Public Pulse |
February 15th, 2007 |
Editor’s Note: We normally limit Letters to the Editor to 250 words. This writer, however, is so knowledgeable and addresses the issue so broadly that we have waived our 250 word limit. The writer, Diana Linkous, has served as a consultant to The Paper on other stories featuring horses.
The Barbaro Story
Overall, well done.
However, as to:
"This also is an affront to ancient tradition, but it would seem a more likely and palatable alternative than making the Triple Crown a 4-year-old competition. It might sustain interest in racing over a longer period, and it would definitely increase the likelihood of having more horses race in all three legs of the Crown. This year, for the second time this century, no horse ran in all three races."
I would like to comment.
Firstly, stallions, the predominant type of male horse run in the early races (2 and 3-year-old) are not aimed at having a longer career. They are aimed at winning as much money as they can in two years, then retired to stud, where the chance of injury is almost none, and the money coming in each year is greater. For those stallions who can only win enough to pay their way plus a small profit, if they do not have outstanding breeding, they are often castrated and kept in training until they eventually break down or simply cannot win any more. Some of these horses (the ones with relatively minor injuries) are sold to people who want them as pleasure horses, or to compete at lower levels in other horse sports. The rest are sent to slaughter.
Owners of racing horses by and large do not know much about horses. They buy from breeders who do know, or from middlemen who buy from the breeders, train and then sell (pinhookers), and have no interest in pointing out any faults in the horses they sell. They buy through their trainers who claim horses in their name. Often their goal is to have an owner's box at the track, where they can invite their friends or clients for a gala day at the races.
Barbaro's owners are exceptions in the horse world. Most owners leave all decisions up to the trainer, or insist that their horse be aimed at a race far over its head.
As for the Triple Crown being run for 4-year-olds, that will probably never happen. The breeders and other owners simply don't want to or can't afford to keep a valuable animal out in the pasture for that extra year... they want a return on their money as quickly as possible.
As to the fact that no horse ran in all three races of the Triple Crown this year, it may be that owners and trainers are wising up. The stud fee for any horse that wins just one of the Triple Crown races skyrockets, and the chances of winning a Triple Crown are infinitesimal, so it behooves them to place the horse in the race(s) it is most likely to win. The Derby is for early blooming horses who are bred for the classic distance (a mile and a quarter). The Preakness is for the speedsters among those classic horses, even though it is only a furlong
shorter than the Derby. Also, it is only two weeks later, thus dimming the chances of the Derby winner if the speed of that race was particularly fast (under 2 minutes). The Belmont is a mile and a half, and calls for an entirely different type of horse than those in the Derby and Preakness. It is a distance race, and is usually the race that kills the hopes of the horses who won the first two races. Inevitably horses that did not run at all in the earlier races (and thus are fresher) are run in the Belmont and win...
because they are bred and trained for distance. The Triple Crown winners were by and large "monsters", horses that were so far beyond any other race horse in ability that it was almost inevitable they'd win all three.
Spreading these races further apart in time might help, at least as far as injuries go, but I still think the Belmont is the hope-killer race due to the distance.
A horse's skeletal system does not mature until age 5, thus making it at risk at such extreme sports as racing at such early ages. I would love to see no big money races for 2 or 3-year-olds. I just don't see it happening. Racing the TB began in England, where the breed was developed, and even then, some 400 years ago, they ran them at age 3. Of course, in England, the footing is turf, much easier on a horse's legs. In America, for some time tracks have been packing down the surfaces so that they are lightening fast, in hopes that a new speed record would be made on their tracks, thus drawing a bigger audience and better horses. That is a killer tactic. I'm happy to know that new surfaces are being used and considered, surfaces that protect the horses.
As far as slaughter, the two equine slaughter houses in Texas have been closed down, so there remains only one equine slaughter house in the US, in Illinois. There are however, several slaughter houses in Canada. Plus, horses are also used in pet food, though the profit margin is less.
/s/Diana Linkous
Southern Maryland
More on Barbaro
Lyle:
I enjoyed this story very much.
Your article points out some of the hazards of racing horses in general and 3 year olds in particular. Too bad we can't wait until they are at least 5 years old. I am not if favor of horse racing at all because it is so tough on the horses.
My horse "Pistol" will be 18 this month. I ride him almost every day. The stable where I keep our horses has an indoor riding arena, so Colorado weather is no problem. I expect that I will still be riding Pistol when he is 25 and I'm 75. A friend of mine recently had to put one of his horses down because of cancer. The horse was 27 and was still doing trail rides up to one month before the cancer became know.
Barbaro was a great horse. Too bad he didn't get to enjoy a longer life.
Gene Adams
Colorado
A Chuckles Admirer
Editor - The Paper
I loved your joke about the Lexus and music (Letters to the Editor, 2/8/07). So did my family and my friends.
Keep it up.
Thank you.
/s/Jet Gailey
Escondido, Ca.
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