Racing to Her Death

In 1975 the famous filly Ruffian was entered in the Belmont Stakes.  The race was advertised as the second greatest battle of the sexes, coming two years after the tennis match between Bobby and Billy.  Her rival was the Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure.  It was argued before, and has been since, that she was physically unprepared for the grueling race.  The build up and number of spectators were unprecedented.  A half mile into the race Ruffian was ahead by a neck when she shattered her right front ankle.  Her jockey was unable to pull her up.  She raced on, pulverizing her leg bones as they tore through her skin, leaving her hoof flopping with each stride.  She was only three and her life was taken.  Ruffian's trainer was named Frank Whiteley Jr.  Mr. Whiteley died Friday at the age of 93.

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Running in the 2006 Preakness Stakes Barbaro broke his right hind leg in more than 20 places.  I watched the the video of his injury innumerable times, and then promised myself I would never watch another horse race.  I followed his progress every single day on the veterinary center's website.  After eight months of treatment Barbaro was euthanized.  He was not yet four. 

"Obsessing over that individual injury misses the bigger picture, which shows that horse racing routinely devours its stars", states Pat Ford, writing for ESPN on the death of Barbaro.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barbaro's breeders were  Roy and Gretchen Jackson.  They also bred a horse named George Washington.  Last October at the Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park, George Washington, the two-time European champion, who was running on dirt for the second time and in mud for only the first, had to be euthanized on the track after suffering multiple fractures to his right front leg.

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Michael Matz was Barbaro's trainer.  When I was a junior equestrian Matz was one of the most successful and acclaimed show jumpers on the circuit.  I've no idea when or why he turned to horse racing.  Until two days ago he trained another horse named Chelokee.  Last year Chelokee won the first running of the Barbaro Stakes.  Friday Chelokee broke his right front leg while racing at Churchill Downs.  The injury is similar to Barbaro's, only to a different leg.  His prognosis is still unknown.

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Because I do not follow horse racing on purpose I knew of neither of Friday's stories.  Saturday, as I tied my shoe laces to go play tennis for the first time this season, I heard the announcement for the Kentucky Derby.  I quickly turned off the television and left my apartment with feelings of anger and sadness and doom.  And while I figured there was little chance of another televised catastrophe, I swear to you, I said to myself, "If something does happen so soon after Barbaro's death the public outcry will be deafening."

When I returned home a number of hours later I had one phone message from Abigail.  She assumed I had seen the race and was saying how sad it was about Eight Belles.  I had never heard of Eight Belles.  I do not allow myself to learn about race horses.  When I found out what had happened I saw she was related to Barbaro, and that the race had been hyped as another "filly going up against the boys" extravaganza.  Eight Belles came in second place, and then fractured her two front ankles more than a quarter mile after crossing the finish line.  She was put down right where she fell, dying in a heap with a muzzle full of turf.

"She ran with the heart of a locomotive, on champagne-glass ankles." Blaming the breeders and investors, sports writer Sally Jenkins claimed, "thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The coincidences among just these five horses I mention, the breeders of two of them, the trainer of another two, The shared bloodlines of two others, the two fillies racing against the colts, and the two tragedies on Friday are at first astounding.  Until I read that every single day an average of two horses are euthanized after breaking down on racetracks across the country.  It is tragic that we mourn only the stars of the racing world.  As I checked up on one daily, for months, hundreds of others lost their lives without fanfare.

Comments

[Michele Kelly]

I have never been a fan of horse racing. It's really quite along the lines of Greyhound racing. It's painful to the animals and only intended for the spectators who think it is quite fashionable and cool to attend such things as a Kentucky Derby Party. Meanwhile more than not, who come together for a picnic lunch with cocktails, donning their very fancy and ridiculous hats don't know diddley about horses. Once again, animals suffering at the hand of man and woman.

[Abigail]

I don't think that horse racing is necessarily cruel as race horses are very well taken care of and pampered. Yes, it is work for them to run around a track with a 100 lb jockey on its back while spectators cheer but I don't think it's quite accurate to say that those who watch the races know nothing about horses. My parents' good family friends have owned several race horses and used to own a horse breeding farm. They liken animals to family members and wouldn't dream of hurting their horses in any way whatsoever. They all are very knowledgeable about horses and happen to be among the spectators in fancy hats and clothes. Another family friend also used to breed race horses and again, treated their horses as they treat their children. Yes, horse racing is dangerous but I don't think it is cruel. And all spectators are not ignorant people dressed up in fancy clothes, getting drunk off mint julips.

There is a motion out to change the race tracks to polytrack, a synthetic similar to astro turf which is much gentler on the horses and has proved to decrease injury on the track significantly. Hopefully the horse racing industry will take a cue from Europe and do two things: breed their horses to have stronger ankle bones, and wait until the horses bones are mature and at their optimum density before racing them.

I watched the derby and was so deeply saddened that Eight Belles was euthanized but I don't think she ever should have been put in a race against faster, stronger male horses.