Respect horses in triumph, tragedy

T. D. THORNTON
Published: May 7, 2008

Will the death of the Kentucky Derby runner-up spur any real, meaningful change within the thoroughbred racing industry? Does it take a nationally televised catastrophe to bring about significant, long-term betterment to racehorse safety?

Eight Belles was the unfortunate talk of the nation after collapsing past the wire in the Kentucky Derby. But the ill-fated filly was not the only thoroughbred whose career took an abrupt and ugly turn on the first Saturday in May — she just happened to be the only one whose death was witnessed by millions of people.

There were 15 horses at 39 North American tracks who failed to finish a race Saturday. Nine of them were reported to have been so injured or unsound that they had to be driven off the track in an equine ambulance. Although the official result charts published online by the Daily Racing Form do not provide any veterinary commentary beyond “broke down,”“pulled up,” or “went wrong,” a gut feeling based on racetrack experience leads me to presume that some of those stricken animals met the same beyond-hope fate as Eight Belles, and required euthanasia.

I grew up around cheap racehorses on the old New England circuit, and I have always admired the grizzled veterans of the low-caste claiming levels for their underdog nobility. Maybe that’s why I always feel a twinge of uneasiness when a high-profile horse accident gets tremendous play in the news media. Everyday racetrack tragedies are far more common, yet are routinely ignored. Obscure, hard-luck horses slip off the radar with little notice or fanfare, while even a minor injury to a major horse knocks the racing world off its axis.

If you’re a true supporter of the sport, it should be irrelevant whether a horse who is injured or dies is worth $4 million or $400. Grief and outrage aren’t doled out in relation to a horse’s value or the class level at which it competes. Although recent headlines might indicate otherwise, the owner, the trainer, the jockey and the groom of Eight Belles aren’t entitled to a deeper sadness or sense of loss than, say, the handlers of Hack Rein, an 0-for-7 maiden who “broke down in the upper stretch and was vanned off” in the third race at Evangeline Downs in Louisiana, barely an hour after the Kentucky Derby.

The list goes on: Sparkling Sherry was an 8-year-old mare who hadn’t won a race since 2003 when she was abruptly pulled up at Indiana Downs on Saturday. Middle Earth was jerked to a halt by the jockey Alex Birzer in the stretch at Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma, and you have to wonder what was going through Alex’s mind when he sensed something was amiss with his mount (his younger brother, Gary, was paralyzed in a West Virginia racing accident four years ago). At tiny Les Bois Park in Idaho, a 12-year-old gelding named Northern Land made it only to the half-mile pole in what may end up being his final race.

Unlike Eight Belles, whose tale will be told for decades to come, the only historical record of Northern Land’s misstep will be a cryptic footnote, a dozen-year thoroughbred career distilled into a single line of agate type that reads nothing more than “trailed, pulled up ½.”

Big Brown will be running lame in the Belmont this weekend,for his sake,I hope he doesn't have to suffer to win the triple crown.

esther wrote:

Big Brown will be running lame in the Belmont this weekend,for his sake,I hope he doesn't have to suffer to win the triple crown.

Since 9-11 the people of New York have been looking for something positive, like a triple crown winner, saturday, but should it come at the expense of the horse, I hope to that the horse doesn't break down in the stretch with his leg dangling, that would be horrible.

I heard the horse is not sound but there running him for greed. which is ok. if I put 50g to win on the horse and he comes down the stretch and busts his legs up, thats not fair to the bettor.

Sharon wrote:

<quoted text>
If it were up to me all animals including owners would have loving homes..not being used for sport...that's not love...that called GREED...but you people who want hotse racing could care less...I may be a "smart mouth" but that's better than being a "dumb" horse rave lover who doesn;t care what happens to these beautiful animals...Mary Loy Whitney can afford to a philanthropist because she makes her monwy off the backs of her horses...What a woman!! Your ramblings don;t even make sense...my niece owns horses and she doesn't race them....she LOVES them and cares for them...as along as their are people like you who want to be entertained and win a few bucks on a horse there will be this abuse...You should be really proude of your ignorance...it definitely comes shining through!!

First of all, horses like your daughter have are pets, which in all actuality is not good for a horses health,less activity means a lot of health issues,what does she have-Mr. Ed- lol, secondly, if your going to call me names,at least learn how to spell.

some misinformed person wrote this.

I'm glad the picture was printed...let people see the ugliness of horse racing...no one asks the horse if they want to run their 2000 lb. body on a pair of legs no bigger than a thin piece of spaghetti!!!It's people who are stupid and ignorant enough to allow this...for their own pleasure...my, my aren't humans just wonderful!!

THIS DUMB azz is so stupid i am not going to even correct her mistakes . wow people get a new brain or use the one you got

darren you do not have a clue-i am not even going to tell you why .do a little research it might be good exercise for that thing you hang your ears on.geeze i thought humans were smarter than this.

heard the horse is not sound but there running him for greed. which is ok. if I put 50g to win on the horse and he comes down the stretch and busts his legs up, thats not fair to the bettor.

bad john wrote:

darren you do not have a clue-i am not even going to tell you why .do a little research it might be good exercise for that thing you hang your ears on.geeze i thought humans were smarter than this.
heard the horse is not sound but there running him for greed. which is ok. if I put 50g to win on the horse and he comes down the stretch and busts his legs up, thats not fair to the bettor.

What are you a Mustang fan?

I was watching a race last night from Evangeline, the horse was leading near the finish and both his legs were broken, plus a broken neck, the jockey was ok though.

darren k wrote:

I heard the horse is not sound but there running him for greed. which is ok. if I put 50g to win on the horse and he comes down the stretch and busts his legs up, thats not fair to the bettor.

You called it!

Gallup poll finds 40% support for horse racing ban

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A Gallup poll taken in the week following Eight Belles' death at the Kentucky Derby finds nearly 40% of Americans express support a ban on sports that pit animals against each other, including thoroughbred racing.

The poll was taken May 8-11, after Eight Belles collapsed and died after finishing second in the May 3 Derby.

Specifically, the poll found 16% of the 1,017 adults it surveyed strongly favored a ban on animal vs. animal sports, and another 22% were somewhat in favor. Also, 34% were strongly opposed to the idea, and 25% were classed as somewhat opposed.

The report comes amid thoroughbred racing's highest-profile time of year, with Saturday's Preakness race about to decide the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

SI.com 's Tim Layden writes that the sport is on edge, desperately hoping nothing will go amiss with Saturday's race. The NY Post compares favorite Big Brown to another horse that had a tragic ending in a Triple Crown race, Barbaro. Meantime, a necropsy of Eight Belles shows the filly had no pre-existing condition that could have foretold her breakdown.

And the Louisville Courier-Journal says Eight Belles' death won't be forgotten, but that a Big Brown victory Saturday could turn the sport's focus back to the prospect of ending horse racing's longest wait for a Triple Crown winner.
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Peta Wins Historic Victory in KFC Campaign

Canada Gives In to PETA's Demands-

For more than five years, PETA has been pressuring fast-food chain KFC to stop the worst abuses of chicken-

**Scalding birds to death.

**Slitting their throats while conscious.

**Drugging and breeding them to grow so
large they cripple beneath their weight.

Now PETA has scored a major victory and is ending its Kentucky Fried Cruelty boycott in Canada. The boycott will continue in other countries where KFC has restaurants, including the United States, until they follow KFC Canada's lead.

Following months of closed-door negotiations between PETA and KFC Canada (which is owned by a different company than KFC restaurants in other countries), we are thrilled to announce that KFC Canada has agreed to a historic new animal welfare plan that will dramatically improve the lives and deaths of millions of chickens killed for KFC Canada. The company will take the following actions:

Phase in purchases of 100 percent of its chickens from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed. KFC Canada is the first major restaurant chain to commit to phasing in the exclusive purchasing of chicken meat from CAK slaughterhouses.
Add a vegan faux-chicken item to the menu of all 461 Priszm-owned KFC restaurants (more than half of all the KFCs in Canada).
Improve its animal welfare audit criteria to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds.
Urge its suppliers to adopt better practices, including improved lighting, lower stocking density and ammonia levels, and a phaseout of growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices that painfully cripple chickens.
Form an animal welfare advisory panel to monitor the changes and recommend further advancements.

This is an enormous victory for PETA and our supporters. However, outside Canada, KFC has not acted to stop the worst abuses of chickens. Please contact KFC and demand that the company adopt the same animal welfare plan as KFC Canada—tell the company that until it does, you will boycott the chain. You can contact KFC by using this online form.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/canada_kfc ...

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This is for the pro-horse slaughter anti-animal degenerate NancyDSlaughter since YOU BROUGHT the subject up adnaseum, you dumbass twit.