Wake up and smell the horse manure
By Gina Spadafori
May 8, 2008
“[S]tudies have shown the catastrophic injury rate in Thoroughbred races typically hovers between 1.6 and 2.03 per 1,000 races.” — Daily Racing Form, May 5, 2008
***
Signs that the horse-racing industry doesn’t get it, even now:
On the Bloodhorse Web site, Steve Haskin dismisses the concerns of horse-lovers after the death of Eight Belles as being all about the folks at PETA (”[E]nough of PETA, protests, and poppycock”), shows a complete misunderstanding of the history of PETA, suggesting it started out an animal-welfare group, when it never has been anything but an animal rights group (”PETA began as a well-intentioned organization, and any lover of animals had to embrace their cause”) and then goes on to talk about how the Derby horses performed relative to their odds and their breeding.
In other words: Tough break on the filly, but let’s get back to business, shall we?
Oh, and he gave horse-racing a big and utterly undeserved pat on the back: “If [PETA] bothered to do their homework and joined together with Thoroughbred racing in its never-ending quest to provide the ultimate in safety for the horses …”
Yeah, right. Tell it to the Jockey Club, which has formed a committee to ”look into” the Derby Disaster, comprised of a group of the industry insiders. Uh-huh. I’d be surprised if the report offered anything earth-shaking, and even more surprised if it ended up anywhere except a file cabinet. Please, just this one time, prove me wrong for my cynicism. (NewYork Times horse-racing blogger Alex Brown calls for an independent panel, and I agree.)
And by the way, I’ll respect Big Brown’s Derby victory when drug-testing is industry-wide and when the horse is healthy and winning at four years of age and more after months of clear drug tests. But we won’t see that, most likely: Already, the Bloodhorse reports a stud deal is in the works.
Better get him off the track fast, boys, so he can pass those bad feet along. Get a fast profit, flip the asset and run like hell. What would you expect from Wall Streeters who are building a horse-racing investment empire and a trainer with a history of drug suspensions?
Mr. Haskin, you and the editorial staff at the Bloodhorse may kid yourself all you want, but it’s not just the folks at PETA who think racing is on the wrong track. It’s also the dwindling fan base you have left, and you’d better not keep dismissing us, along with the people within the industry who have been sounding the alarm all along. (Again, I called this tragedy the day before the Derby.)
In a moment of sad irony, my box seats for our Del Mar weekend have been confirmed and should be in my mailbox any day now. I wonder if I’ll still feel like going come August. My Breeder’s Cup World Thoroughbred Championships ticket order form sits in the middle of the dining room table (they’re being held in Southern California this year, at Santa Anita). I haven’t decided what to do, but with races for 2-year-olds on the program, I’m thinking of giving it a pass. Most tellingly, I haven’t been able to stomach one minute of the horse-racing cable channel since Saturday. (I usually have it on in the background on the weekends as I write, to watch the stakes races at the good tracks.)
More: Another difference between European and American racing is that in America, jockeys use the whip much much more. Noted horseman Monty Roberts (”The Horse Whisperer”) and track announcer Trevor Denman (who calls the races at Santa Anita, Del Mar and was the race-caller for last year’s Breeder’s Cup) have both criticized the use of the whip in American Thorougbred racing. Guess that’s just more poppycock, though.
Anyone in the horse racing industry who would offer commentary on the death of Eight Belles that sounds anything at all like “Enough of poppycock” is clearly on another plane than I am. Kinda like trying to explain the merits of a Canine Good Citizen test to a puppymiller. Just not going to reach…
Comment by slt — May 8, 2008 @ 9:47 am
Sounds like they still don’t get it! Thank you for keeping the issue in front of people’s eyes. Something has to change!
Comment by catmom5 — May 8, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
The stats on Thoroughbred catastrophic injuries work out (if I did the math right) to roughly 2 NBA players being euthanized on the court due to injuries each and every regular season. Wow!
Comment by slt — May 8, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
Money is the only thing that gets these people’s attention.
According to today’s USA Today (5-8-08) the TB industry currently enjoys $93 million of tax breaks. This gift is given to the racing industry under the Farm Bill, which is now under re-consideration.
The entire USA Today article can be seen at: http://tinyurl.com/6kkhpg
Excerpt:
>>Final figures were still in flux Wednesday, but the numbers Harkin was talking about would begin to phase out subsidies for farmers with annual income above $950,000, or $1.9 million per married couple.
>>That’s better than the $2.5 million maximum for an individual farmer now, but it’s not the reasonable $200,000 annual income limit President Bush proposed or the $500,000 he’d reportedly settle for. And the bill would do nothing to reduce or end the $40,000 a year in “direct payments” ($80,000 a couple) that go to many farmers whether they plant a crop or not.
>>Nor would the proposal limit dubious giveaways such as a $93 million tax break for thoroughbred race horses, or a price support program that protects U.S. sugar cane and sugar beet farmers. >>>
I can’t think of any good reason that this industry should receive a tax break at all. There is obviously too much greed in it already.
Senator Tom Harkin is the Agriculture Committee Chairman. I have already emailed him with my opinion. He can be contacted through his website at: https://harkin.senate.gov/c/index.cfm
Comment by Mary — May 8, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
I’m really happy you mentioned the tax break in the “farm” bill for race-horse owners. What a boondoggle.
Thanks for the information!
And remember, folks: Snail mail letters, faxes and phone calls count for more than e-mails in such cases. Phone calls are easy, and the people who answer the phone polite. So you be, too!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 8, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
Not only am I an animal lover, I’m a tax payer. And I object to tax breaks for this industry with its callous attitude.
Senate Agriculture Committee contact info:
Senate Agriculture Committee
328A Senate Russell Office Building
Washington, DC
20510
202-224-2035
202-228-2125
Comment by Mary — May 8, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
Keep those subsidies coming oh gullible tax payers, so more horses can be bred like this: the magic of ‘bondo’ aka Big Brown’s feet. http://tinyurl.com/64akq6
Comment by Deb — May 8, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Comment by Deb — May 8, 2008 @ 11:21 pm
Wow! It appears that the horse was raced more than his hooves could handle. But instead of resting him so he could recover, or retiring him due to having feet that break down under the stress of racing, they simply slathered on gobs of super glue. And apparently the whole thing is legal! I guess when people buy his offspring, they can get a complimentary tub of glue along with the pedigree.
Comment by slt — May 9, 2008 @ 5:50 am
Gina — bravo!!
Comment by Deanna — May 9, 2008 @ 10:24 am
Some of you may be interested in this. Read in my local paper this morning that retired jockey, Shane Sellers, has a book “Freedom’s Rein” where he is hoping the public will examine not only the industry treatment of animals, but the riders, as well. He states what people aren’t seeing on television are the young jockeys who are dying as a result of eating disorders. His quote “This is an ugly sport”. “I’m done and I’m glad.” “I would be embarrassed to be a part of it now”. His book reveals what jockeys must do to keep their weight down.
Comment by VJ — May 14, 2008 @ 7:06 am
Shane Sellers has been pushing for reform for a long time. The HBO documentary “Jockey” (2004, here’s more info) focused on his activism and on former jockey Randy Romero fighting for his life from healthy problems likely caused by a career spent keeping his weight down.
It’s well worth catching this documentary, if you can.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — May 14, 2008 @ 7:21 am