pet connection

Not much, but Scientific American does a good job of putting what pieces we do have together:

Veterinary experts are not dismissing the notion that modern horses might pay a genetic toll for their precocity. “Those of us who have seen how the breed has changed do believe that’s possible,” says Rick Arthur, equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board. But hard evidence remains scarce.

In Eight Belles’s case, an autopsy released yesterday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority found no preexisting bone disease or injuries that might have contributed to the injury, making it hard to pin the accident on any one cause. The horse’s owner has requested additional tests to prove that she had not been given steroids. [Update: Those tests were negative as well.]

Even as they look for hints of declining vigor among racehorses, vets and racing officials have taken steps they hope will reduce the chances of fatal accidents. Preliminary evidence from 34 tracks, collected since last June as part of the on-track injury reporting system, suggests that switching from dirt tracks to a synthetic blend of wax-coated silica sand, fibers, and rubber particles may improve horse safety.

Here’s the rest.

As for the Preakness today, I wouldn’t root for Big Brown if I had a thousand dollars on him at 60 to 1.

Nothing against him personally, of course. It’s what he represents. His lack of proven durability (I’m glad he hasn’t raced much yet — because of health issues — but he should prove he can compete as a grown-up before being retired to stud), his questionable feet, his “horse hedge fund” owners who seem to care about nothing but profit, his trainer with a history of illegally drugging his horses (and who gives the Derby winner steroids banned in 10 states, but legal in the Triple Crown states of Kentucky, Maryland and New York) and the deal in the works to get the horse off the track and into the big money pushing on those genes before he’s four says more about what’s wrong with horse racing than the heart-breaking death of Eight Belles.

Eight Belles was a tragic accident in a sport that will never be without risk. But Big Brown is horse-racing continuing to run headlong down the wrong road, setting itself up for generations of disastrous (and arguably preventable) horse deaths to come. The sport is racing towards oblivion, as people who care about horses will continue to turn away — even the most dedicated of fans, like me.

May all the horses come back alive today, not only in the Preakness but in all those other races across the country, where cheap claimers (ranks that always includes some former stakes-winning horses) are having the last nickle of value squeezed out of them on garbage tracks that need to be closed. I won’t be watching the Preakness (for the first time in memory), and I encourage you not to watch, either. And tell NBC and sponsors why: It’s past time for racing to reform.

The day before the Derby death got everyone talking about these issues, I wrote about problems. Here’s that post.