I have a love-hate relationship with the Kentucky Derby and horse racing in general. So every year around this time I feel a sense of excitement and unease when the Run for the Roses is near.
Thank you horse racing, for my new best friend!
I love horse racing because it features horses-obviously! Going to a race is magical with the thundering hooves, cheering fans, and pre-race pageantry of jockeys in bright silks atop prancing, amped equines.
Racing is a simple sport to understand and thus, in way democratic: the horse who runs fastest wins. You don’t need to know bloodlines, racing stats, or what a trifecta is to enjoy the thrill of sleek Thoroughbreds shooting out of the starting gate and galloping on through to the finish line.
Thanks to horse racing, I have my new best friend. And a number of other horsey friends I know in real life or via the blogosphere have their heart horses thanks to the Sport of Kings.
Another reason I love horse racing is because I have happy memories of going to Arlington Park with my dad when I was a kid. I have this feeling like I even saw John Henry run there (which I can’t confirm, but it seems real in my mind).
A few days ago I met a new friend at my barn who said her dad used to work at the track, and that she won’t go to races anymore because the industry is “evil.” I thought, “Wow!” that’s a harsh indictment. I’ve actually in the last year or so met some of the finest people with true hearts for horses who are part of this industry. For example, the manager of a breeding farm who said when the recession hit she’d get at least one call a week from concerned neighbors/citizens reporting on horses (Thoroughbreds) in need. She’d take them in saying it was part of her duty.
On the other hand, I hate aspects of horse racing. Here’s why.
1. Too Many Breakdowns
I’m still a bit traumatized from from watching the 2008 Kentucky Derby in which the gorgeous gray filly Eight Belles broke down and had to be euthanized pretty much on the spot. All I could think is literally that she ran her heart out. I cried and I didn’t even know her. It seemed so wrong. Not necessarily that she was being asked to run, because that’s what Thoroughbreds are meant to do. Wrong that the very thing she was meant to do killed her.
She’s not the only horse who has lost its life while doing their job. Breakdowns are more frequent on tracks than the general public is probably aware of. If you want to research this more, just Google “breakdowns at racetracks” and you’ll see New York Times, Bloodhorse, The Chronicle of the Horse and PETA articles (four very different sources). I don’t have the heart to search up exact numbers, but it’s not just a once-every-few-years kind of thing. Horses die on tracks somewhat routinely.
2. Gambling as Addiction
I’m also uncomfortable with the whole backdrop of gambling at the racetrack. I have placed bets here and there over the years and have won a bit of cash from time to time. I think I won $38 once; that was a big deal. I personally don’t have a gambling problem, but some folks do have a problem and lose not just money, but their well-being from their addiction. There’s a reason Gambler’s Anonymous exists.
3. Horse Overpopulation
I saw an infographic last year which I can’t find online now, but it outlined the path of a horse going to the Kentucky Derby. It showed there are 38,000 Thoroughbred foals born every year, and how only a small percentage will reach the highest level of elite racing and there is only one Derby winner. Does the world really need 38,000 potential race horses born each year?
Where do all those non-contenders go? What about the ones who are contenders but sustain career-ending injuries? Fortunately many of them become riding companions and start up a second career thanks to the great work of organizations like New Vocations, Neigh Savers, and CANTER, but not all of them do.
4. Shady Horse-Racing Personalities
A controversial PETA horse racing video was circulating in cyber world around this time last year. It was disturbing and showed the dark sides of both a fairly well known trainer and jockey. I am not confident that PETA can be regarded as a reliable source of balanced information, but if even 5% of the information in the video was true, my new friend’s descriptor of “evil” about summed up the activities of those racing industry heavyweights.
Yet, I know that trainer can’t possibly be representative of ALL trainers. I know not all NFL players are dogfighters or all baseball players are on steroids.
5. Nurse Mare Phenomenon
I don’t have statistics on this one and for those of you (like me) who can’t take those ASPCA commercials with Sara McLachlan and the sad dogs in the pound, I’ll talk vaguely about this point. Basically some race horse mares that are “valuable” will give birth and the foal (also valuable) will be given to another horse of lesser value (breed not important) to nurse. There is not always a happy ending for the lesser value foal who is born essentially so its mother can have milk for the pedigreed baby. Do your good deed for the day and go to Facebook and like the page of Last Chance Corral in Ohio. They’re doing great things.
These are some of the reasons why I love/hate the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and all the other horse races both famous and not.
I do not have a Derby favorite this year. I will be pulling for all of the horses and praying they run safely and cross the finish line. Regardless of what order they happen to finish.
Thanks for reading!
Love it, hate it, or a little of both? What are your views on the Kentucky Derby and horse racing in general?
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I'm Susan and this is my horse Knight. We have been a blogging team since 2015 and we're glad you're here. Tally ho!
I, too, have mixed feelings about horse racing… so I get what you’re saying here in this post. Very thoughtful.
It’s interesting that I work in the industry and I hate a lot of the same things that you do. The sport definitely needs to clean up, but there are some truly good people in the industry. I can argue that all day, but people are going to believe what they want and that’s okay. All I can do is try to contribute to the sport in the most positive way that I can, to make every difference I am capable of, no matter how small it may be.
I still think that the nurse mare thing is more of an urban myth. It may have happened in some sense at some point in time, but it certainly isn’t a common practice. I’ve yet to find anyone in the racing industry that has actually witnessed this happening. The people that have mares that are that high of quality have the money to purchase or lease nurse mares that have lost their foals in a natural way. That would only be if the mare wasn’t producing milk properly though, not just because they didn’t want a foal on her. I may be wrong, but this comes across as a campaign similar to PETA’s sheared sheep campaign where they portray a lamb as all sliced up (no one shears a lamb and shearing doesn’t result in any sheep being mutilated). It’s more to fit someone’s purposes in a campaign against the industry than to actually portray the truth.
As far as favorites, I have to love American Pharoah. It’s not just what he’s won, but how he wins, which is impressively. I’m not necessarily a Baffert fan, but I am a fan of both of his horses. It’s also hard to dismiss Fire Line when Gary Stevens is so high on him, saying that he us the best horse he’s been on since 2001. Frosted is another one I really like, mostly because Joel Rosario is probably my favorite rider (besides Gary, of course). You can’t dismiss anything that Mike Smith is on since he’s the best $ rider in the country, so Far Right (especially with being able to maneuver from the outside) definitely isn’t a complete throw-out. I’ve followed Bolo for a long time now and just really like the horse no matter what happens tomorrow. Anyway, I never do well with Derby picks because I tend to go with who I want to win instead of actually handicapping it, no matter how many times I look at the form 🙂
Jodi! I’m so glad you piped in. I am relieved to hear that the nurse mare thing is not as rampant as I was starting to think. Also, you were actually in the back of my mind as I wrote this (as the good peeps working in racing). And I got to tour WinStar last week and the people there were all lovely. P.S. I got to see Pioneer of the Nile just hanging out in his field. I would have never known it was him, but the WinStar person pointed that out to me. 🙂 And I met Tiznow, but I’m saving that fun story for another post. 🙂
I am honestly a big fan of racing. That said, I know that it has the good and the bad, but all disciplines do. That doesn’t make the bad acceptable. It just means that I won’t hate it because of the bad. Again, I really enjoy it and love to read some racing history, or research pedigrees just because, or watch the Derby. I haven’t been following it this year though, even though the last few years I have read the pedigrees of every contender and their race record. I haven’t heard of an stand-out ones like California Chrome this year.
I personally feel that racing is a good thing. Since starting my Equine Science degree I have seen how big a role it has played in developing medical treatment that is now used on all horses. I know it has its issues, the horses could live more natural lives and have stricter protocols not over working the horse (which causes the majority of breakdowns). Since my degree is stud specific I have heard about some lovely stories about the lesser value foals who are taken off the nurse mare. The majority live happy lives in a small herd with lots of human attention.
I’m not sure where you are based, but the UK has a over horsed problem, which is largely due to people breeding ‘useless poor quality’ horses and not the retiring race horses. Especially since the start up of ROR which has encouraged more people to use them as competing horses. Many trainers are also going out of their way to find good homes for their horses who are retiring.
Things could be improved in racing but there are far worse things horses go through.
That is an excellent point you make! I’m so glad you stopped by. I had never thought about the industry being the force behind veterinary developments that benefit not just race horses, but all horses. I’m grateful to have your international viewpoint! Cheers!
I aso have mixed feelings about the derby. I do love it for the spotlight it puts back on horses and racing in the spring, but I hate that it prompts a lot of uneducated folks to chime in about the derby too. My feelings are basically the same as yours, but that being said every horse sport has it’s ups and downs. The horse world in general frustrates me about overpopulation because it seems like everyone is always “breeding the next champion”. I laugh at this because so many times I hear people brag about the horses they are breeding and then a few years later you see them doing the same thing, talking about their next success. I’m always like, “what happened to that last “champion” you bred. Their are plenty of great horses out there that just need career changes.
LOL! Your “what happened to last champion?” Yes, a friend told me things are troubling in the Quarter Horse world too. In fact, another person (not the friend, more of an acquaintance) actually used the term “puppy mill” when she was telling me about some folks’ breeding practices. I’m with you too. 🙂
Great points! 🙂 I don’t really seek out to watch races but if they are on I won’t exactly change the channel. I guess I have some mixed feelings myself.
Aw thanks! 🙂 I can’t wait to read the post about Tiznow! We are going to the Breeder’s Cup this year and I’m hoping we will have the time to see some of the farms, especially Winstar and Gainesway (and about eight other farms).
Oh how fun!!! I didn’t get to make it over to Gainesway, but that’s where Knight’s dam is. I think she just had a Tapit foal.
wow nice article Susan! You summed up my feelings/concerns absolutely perfectly! Agreed, agreed, agreed! Thanks for sharing!
Great post and comments! Like so many disciplines, it seems the negative stereotypes are more widely circulated than the positive ones. I have a deep appreciation for the racehorse industry that I didn’t have before getting an OTTB and taking more interest in learning all about it.
To me, I could write this same post about a lot of different disciplines — things I hate about them. But in the end, there are always shady people no matter where you look.
Thanks for mentioning Last Chance Corral. I don’t care who, where, what how those nurse mares are used, I find it criminal that their little foals are dumped & if Last Chance wasn’t there, they’d probably be dead. DO go look at their fb page & help them in whatever way you can. LC is truly providing a much needed service & I only hope the public helps them generously.