I'm fairly new to the pedigree game. There has been a ton of talk about inbreeding and what may have happened to Eight Belles. I sent in a editorial to my local paper just because of being so upset. I tried to utilize many different stories and tie it up with my own thoughts. I'd love some of your thoughts. I realize i don't know jack squat about the industry, what is is to own or train a horse. Admittedly i only bet and have done so for 25 years, yet today feel like some enabler. I realize a horse can break it's leg in a freak accident, in a stall or meadow. I love these animals and want everything done to protect them. Horses can't talk or complain. They have no true advocate. They must rely on the owner or trainer to do best by them. They run for us and put their lives on the line. So here's my editorial. for those who disagree, please be nice. If im way off base that's fine, i'm here to learn and understand. thanks
"Eight Belles, freak accident or???
Twice since 2006 2 magnificent horses have died in Barbaro and now Eight Belles. The most common thing I have heard from many the “horse people” and media is “it’s part of racing” “these things can’t be avoided” …really? Fact is there are 1.5 career-ending breakdowns for every 1,000 racing starts in the United States. That's an average of two per day, and that’s two more than it should be. The Thoroughbred racehorse is a thing of beauty but a freak of selective breeding. A muscular body weighing from 900 to 1,400 pounds is supported by legs so thin you can wrap your hand around one. It’s clear selection for speed over all other factors has been detrimental to the breed. This is bad enough, then you add the unscrupulous trainer who may add drugs like Equipoise, which enhances performance. Equipoise, a controlled substance available only by veterinary prescription, is a steroid derived from stallions’ testosterone that causes steroid rages and alters the cycles of mares. Equipoise may make a horse more aggressive and more challenging to handle, but it also works as a steroidal spur toward more speed and endurance in racing, much like steroids have been shown to do in human athletes. Trainers inject cortisone, or corticosteroids, into joints, contributing to further bone deterioration. The legs of a healthy horse should be cool to the touch; warmth is a sign of inflammation and, in the feet, a symptom of laminitis. But trainers take their horses to extremes by icing legs and feet, numbing them to the pain. Trainers use other methods to cadge Thoroughbreds into racing, including banned drugs, illegal stimulants (a practice known as "hopping"), nerve-deadening surgery, even folk remedies. Despite this, horse racing lags far behind other sports in dealing with the problem of performance-enhancing drugs. With Eight Belles, Oblivious to her condition, an injured horse will run until they can run no more. They rely on us to do the right thing by them. We ask them to put their life on the line every time they race. I support PETA’s reasonable requests:
1) No racing or training for a thoroughbred until it turns 3 years old. The organization contends the animals' legs aren't fully developed until then.
2) No more racing on dirt tracks. The group says the synthetic surfaces now used at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., and at California tracks are far safer and result in fewer equine breakdowns and fatalities.
3) Cap the number of times a horse races each year.
4) Ban whipping. PETA says that when jockeys flail horses with a riding crop the animals can be forced beyond their physical limits
In the end Trainer Larry Jones said Eight Belles “went out in a blaze of Glory” But she did not go out in a "blaze of glory." She is a horse. She went out in hideous pain, unable to understand why her legs gave out when all she was doing was running her heart out. She went out in the back of a truck."
Eight Belles, my thoughts
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ratherrapid
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H, personally I'm glad you posted this as I have been wondering with regard to Eight Belles, "where's the outrage".
One blog post titled the situation "Deal With It" echoing what you put into your post and the first words out of Brent Musberger's mouth (radio) "that's horse racing".
With every breakdown every little group wants to impose their various prejudices--drugs, breeding, surface, the usual. I'll avoid rehashing those old arguments. They have their place but have absolutely nothing to do with this breakdown.
Someone on another post mentioned a suggestion by an engineer who looks at this sort of thing in terms of science. If only our sport might consider the same. There are scientific principles involved in fracture resistance including that solid materials hold together until the moment the bonds break and the fracture occurs, as e.g. in the Minnesota bridge collapse.
In the case of Eight Belles you can see her throw her head up on her left lead at about the 3f pole. You will see her again in the stretch throw her head to the outside as she's passing recapturetheglory. Thereafter she responds to her jock (riding accee-doocy) in her final strides which involve little energy.
When did the fracture happen? Multiple possibilities including the actual stress of the race, going into the race with developing stress fractures caused by some highly questionable training practices, and as always the possible bad step.
Most regrettably, and somebody needs to say it (a few already have), this filly was entered prepared to compete in terms of performance, but inadequately in terms of skeletal structure. You could also substitute "gross negligence" for inadequate.
Consider:
In the field the horse that performed the least number of works/races for the year: Eight Belles. EB had 3 less works/races for the year than the next to last horse and less than half as many as Pyro, Colonel John and Tale of Ekati. She was also worked/raced only 1/2 the number of furlongs as the horses in the field that led in worked furlongs.
On top of the above EB's workload, for which quite obviously she was unprepared, was doubled into the month leading into the race apparently in anticipation of entering into the Derby. That her trainer insists on putting 215 lbs on a young horse and galloping them in :14s to :17s as the final workout video shows would also be extremely questionable.
In short, and I do believe most involved in training horses understand this, there were some terrible misjudgments here similar to the other celebrity breakdowns recently. George Washington comes to mind. If you watch Matz train Barbaro becomes more understandable, and so on.
The question of the week for me is how the leaders in the industry are going to respond to this. I'm hoping for something more than "deal with it".
One blog post titled the situation "Deal With It" echoing what you put into your post and the first words out of Brent Musberger's mouth (radio) "that's horse racing".
With every breakdown every little group wants to impose their various prejudices--drugs, breeding, surface, the usual. I'll avoid rehashing those old arguments. They have their place but have absolutely nothing to do with this breakdown.
Someone on another post mentioned a suggestion by an engineer who looks at this sort of thing in terms of science. If only our sport might consider the same. There are scientific principles involved in fracture resistance including that solid materials hold together until the moment the bonds break and the fracture occurs, as e.g. in the Minnesota bridge collapse.
In the case of Eight Belles you can see her throw her head up on her left lead at about the 3f pole. You will see her again in the stretch throw her head to the outside as she's passing recapturetheglory. Thereafter she responds to her jock (riding accee-doocy) in her final strides which involve little energy.
When did the fracture happen? Multiple possibilities including the actual stress of the race, going into the race with developing stress fractures caused by some highly questionable training practices, and as always the possible bad step.
Most regrettably, and somebody needs to say it (a few already have), this filly was entered prepared to compete in terms of performance, but inadequately in terms of skeletal structure. You could also substitute "gross negligence" for inadequate.
Consider:
In the field the horse that performed the least number of works/races for the year: Eight Belles. EB had 3 less works/races for the year than the next to last horse and less than half as many as Pyro, Colonel John and Tale of Ekati. She was also worked/raced only 1/2 the number of furlongs as the horses in the field that led in worked furlongs.
On top of the above EB's workload, for which quite obviously she was unprepared, was doubled into the month leading into the race apparently in anticipation of entering into the Derby. That her trainer insists on putting 215 lbs on a young horse and galloping them in :14s to :17s as the final workout video shows would also be extremely questionable.
In short, and I do believe most involved in training horses understand this, there were some terrible misjudgments here similar to the other celebrity breakdowns recently. George Washington comes to mind. If you watch Matz train Barbaro becomes more understandable, and so on.
The question of the week for me is how the leaders in the industry are going to respond to this. I'm hoping for something more than "deal with it".
Last edited by ratherrapid on Mon May 05, 2008 8:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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martha c. green
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eight bells
WELL SAID ................
I appreciate the response so far. what industry owners and so forth will do IS the question. I fear with the corporate entities involved and almighty dollar nothing will be done. I saw a quote from an article that said
"I attended a talk by Carrie Humble, who runs the TB Rehabilitation Ctr. in the UK. She stressed, deeply, how the selection for speed over all other factors has been detrimental to the breed. One person asked her how she viewed American TBs in relation, and she said they were so drugged up, they were in that much worse of a position. I asked her myself if she would support outcrossing back onto the Arab or Anglo-Arab to bring back some of the soundness and limb construction, and she said "absolutely."
so from a breeding standpoint hopefully we see that. But since there is no evidence, the breeders will accept no responsibility. My editorial cites other horific things that are done and i just feel helpless to advoate on behalf of these beautiful creatures. Hopefully some public outcry and getting it out there will help. A baseball player makes a choice to take a drug or steroid, horses don't, we put it in them. I'm all for horse racing, but done the right way that maintains the respect and dignity of the horse.
"I attended a talk by Carrie Humble, who runs the TB Rehabilitation Ctr. in the UK. She stressed, deeply, how the selection for speed over all other factors has been detrimental to the breed. One person asked her how she viewed American TBs in relation, and she said they were so drugged up, they were in that much worse of a position. I asked her myself if she would support outcrossing back onto the Arab or Anglo-Arab to bring back some of the soundness and limb construction, and she said "absolutely."
so from a breeding standpoint hopefully we see that. But since there is no evidence, the breeders will accept no responsibility. My editorial cites other horific things that are done and i just feel helpless to advoate on behalf of these beautiful creatures. Hopefully some public outcry and getting it out there will help. A baseball player makes a choice to take a drug or steroid, horses don't, we put it in them. I'm all for horse racing, but done the right way that maintains the respect and dignity of the horse.
Yes very well thought out opinions above. And while PETA gives me a bad taste (probably not the right wording) their questions should be part of all the questions that anyone asks. My husband is an engineer also. He says in order to hopefully prevent complications in the future, one must approach the project with all the questions they can think of. We should not rule out any question because we don't personally agree with it. Ask the question and then prove or disprove it.
I hope they do take the time to question this incident and conclude the most probable cause(s) of Eight Belles demise. I think this whole situation involves everyone having truly open minds, but those sadly seem to be in short supply. Myself included sometimes.
I hope they do take the time to question this incident and conclude the most probable cause(s) of Eight Belles demise. I think this whole situation involves everyone having truly open minds, but those sadly seem to be in short supply. Myself included sometimes.
trying to come up with something brillant..... this may take a while. 
ratherrapid wrote:H, personally I'm glad you posted this as I have been wondering with regard to Eight Belles, "where's the outrage".
One blog post titled the situation "Deal With It" echoing what you put into your post and the first words out of Brent Musberger's mouth (radio) "that's horse racing".
With every breakdown every little group wants to impose their various prejudices--drugs, breeding, surface, the usual. I'll avoid rehashing those old arguments. They have their place but have absolutely nothing to do with this breakdown.
Someone on another post mentioned a suggestion by an engineer who looks at this sort of thing in terms of science. If only our sport might consider the same. There are scientific principles involved in fracture resistance including that solid materials hold together until the moment the bonds break and the fracture occurs, as e.g. in the Minnesota bridge collapse.
In the case of Eight Belles you can see her throw her head up on her left lead at about the 3f pole. You will see her again in the stretch throw her head to the outside as she's passing recapturetheglory. Thereafter she responds to her jock (riding accee-doocy) in her final strides which involve little energy.
When did the fracture happen? Multiple possibilities including the actual stress of the race, going into the race with developing stress fractures caused by some highly questionable training practices, and as always the possible bad step.
Most regrettably, and somebody needs to say it (a few already have), this filly was entered prepared to compete in terms of performance, but inadequately in terms of skeletal structure. You could also substitute "gross negligence" for inadequate.
Consider:
In the field the horse that performed the least number of works/races for the year: Eight Belles. EB had 3 less works/races for the year than the next to last horse and less than half as many as Pyro, Colonel John and Tale of Ekati. She was also worked/raced only 1/2 the number of furlongs as the horses in the field that led in worked furlongs.
On top of the above EB's workload, for which quite obviously she was unprepared, was doubled into the month leading into the race apparently in anticipation of entering into the Derby. That her trainer insists on putting 215 lbs on a young horse and galloping them in :14s to :17s as the final workout video shows would also be extremely questionable.
In short, and I do believe most involved in training horses understand this, there were some terrible misjudgments here similar to the other celebrity breakdowns recently. George Washington comes to mind. If you watch Matz train Barbaro becomes more understandable, and so on.
The question of the week for me is how the leaders in the industry are going to respond to this. I'm hoping for something more than "deal with it".
"The trainer"(Larry Jones) has forgotten more about race horses then the people posting on this topic. His horses are FAR fitter then most and one tragedy in freak fashion(yes, breaking down while pulling up after a race is a "freak accident"..... the same way a horse playing in a paddock that breaks its leg is a "freak accident"... and this happens from time to time). Jones and others involved with EB do not deserve the finger pointing to the extent that has and is going on from people that for the most part don't know what they are talking about.... and that includes most on this forum.
Shall we rehash Ruffian and the great Frank Whitley?..... rest assured Ruffian had a light weight exercise rider and it didn't prevent her from breaking down now did it?! How about Go For Wand? Many 150-200 pound trainers have and continue to gallop their own horses with several being in the HoF and several more that soon will be.
The only thing worse then a tragedy like EB is the people that write about it post mortem whom know next to nothing about their rants...... but rant they do... albeit in ignorance.
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bdw0617
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the only request peta made that I support is the first one you stated. I've been an advocate of banning 2YO racing for a LONG time. plenty of debates on this very forum about it.
the 2nd one, we have debated that one to death on this forum. there is no evidence that poly/cushion track is safer than Dirt. none whatsoever. the day that it is CLEARLY seen as better by everyone in the industry, I can get used to it. I don't believe it is.
the third request, if anything, eight belles broke down because she didnt' get ENOUGH races, not TOO MANY. 9 races from her 2YO season until the middle of her 3YO season is not asking alot. In fact, we normally m ake the exact OPPOSITE arguement.. they don't race enough. PETA again jumping into something they don't know anything about.
I can somewhat agree with the ban on whipping. it ought to be done like they do in england/uk, where you get a limited number of whips. I can go with that.
but 2 and 3 are crazy
the 2nd one, we have debated that one to death on this forum. there is no evidence that poly/cushion track is safer than Dirt. none whatsoever. the day that it is CLEARLY seen as better by everyone in the industry, I can get used to it. I don't believe it is.
the third request, if anything, eight belles broke down because she didnt' get ENOUGH races, not TOO MANY. 9 races from her 2YO season until the middle of her 3YO season is not asking alot. In fact, we normally m ake the exact OPPOSITE arguement.. they don't race enough. PETA again jumping into something they don't know anything about.
I can somewhat agree with the ban on whipping. it ought to be done like they do in england/uk, where you get a limited number of whips. I can go with that.
but 2 and 3 are crazy
"When the solution is simple, God is answering.”
- Einstein
- Einstein
I agree Larry is a good guy. I can't foresee him as ever doing anything that would intentionally harm any animal under his care. Good clip from the Today show here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24463557/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24463557/
trying to come up with something brillant..... this may take a while.
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bdw0617
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horsenuts wrote:ratherrapid wrote:H, personally I'm glad you posted this as I have been wondering with regard to Eight Belles, "where's the outrage".
One blog post titled the situation "Deal With It" echoing what you put into your post and the first words out of Brent Musberger's mouth (radio) "that's horse racing".
With every breakdown every little group wants to impose their various prejudices--drugs, breeding, surface, the usual. I'll avoid rehashing those old arguments. They have their place but have absolutely nothing to do with this breakdown.
Someone on another post mentioned a suggestion by an engineer who looks at this sort of thing in terms of science. If only our sport might consider the same. There are scientific principles involved in fracture resistance including that solid materials hold together until the moment the bonds break and the fracture occurs, as e.g. in the Minnesota bridge collapse.
In the case of Eight Belles you can see her throw her head up on her left lead at about the 3f pole. You will see her again in the stretch throw her head to the outside as she's passing recapturetheglory. Thereafter she responds to her jock (riding accee-doocy) in her final strides which involve little energy.
When did the fracture happen? Multiple possibilities including the actual stress of the race, going into the race with developing stress fractures caused by some highly questionable training practices, and as always the possible bad step.
Most regrettably, and somebody needs to say it (a few already have), this filly was entered prepared to compete in terms of performance, but inadequately in terms of skeletal structure. You could also substitute "gross negligence" for inadequate.
Consider:
In the field the horse that performed the least number of works/races for the year: Eight Belles. EB had 3 less works/races for the year than the next to last horse and less than half as many as Pyro, Colonel John and Tale of Ekati. She was also worked/raced only 1/2 the number of furlongs as the horses in the field that led in worked furlongs.
On top of the above EB's workload, for which quite obviously she was unprepared, was doubled into the month leading into the race apparently in anticipation of entering into the Derby. That her trainer insists on putting 215 lbs on a young horse and galloping them in :14s to :17s as the final workout video shows would also be extremely questionable.
In short, and I do believe most involved in training horses understand this, there were some terrible misjudgments here similar to the other celebrity breakdowns recently. George Washington comes to mind. If you watch Matz train Barbaro becomes more understandable, and so on.
The question of the week for me is how the leaders in the industry are going to respond to this. I'm hoping for something more than "deal with it".
"The trainer"(Larry Jones) has forgotten more about race horses then the people posting on this topic. His horses are FAR fitter then most and one tragedy in freak fashion(yes, breaking down while pulling up after a race is a "freak accident"..... the same way a horse playing in a paddock that breaks its leg is a "freak accident"... and this happens from time to time). Jones and others involved with EB do not deserve the finger pointing to the extent that has and is going on from people that for the most part don't know what they are talking about.... and that includes most on this forum.
Shall we rehash Ruffian and the great Frank Whitley?..... rest assured Ruffian had a light weight exercise rider and it didn't prevent her from breaking down now did it?! How about Go For Wand? Many 150-200 pound trainers have and continue to gallop their own horses with several being in the HoF and several more that soon will be.
The only thing worse then a tragedy like EB is the people that write about it post mortem whom know next to nothing about their rants...... but rant they do... albeit in ignorance.
While I usually agree with you, no one can know so much that they aren't above making a mistake, or are above questioning.
nO one is saying that larry jones didn't KNOW better. but regardless of how much he knew or didn't know.. you can't refute the point that 1) she never ran against boys 2) she never ran a mile and an 8th 3) all of the stuff that was said in the post you quoted.
Great trainer as he is, and he is a very very good trainer, make no mistake about it, he still has some answering to do.
"When the solution is simple, God is answering.”
- Einstein
- Einstein
Yeah i realize i may be one of the one's writing "in ignorance". I'm not an owner, vet or trainer". If it was totally freak accident, no problem. But was it? It's all i want to know and may never have the answer. I have a little dog who has a hot spot requiring i put gel on it. when she sees me with it she sits right down and let's me put it on, why? Because she trusts i'm doing something for her benefit. So if anything is done by any trainer, owner, handler that puts the horse at risk for death they should be banned for life and i hope there are more stringent policies and enforcements put in place to give these horses every opportunity to live a great, safe life. and if they race, the safest conditions possible. This would even go so far as the breeder who by his practices may be shortening his/her life. So with me or PETA there are always zealots, but behind it are good intentions to advocate on behalf of those who cannot do so themself.
bdw0617 wrote:horsenuts wrote:ratherrapid wrote:H, personally I'm glad you posted this as I have been wondering with regard to Eight Belles, "where's the outrage".
One blog post titled the situation "Deal With It" echoing what you put into your post and the first words out of Brent Musberger's mouth (radio) "that's horse racing".
With every breakdown every little group wants to impose their various prejudices--drugs, breeding, surface, the usual. I'll avoid rehashing those old arguments. They have their place but have absolutely nothing to do with this breakdown.
Someone on another post mentioned a suggestion by an engineer who looks at this sort of thing in terms of science. If only our sport might consider the same. There are scientific principles involved in fracture resistance including that solid materials hold together until the moment the bonds break and the fracture occurs, as e.g. in the Minnesota bridge collapse.
In the case of Eight Belles you can see her throw her head up on her left lead at about the 3f pole. You will see her again in the stretch throw her head to the outside as she's passing recapturetheglory. Thereafter she responds to her jock (riding accee-doocy) in her final strides which involve little energy.
When did the fracture happen? Multiple possibilities including the actual stress of the race, going into the race with developing stress fractures caused by some highly questionable training practices, and as always the possible bad step.
Most regrettably, and somebody needs to say it (a few already have), this filly was entered prepared to compete in terms of performance, but inadequately in terms of skeletal structure. You could also substitute "gross negligence" for inadequate.
Consider:
In the field the horse that performed the least number of works/races for the year: Eight Belles. EB had 3 less works/races for the year than the next to last horse and less than half as many as Pyro, Colonel John and Tale of Ekati. She was also worked/raced only 1/2 the number of furlongs as the horses in the field that led in worked furlongs.
On top of the above EB's workload, for which quite obviously she was unprepared, was doubled into the month leading into the race apparently in anticipation of entering into the Derby. That her trainer insists on putting 215 lbs on a young horse and galloping them in :14s to :17s as the final workout video shows would also be extremely questionable.
In short, and I do believe most involved in training horses understand this, there were some terrible misjudgments here similar to the other celebrity breakdowns recently. George Washington comes to mind. If you watch Matz train Barbaro becomes more understandable, and so on.
The question of the week for me is how the leaders in the industry are going to respond to this. I'm hoping for something more than "deal with it".
"The trainer"(Larry Jones) has forgotten more about race horses then the people posting on this topic. His horses are FAR fitter then most and one tragedy in freak fashion(yes, breaking down while pulling up after a race is a "freak accident"..... the same way a horse playing in a paddock that breaks its leg is a "freak accident"... and this happens from time to time). Jones and others involved with EB do not deserve the finger pointing to the extent that has and is going on from people that for the most part don't know what they are talking about.... and that includes most on this forum.
Shall we rehash Ruffian and the great Frank Whitley?..... rest assured Ruffian had a light weight exercise rider and it didn't prevent her from breaking down now did it?! How about Go For Wand? Many 150-200 pound trainers have and continue to gallop their own horses with several being in the HoF and several more that soon will be.
The only thing worse then a tragedy like EB is the people that write about it post mortem whom know next to nothing about their rants...... but rant they do... albeit in ignorance.
While I usually agree with you, no one can know so much that they aren't above making a mistake, or are above questioning.
nO one is saying that larry jones didn't KNOW better. but regardless of how much he knew or didn't know.. you can't refute the point that 1) she never ran against boys 2) she never ran a mile and an 8th 3) all of the stuff that was said in the post you quoted.
Great trainer as he is, and he is a very very good trainer, make no mistake about it, he still has some answering to do.
Many champion QHs are fillies whom race against the boys race after race throughout their careers(Easy Date & See Me Do It among others)....... same holds true in Europe at times as well as other countries. Many top fillies and mares race against males at various times in the US often winning and are none the worse for wear i.e. Personal Ensign.... Geniune Risk... All Along..... Winning Colors among others. The fact EB is a filly is a non issue. And her break down was a "freak accident" same way a horse out for a morning gallop breaks its leg..... or a horse turned out in a paddock breaks its leg. Life has risks. If you can't face or understand this you certainly shouldn't be following horse racing because their is a good deal of risk involved for both man and horse.
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bdw0617
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note what the person above you just said.
I, like her, have no problem with it being a freak injury if it is in fact a freak injury.
the problem I have, and the problem I think hdembski has as well, as that we are very quick to try to put "freak injury" on it and throw it under the rug.
if it turns out that it IS a freak injury, than so be it. it's a freak injury, it happens, won't be (unfortunately) the last.
BUT IS IT?
we, no one knows. I am a question asker by nature. Telling me something is not good enough without you explaining why.
it's just good sound question asking. you ask questions because it might save a colts or fillies life in the future. maybe that trainer that's jucing his horses realizes he wont' get to use the "freak injury" tag and get away with murder, litearly.
I have no vendetta against Jones.. he seems like a likable guy. But me liking him doesn't have anything to do with this being or not being a freak accident. Him knowing more than I will ever know about a horse has nothing to do with this being a freak accident or not.
And I agree, her being a filly has little if anything to do with it.
I, like her, have no problem with it being a freak injury if it is in fact a freak injury.
the problem I have, and the problem I think hdembski has as well, as that we are very quick to try to put "freak injury" on it and throw it under the rug.
if it turns out that it IS a freak injury, than so be it. it's a freak injury, it happens, won't be (unfortunately) the last.
BUT IS IT?
we, no one knows. I am a question asker by nature. Telling me something is not good enough without you explaining why.
it's just good sound question asking. you ask questions because it might save a colts or fillies life in the future. maybe that trainer that's jucing his horses realizes he wont' get to use the "freak injury" tag and get away with murder, litearly.
I have no vendetta against Jones.. he seems like a likable guy. But me liking him doesn't have anything to do with this being or not being a freak accident. Him knowing more than I will ever know about a horse has nothing to do with this being a freak accident or not.
And I agree, her being a filly has little if anything to do with it.
"When the solution is simple, God is answering.”
- Einstein
- Einstein
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Monmouth Matt
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Terrible situation for racing, the fans, and the connections. What an incredible drop from high to low for Larry Jones..... Oaks winner/Derby runner-up ....to pure grief. Filly was game as they come, and it's very tough to find fault with Porter/Jones in that their assessment of her fitting with the boys. She crushed them (ex BB). It's not fair to attack two of the better guys in the sport on emotional allegations.
My couple of points are the same as they've been for years now. first as a fan and now as a fan and owner.
* Get the drugs out of the game. You can not do this effectively until horse racing falls under a National Rules Committee with uniform laws and regs. As long as each state controls their racing, tougher drug regulations will be met with smaller entries as trainers go elsewhere. Smaller entries are fewer races...smaller handle...less income for the state. Nationalize it, and trainers can't "flee" the tougher regs.. Dutrow almost chuckled at his suspensions to the pre-Derby press. That's not good .
* If we can get our arms around the meds problem, some of the other problems start to take care of themselves. Stallions who tend to breed fragile horses are slowly weaned out of the system because owners/trainers can't lean on meds to get 'em thru their 3 yr. old year. You start having a little more demand for stallions that throw sounder foals and we slowly turn the breeding business around a bit....away from freaky early speed to a more robust stayer who combines speed and endurance.
I know there are many areas that could be improved, but I still feel it gets back to drug bans and you won't have that until there is uniform national regulations. I don't think there is a person alive that loves racing more than me.....(some just as much, but none more!) and I would love to see it survive and flourish for years to come, but if you saw and heard the responses of the quasi-fans at my Derby party, you would be real concerned for the sport. Barbaro/George Washington/Eight Belles..... we are losing great horses and future fans at an alarming rate. Just a couple quick thoughts after another media lambasting following one of our biggest events.
My couple of points are the same as they've been for years now. first as a fan and now as a fan and owner.
* Get the drugs out of the game. You can not do this effectively until horse racing falls under a National Rules Committee with uniform laws and regs. As long as each state controls their racing, tougher drug regulations will be met with smaller entries as trainers go elsewhere. Smaller entries are fewer races...smaller handle...less income for the state. Nationalize it, and trainers can't "flee" the tougher regs.. Dutrow almost chuckled at his suspensions to the pre-Derby press. That's not good .
* If we can get our arms around the meds problem, some of the other problems start to take care of themselves. Stallions who tend to breed fragile horses are slowly weaned out of the system because owners/trainers can't lean on meds to get 'em thru their 3 yr. old year. You start having a little more demand for stallions that throw sounder foals and we slowly turn the breeding business around a bit....away from freaky early speed to a more robust stayer who combines speed and endurance.
I know there are many areas that could be improved, but I still feel it gets back to drug bans and you won't have that until there is uniform national regulations. I don't think there is a person alive that loves racing more than me.....(some just as much, but none more!) and I would love to see it survive and flourish for years to come, but if you saw and heard the responses of the quasi-fans at my Derby party, you would be real concerned for the sport. Barbaro/George Washington/Eight Belles..... we are losing great horses and future fans at an alarming rate. Just a couple quick thoughts after another media lambasting following one of our biggest events.
And DOWN the stretch they come!
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ratherrapid
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Horsenuts, Larry Jones seems (to me) one of the greats and a potential leader in the sport. Despite his statements, if he's the man he appears, I'd think he's doing a lot of second guessing, even while any of us that send horses out there understand "there but for grace go I".
My point is other that to villify Jones and Rick Porter. There are to me just a very small part of a huge error that involves the whole sport, which is ignoring basic exercise physiology in the training, facilities, and procedures in this sport.
Jones horse was "fit" but questionably sound and prepared in terms of skeletal structure. Exercise related fractures generally are other than freak accidents. We already know that from existing studies.
My question would be whether finally we have an "incident" that will bring about some attention. Perhaps the likes of Larry Bramlage or Rick Arthur would rouse themselves. It will require racing commissions, stewards, track execs, and major trainers such as Nafzger and Frankel to speak up.
My point is other that to villify Jones and Rick Porter. There are to me just a very small part of a huge error that involves the whole sport, which is ignoring basic exercise physiology in the training, facilities, and procedures in this sport.
Jones horse was "fit" but questionably sound and prepared in terms of skeletal structure. Exercise related fractures generally are other than freak accidents. We already know that from existing studies.
My question would be whether finally we have an "incident" that will bring about some attention. Perhaps the likes of Larry Bramlage or Rick Arthur would rouse themselves. It will require racing commissions, stewards, track execs, and major trainers such as Nafzger and Frankel to speak up.