In 1973, the great Secretariat ran away with America’s imagination by dominating his opponents en route to capturing Horse Racing’s first Triple Crown in a quarter-century.
Seattle Slew gracefully glided his way to Triple Crown glory in 1977. A year later, young Stevie Cauthen captured the sport’s last crowning achievement aboard Affirmed, who out dueled the game Alydar and his rider, Jorge Velasquez creating the ‘exact exacta’, finishing 1-2 in all three races.
Thoroughbred Horse Racing was at its peak.
It has been 30 years since there has been a Triple Crown winner. Over that period, 10 horses have captured the first two jewels of the Crown at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, but all failed to finish first in the grueling mile-and-a-half long Belmont Stakes.
Big Brown is 11th horse to win both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness since 1979. As we look forward to this Saturday’s Belmont, the question looms:
Can he do it?
The bigger question looming, however, is Can Big Brown Save Horse Racing?
The Sport of Kings has been increasingly under siege the past few years. There have been questions about animal cruelty and drug abuse. In the wake of the Michael Vick case, animal rights activists are asking the hard questions of the horse racing industry that they asked of the animal fighting circuits. Why isn’t horse racing held to the same standards as dog- or cockfighting?
HBO Sports’ "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" ran an expose on the fates of thoroughbred horses whose fortunes have dwindled. When trainers feel a horse no longer has value to them, they are ‘farmed out’.
That means they could end up anywhere. Many are sold to ‘meat men’ who slaughter the animals in brutal fashion and ship the meat to places such as Japan, where horsemeat is a delicacy.
Then there is the question of training and care. Many are beginning to question whether 3-year-olds are ready for such demanding tasks.
Barbaro broke down in the Preakness two years ago. A less expensive horse would have been euthanized soon after such a severe leg injury. He was given a reprieve when veterinarians employed revolutionary procedures to help him recover.
Barbaro’s struggle to regain his health was watched with vigilance by the whole nation. When he was able to stand and walk again it was like a scene out of the film Seabiscuit. But this story would have a sad ending. Barbaro developed laminitis in several hoofs and could not be saved. He was euthanized in January 2007.
The emotional roller coaster following his recovery cloaked some of the real issues. With full recovery such a longshot, why was this horse subjected to so many surgical procedures and put through the ringer when he was going to have to be put down anyway? Was it to collect sperm for breeding purposes?
This is a business, after all.
In this year’s Kentucky Derby, the filly Eight Belles collapsed after the finish line with two broken front ankles. She was euthanized right on the track in front of the whole world.
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6 months ago
Very well-written article. Explains exactly how much Big Brown means to the sport right now because the sport sorely needs a good story to get behind.
from 6 months ago
Thx much
JF
6 months ago
Even if Big Brown survives the grind of the Belmont intact, once the hoopla dies down the problem remains. Are the owners and breeders willing to make the neccessary changes to thoroughbred bloodlines to correct the weaknesses that have brought down so many race horses? If they are not, we will continue to see horses dying on the track - for what? Our amusement? That would make us no better than the mobs in Ancient Rome's arenas gloating over animal fights and human carnage.
Not only do the horses need to change, but WE need to change, our attitudes and our expectations.
from 6 months ago
Carole
I am from a 4th generation horse racing family. My great grandfather was a track addict and throughout time, my whole family has been horse racing fans and track-goers.
I think that the new world media - or media crush - has managed to dredge up the underbelly of what really goes on in this industry. Frankly, I'm ashamed to have supported it for so long. I want to see drastic changes made as well.
I love horses. I fear that is horse racing is abolished, these amazing and wonderfully beautiful animals will stop being bred.....and you know the rest....
6 months ago
Regarding the last two comments. Let's see. Tiger Woods, a golfer, is in rehab for golfing injuries. Baseball is the current steroids hot spot though with the Olympics and Tour de France coming up we'll add lots of other sports to the "substance abuse" pile. We do nothing about football and hockey that injure many athletes every year. All of the teams in the NBA semi-finals had players playing through the series before having corrective surgery for some injury.
I feel worse for the cattle being fattened on the range for slaughter (shoving wild horses off to slaughter under Federal programs) than for a race horse at any level above the lowest in the sport. I feel worse for poultry and cattle in industrial farming environments than a half-broken down horse asked to try to win enough for its room and board bill. I feel worse about the labor and financial practices of industrialized agriculture than the people in the horse racing industry.
On Big Red and the racing industry as a whole? I hope it's a whale of a race and that they all run to their best form. I'd love nothing more than to study a tight finish (would'a, should'a, could'a) for a year or so win, place, or show. I may even put a few bucks into the pot because it's likely to be interesting.
They say he'll continue to run if he comes out of the race well. I might even traipse back for the Travers if he's in and he handled himself well in the Belmont (win, place, or show). I miss Saratoga and that would be an excuse. I might even drag a couple of the grandkids along. It's a great game in spite of all the concerns, problems, and criticism.
from 6 months ago
Thx for the feedback,, Marty...BTW I enjoyed your article on Pleasant Colony and Campo
Rgds
JF
from 6 months ago
The problem trying trying to compare race horse injuries on the track with the injuries human atheles face is that horses are injured, they die... humans don't.
If football and hockey players were "given the needle" every time they had a serious injury, the sport would be banned.
TvNB
from 6 months ago
The horses "euthanized" on the track get a lot of press. The ones vanned off and fixed up don't. The human athletes and injured horses with competition-ending injuries have similar post-career odds. I learned to ride on horses off the track and rode a few in cross country events over the years. Some make really good hunters, jumpers, and school horses. Others end up in breeding programs for the big bucks. Still others end up in more unpleasant circumstances but rarely drug rehab and jail .
6 months ago
Enjoyed the article. Big Brown deserves the triple crown. He is some horse. I don't think injuries to the animals are the reason horse racing is faltering though. Going to local tracks and seeing the product they put on the track is what hurrts the sport. Out of eleven or twelve races at a local venue, only two are worth watching or betting on.
from 6 months ago
very true
6 months ago
Horse racing is underrated but it has been killed by it being sterotyped as a rich man and elitist sport; just watch one of the three major races and half camera time is spent zoomed in on outrageously wealthy guys with nothing better to do accompanied by their wives in ridiculous hats. Moreover it's hard to market the riders over the horses; most people don't get excited over a guy that is 5'1 100lbs.
from 6 months ago
Spenser ... on the other hand, try to ride one of those things at race speeds! Especially if you're 5'1" and 100lbs. It's work and you'd better be fit. Chris McCarron and Gary Stevens have come off the track and are doing excellent TV coverage (much improved over their predecessors) and I suspect that will start to get the jockeys some positive attention. On the coverage, it is sad. They only really get to see these horses up close, fit and groomed just before a race (and during works when nobody else is up to film it). You'd think they'd spend time looking at the horses.
from 6 months ago
I agree with you Marty; I'm not knocking the riders or their ability but rather the promotion and coverage of its riders, horses, and sport as a whole.
6 months ago
Pretty good article although the writer must be from Mars. He certainly doesn't know squat about TB racing. First of all they were trying to save Barbaro's life, not keeping him alive to collect sperm. You have to have a live cover on TBs in order to register them. Now what the hell would you do with a TB that wasn't registered? The sport is changing. Hopefully for the better. Efforts are being made to have safer tracks with better regulations.Every race winner [and most times 2d] goes to the test barn directly after a race and is tested. If found positive, the owner loses the purse. Now when is the last time a baseball team was tested right after a winning a world championship? A race car driver given a drug test after a race? Dare we test all the NY Giants after the Super Bowl? Willie Shoemaker certainly wasn't hard to market. TB racing is enjoying a nice comeback as handles and purses are on the rise at most tracks. Do they have problems? You bet but they're working on them and will do just fine without BS from folks at PETA. Joe Redmon
from 6 months ago
All valid points, Joe. Thanks for the feedbacjk.
FYI, Mars is nice this time of year.
from 6 months ago
"If found positive, the owner loses the purse. Now when is the last time a baseball team was tested right after a winning a world championship? A race car driver given a drug test after a race? Dare we test all the NY Giants after the Super Bowl? "
Actually some human atheles ARE tested right after each competation... Witness the Tour de France, maybe the Olympics.
But back to your point.. tested for what ? Steriods? Drugs that are banned from human competation? Drugs that may be legal but neitherless might be dangerous to an animal's long term survival ?
"You bet but they're working on them and will do just fine without BS from folks at PETA. Joe Redmon"
The problem with constanly using PETA as a straw man in this debate is that the folks at PTEA are opportunists. They go where the headlines are. They may already have the gun, but lately, the horse racing industry is not only buying the bullets for them, but loading it as well.
I say that because in the past two years, I've watched nine races live on TV... In a FULL THIRD of those races, a high profile horse died.
That's what I mean about buying the bullets, loading the gun.
JR
6 months ago
Thanks! I was uncertain about purses and handles. Appreciate you making the point.
6 months ago
The article states, 'Many are sold to ‘meat men’ who slaughter the animals in brutal fashion and ship the meat to places such as Japan, where horsemeat is a delicacy.'
Please, let's be more specific, for the sake of correctness:
There are a few people who are in the business of purchasing horses at auctions, that are cheap or free, (sometimes animals that may be of low market value due to temperament issues and so on), for resale to businesses that slaughter horses for human consumption. The businessmen who buy the horses at auction are known as 'kill buyers.' Contrary to what you might assume, many of the kill buyers are actually excellent horsemen and good people who are just trying to make a living like the rest of us working folks.
Because the REGULATED horse slaughter plants within the US have all been closed, those horses must be trucked long distances to slaughter plants in Mexico, where the methods used for slaughter are barbaric. (One notes that many human beings in Mexico have a less than idyllic fate also.)
Some horses are trucked into Canada, where slaughter plants (as were the now-closed US plants) are regulated, but the horses must still endure the lengthy trip.
So, yes, horse slaughter methods in Mexico are brutal. In Canada, they are as humane as possible. Death is never pretty. Death is inevitable for all mammals, including humans.
Whether horsemeat is enjoyed as a menu item elsewhere shouldn't be so 'distasteful' to Americans. My European friends tell me that roast horse is delicious.
As I see it, recycling the flesh into fine cuts of meat and other useful products is a GREEN thing to so with the bodies of 1000+ pound animals.
Kill buyers frequently resell horses that are sound and without temperament issues to people who like to retrain them. Off-the-track-Thoroughbreds used to be quite popular for retraining as hunter-jumpers. However, with the current economy, our horse industry is suffering through a serious depression. With the rising cost of fuel, which leads to rising feed and hay costs, there will be more horses with owners who can no longer justify the expense of keeping them.
I know, the idealists will say that no one should own a horse unless they can afford to care for them. So, what is to become of those animals, as the economy continues to worsen?
from 6 months ago
Good points
thanks for clarifying
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