Horse Racing

An Illinois man was sentenced to 18 months in a Florida prison after pleading guilty to killing a racehorse so the owners could collect insurance money.

Harlow S. Arlie of Lake Forest, Ill., and Tommy Burns of Libertyville, Ill., were arrested on Feb. 2 in a Gainesville, Fla., suburb after Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services agents saw Arlie shatter a thoroughbred horse’s leg with a steel crowbar. The horse, a 7-year-old gelding, had to be destroyed.

The horse was insured for $25,000. Court records indicate that the owners of the horse offered the two men $5,000 to kill the animal. The owners were not charged.