Like many falling stars, Eight Belles had a brief blaze of glory - then her light went out.
Belle's injury and death is being compared to Barbaro's, while track bloggers and sports writers are predicting that her light will quickly be forgotten as Big Brown races for the Triple Crown.
Maybe breakdowns and deaths have always been a part of horse racing - does that mean it will always have to be?
Are they started and raced too young? Does their training and conditioning really prepare them for the speed and distance? Is enough really known about how their nutrition builds strong supporting structures that will resist break down? Are traditional track surfaces too unforgiving? Is the bottom being bred out for the sake of speed?
Muscle and cardio are built quickly - it takes time, long slow distance and carefully orchestrated stress/recovery to build tendons, ligaments and bones - time, LSD and sprints that few TBs in training actually see. It takes turnout and free play to mold the package as nature intended. It takes optimum nutrition to support growth and repair the stress of training. Asking young horses to prove themselves as two or three year olds may cause strong staying traits and characteristics to be sidelined from the gene pool.
Thoroughbreds don't shine only on the track - many excel as eventers, jumpers, dressage horses or following hounds. But the money - and reputations - is in the yearling sales, the two year old prep races and the trail to the Triple Crown.
It costs money to postpone training until a horse's second birthday and not race until their third year. Yet other disciplines that value the horse understand that a colt or filly - of any breed - is still a baby - it's only when the horse is a considered a disposable commodity that the babies are taken advantage of.
Unless the sport is willing to end the exploitation of the youthful exuberance, the strength of heart, lungs and muscle that exceeds the capability of an immature framework, the determination of a horse who is too young to have learned to take care of herself - breakdown and death will continue to be a part of racing.
Reading and listening to the racing pundits, there seems to be little of the sense of outrage I would expect. There is speculation that animal rights folks will use this for their own purposes, an expectation of a stronger push for synthetic tracks, and a seeming resignation that not much is expected to change except maybe a shrinking fan base. Some folks seem more concerned that Belle's failure to make it back to her barn tarnished Big Brown's victory than upset over the loss of a game and beautiful filly.
As of Sunday afternoon, the
Jockey Club has nothing to say.
AAEP "On Call" spokesvet Larry Bramlage, DVM, in multiple interviews, seems mystified by Belle's breakdown, and the AAEP has no comment on their web site.
So it seems the racing world may be opting out with an "Oh well, part of the game." Does that leave it up to you and me?
I don't believe Thoroughbred racing is inherently evil. Most fans, owners, trainers, jockeys, vets and track workers appreciate the beauty, strength and charisma of the Thoroughbred horse. Many TB's, originally bred for the track, find alternate careers in which they excel.
People involved in the day to day intricacies of racing likely have a far better idea than I exactly which changes will have the greatest effect in preventing the continued travesty of breakdown and death - actions which might include raising the age at which horses may be first raced, raising the minimum age requirement for major races and series, mandatory pre-race screening (thermography, radiography) to identify developing abnormalities, and possibly providing sanctions for trainers AND owners when horses are injured.
Veterinarian focus needs to shift from enabling to prevention, with an emphasis on screening and promoting health instead of salvage.
But the rule makers and stakeholders (or "connections" in racing parlance) aren't likely to even consider major changes unless they are made aware of our outrage. If changes aren't forthcoming from within the industry and state agencies, groups like PETA will be successful in foisting
their own useless version of "humane" on racing.
On the other hand, owners, trainers, jockeys and veterinarians who are willing to buck the tide and work toward creating a legacy which will honor Eight Belles, Barbaro and other horses who have given their lives for the sport by instituting measures that truly seek to protect the welfare of the horse should be assured of our support.
The Jockey Club
40 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 371-5970
Fax: (212) 371-6123
NTRA (National Thoroughbred Racing Association)
President: Alex Waldrop
Lexington Office:
2525 Harrodsburg Road
Suite 400
Lexington, KY 40504
Phone: 859-245-NTRA (6872)
Phone: 800-792-NTRA (6872)
Email: ntra@ntra.com |
Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation
Lexington:
Phone: (859) 224-2850
Fax: (859) 224-2853
821 Corporate Drive
Lexington, KY 40503
New York:
Phone: (212) 521-5327
Fax: (212) 371-6123
40 E. 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
E-mail: contactus@grayson-jockeyclub.org
AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners)
4075 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY 40511
Phone: (859) 233-0147
Fax: (859) 233-1968
American Horse Council
1616 H Street NW, 7th floor
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-296-4031 Fax: 202-296-1970
Throughbred Times
Kentucky Horse Racing Authority
4063 Ironworks Pkwy
Building B
Lexington, KY 40511
Phone: 859-246-2040
Fax: 859-246-2039
E-mail: Kendra.Shoop@ky.gov
Maryland Racing Commission
300 E. Towsontowne Boulevard
Towson, Maryland 21286
(410) 296-9682
(410) 296-9687 Fax
e-mail: racing@dllr.state.md.us
(Preakness May 17th - list of Preakness sponsors
New York Racing Association
PO Box 90
Jamaica NY 11417
(Belmont Stakes June 7th)
Churchill Downs
700 Central Avenue
Louisville, KY 40208
Main phone: 502.636.4400
Yum Brands
"Proud sponsor of the Kentucky Derby"
Yum! Brands Restaurant Support Center
1900 Colonel Sanders Lane
Louisville, KY 40213, 502.874.8300
Eight Belles' Connections
Trainer - Larry Jones
Jockey - Gabriel Saez
