We activists talk often about horses falling through the ranks � their value dropping with their �production� as they make their way from elite tracks to seedy racinos. More often than not, this ends badly � for most, slaughter, for others, simply being run into the ground, with each successive �connection� trying to suck one last dime from the increasingly spent horse. The recently deceased 9-year-old Ike Walker (below) is a prime example of the latter.

Ike was made by Buck Pond Farm in January 2012. Like the chattel he was, Ike was peddled for $125,000 at a Keeneland yearling sale. First raced at two (of course) in July 2014, Ike would spend the first five years or so of his �career� running at what are considered some of the best tracks in America � Arlington, Keeneland, Churchill, Oaklawn, Del Mar, Santa Anita. Those early years saw several stakes races�