier. In addition, PETA produced a 285-page report about Asmussen\u2019s operations that consisted of the investigator\u2019s notes, medical documents and reports from veterinarians who reviewed the videotape.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is certainly a surprise to Mr. Asmussen and Mr. Blasi that anyone would deceptively get a job and keep surveillance and their notes on their conduct for the agenda of others,\u201d Clark Brewster, a lawyer for the two men, said Wednesday. \u201cThey will reserve comment with regard to any accusations until they have had the opportunity to fully review them. Then they will respond factually.\u201d<\/p>\n The New York Times reviewed the video and documents, along with the legal complaints, and interviewed the investigator and others involved in the operation, but played no role in the investigation. PETA shared the material on the condition that The Times not publish the investigator\u2019s name.<\/p>\n Video clips and the report depicted the Asmussen barn and the backsides of two of the United States\u2019 most storied racetracks as places where horses were treated as commodities and given numerous joint injections as well as tranquilizers, painkillers and supplements.<\/p>\n Over the past 30 years, PETA has aggressively assailed corporations for the way they treat animals and has run undercover investigations. But the Asmussen investigation was PETA\u2019s first significant step into advocacy in the horse racing world. The organization said the treatment of racehorses would become a priority for the group.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to know exactly what happens to thoroughbreds in a top racing stable,\u201d Kathy Guillermo, the senior vice president for PETA, said. \u201cIt was devastating to see sore, exhausted, drugged horses every single day. Some were in so much pain it hurt them even to stand, yet they were trained and run anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n PETA has also accused Asmussen of employing undocumented workers, requiring them to use false names on Internal Revenue Service forms, and conspiring with Blasi to produce false identification documents, according to the complaints filed with state and federal agencies. Asmussen also paid the PETA investigator $5.95 an hour \u2014 less than minimum wage \u2014 and did not pay proper overtime wages, according to complaints filed with the labor departments of Kentucky and New York.<\/p>\n Blasi was recorded discussing injured horses, as well as how one of his jockeys, Ricardo Santana Jr., 21, used a buzzer to shock horses, a practice that is banned in racing.<\/p>\n Santana\u2019s agent, Ruben Mu\u00f1oz, said the rider had never used an electrical device. \u201cHe\u2019s a good, hardworking kid,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said of Santana. \u201cI\u2019d put my neck out that he has no part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n The allegations come as horse racing continues to wrestle publicly with a drug culture that its officials concede has badly damaged the sport. A New York Times investigation<\/a> in 2012 showed how a pervasive drug culture, encouraged by trainers and aided by veterinarians, put horses and riders at risk. The Times found that 24 horses a week died at American tracks, a rate greater than in countries where drug use was severely restricted.<\/p>\n Congress has held multiple hearings and proposed legislation that would create stricter rules and give the United States Anti-Doping Agency authority to enforce them.<\/p>\n