And animal rights nuts exploit this knowing most people do not live on farms anymore and know there are risks in racing.
Andrew Beyer, an acclaimed handicapper, blames the breeding industry for churning out horses who are swift but susceptible to injury at an early age. "Because buyers want horses with speed, breeders have filled the thoroughbred species with the genes of fast but unsound horses," Beyer wrote in his Washington Post column. "As this change in the breeding world took place, the sport was allowing the use of pain-killers and other medications that are forbidden in most other countries. They allow infirm horses to achieve success, go to stud and pass on their infirmities to the next generation." Eight Belles' grandsire, Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, has a record of fathering flash-in-the pan horses who run blazing times as 3-year- olds, then are never seen on the track again.
Horses that delicate may require more forgiving footing. The thoroughbred experts were far ahead of PETA in calling to replace dirt racetracks with softer, synthetic surfaces. In 2006, my home track, Arlington, was the scene of a horrific string of horses dying during or after races. In one case, groundskeepers brought a screen onto the track, and held it in front of an injured horse while a veterinarian administered a fatal shot. The carcass was winched into a van and carted off.
Unbridled, it should be noted, was a son of Fappiano, who was put down at a young age because of getting laminitis from a leg injury in the paddock. Fappiano, in turn, was a son of Mr. Prospector, a top sire who had soundness problems of his own and passed that trait down. Mr. Prospector was sired by Raise a Native who in turn was sired by Native Dancer, and both of these horses had soundness problems.
PETA and other critics don't care about the facts of track surfaces and the like. They want to use the race as a wedge to further their extreme agenda.
A memory wall/guestbook for Eight Belles is here.
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