Drawn a couple weeks ago, polychromos on 8.5x11 sketch paper. Took around 3 hours total. Racehorse Wake at Noon.

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On the morning of June 29th, 2010, the paging system at Woodbine rang out several times: “All vets to the ¼ pole on the training track, repeat: All available vets to the training track.” Hundreds of workers on the backstretch felt their hearts jump, knowing something devastating must have occurred. Yet when they discovered the details of that page, rage ensued.

Wake At Noon won 21 of 67 career starts, earned $1,681,386, and became Canada’s horse of the year in 2002. He was champion older sprinter, and ran 5th in the 2000 Queen’s Plate. In 2004 he was retired to stud duty but was infertile. He returned to racing that fall and ran through 2005 and 2006. I worked at the track during this time and found it odd they were running this 8 year old horse in races obviously beneath him, but he looked fit and was doing fine. However, he ran his last race on November 18th, 2007 after an injury and was vanned off the track. Most horses are lead on foot back to the barn after races, the only time they are vanned is if they are injured severely enough that they cannot walk.

On Tuesday, June 29th, 2010, Wake at Noon, owned by Bruno Schickendanz, was vanned into Woodbine racetrack. Woodbine has several rules regarding which horses can have stalls at the track, some based on age, others based on race record and registration. Wake at Noon, at 13 years old, and unraced since November 2007, should have not been allowed onto the track under any circumstances. The trainer who had signed his in-slip, Tom Marino, was aware of the horse’s identity, and the rules regarding horses allowed onto the track.

Through some form of falsification, Wake at Noon managed to clear security. Whether he was declared a lead pony, or given a false identity, who knows. The point is- the trainer and owner lied to get him on the track. He was taken off the van and immediately sent to the track for a workout, with no down time to acclimatize, as one would do with a horse being brought back to racing. He was also not galloped or brought back to fitness but rather taken off the van and sent for a timed workout. Wake at Noon had previously never been trained by Tom Marino. His previous trainers, during his younger racing career, had refused Schickendanz’s request to work Wake at Noon under their permission.

During the workout, Wake at Noon broke his front foreleg, fell, and then broke the other leg trying to get back up. He was euthanized on the track. His owner mentioned that Wake at Noon took a “misstep” in one interview, and later said he was spooked by another horse. However the rider, who condoned the workout, said there were no other horses in the vicinity.

Both Bruno Schickendanze and Tom Marino had been barred from entering horses or keeping stalls at Woodbine following the event. Bruno Schickendanz has been a well known owner at Woodbine for a long time, and owned a large amount (500+) of racehorses at the time of the ban.

Schickendanz was given a lifetime ban; Marino’s was indefinite. In August he actually tried to appeal the ban. Several trainers, including two who had trained Wake at Noon in his prime, were questioned and were appalled. I can’t help but notice how Bruno was obviously being sneaky by using some unknown trainer rather than calling up any of these guys. He also stated he couldn’t remember that Wake at Noon was vanned off the track in 2007.

One of the deciding factors in the ban was that Schickendanz did not feel he did anything wrong, therefore the likelihood of recurrence was high.

Sadly, a similar situation involving Schickendanz happened not too long ago with a horse named Victoriously Bold. However, I will leave it to you guys to google that as this has already become too long. He also claimed a horse I knew named Cifercat, who our trainer had written off as mediocre at best, and ran him in the Prince of Wales stakes at Fort Erie.

See here for the full story: [link]

I must also mention how well Woodbine has handled this issue. Woodbine is well known to be one of the safest tracks in North America. The horse broke down in the morning, out of public eye. The incident could have easily been hushed up, but rather, it was blown wide open. Technically, no rules were broken, so Woodbine did not have to ban him, and even at that, a lifetime ban is unheard of. Even horses who test positive repeatedly only result in suspensions. Needless to say, people were incredibly pissed that this happened.

Rest in peace Wake at Noon. A horse that gave so much and deserved better. The people who did this to you deserve worse than they recieved.