Victory! Auction Company Ends Deadly Timed Sprints for Young Horses
Update (July 1, 2025): Victory! Fasig-Tipton announced today that it is banning the reckless, sometimes fatal practice of whipping and forcing young horses to sprint short distances faster than they would ever race at its 2026 two-year-old Thoroughbred auction. In May, PETA released video of a young horse whose bones shattered during a sprint at Fasig-Tipton’s auction on May 15 in Maryland and contacted Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning, urging him to stop risking horses’ lives and allow untimed gallops only. We are relieved he has finally listened. PETA first exposed the danger of forcing physically immature horses to run at breakneck speed, just to drive up sales prices, in 2011 and has been advocating for an end to them since, repeatedly releasing video of the horses as their legs broke and they were euthanized on the track. We look forward to Ocala Breeders’ Sales following Fasig-Tipton’s progressive example.
Originally published May 29, 2025:
A young horse suffered a catastrophic injury during a speed trial, this time at the Fasig-Tipton auction in Timonium, Maryland. The heartbreaking moment when the 2-year-old filly shattered her legs and crashed on the racetrack was cut from the livestream footage, but not before PETA secured a copy to help make change for horses.
The disturbing footage shows the 24-month-old Thoroughbred filly crashing down to the racetrack, where she then somersaulted, revealing her shattered legs. The young horse had just turned 2 years old the day before she was forced to run to her death at breakneck speed for potential buyers.
After the young horse’s death, Fasig-Tipton took emergency measures and switched the final day of the trials from the dangerous timed sprints to a “gallop-only” format—which PETA has urged for years. PETA is now calling for the policy to be permanent and sent a letter to Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning, Jr., urging him to end timed breezes at auctions starting in the spring of 2026.
What Are “Under Tack Shows” and Why Are These Timed Sprints So Dangerous for Horses?
At two years old in training auctions, juvenile Thoroughbred horses are forced to sprint or “breeze” an eighth or a quarter of a mile as fast as possible in “under tack shows.” These are reckless speed trials in which these fragile young horses are forced to accelerate to speeds faster than they will ever run again in future races–just to impress potential buyers and artificially inflate sale prices.
As PETA has repeatedly exposed, these sprints often result in deadly injuries. In addition to damaging the animals’ developing bodies and risking fatalities, these timed breezes over short distances are also a poor metric for judging the horses’ abilities and future racing potential since they don’t resemble timed workouts that horses regularly run in training for real races. Sale prices at Fasig-Tipton’s auction were still robust even with the elimination of the timed breezes on the final day of the under tack show. In fact, of the horses who sold for $200,000 or above, more had galloped only than had been subjected to the sprints.
“Gallop-Only” Should Be Permanent
Horse sellers need to stop forcing physically immature horses to run past their literal breaking points in shameful displays to drive up sales. Please take a moment to defend young horses who are used for racing by telling the auction companies to end the deadly timed sprints and transition to “gallop only” starting in spring 2026:
