Horse Racing: Stop It (or At Least Reform It)
Immediately after Eight Belles crossed the finish line in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, her two front ankles snapped and she collapsed. The young filly was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the thoroughbred racing industry.
The tragedy prompted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to call on the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to institute sweeping reforms to help prevent similar injuries and reduce animal suffering. Hollow expressions of sadness and regret are not enough. If the racing industry genuinely wants to do something to avert incidents like this in the future, PETA proposes the following changes:
1. Delay training and racing until after a horse’s third birthday: Before reaching this age, the animals’ legs are not fully developed, which increases the chances for injury. Their skeletal systems are still growing and are unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds. One study showed that one horse in every 22 races suffered an injury that prevented him or her from finishing a race, while another estimates that 800 thoroughbreds die each year in North America because of injuries.
Strained tendons or hairline fractures can be tough for veterinarians to diagnose, and the damage may go from minor to irreversible at the next race or workout. Horses do not handle surgery well, as they tend to be disoriented when coming out of anesthesia, and they may fight casts or slings, possibly causing further injury.
In an effort to keep injured and ailing racehorses on the track for as long as possible, veterinarians give them drugs such as Lasix (which controls bleeding in the lungs), phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory), and cortiscosteroids (for pain and inflammation). While legal, these drugs can also mask pain or make a horse run faster.
An executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium said there “could be thousands” of illegal drugs used in the horse racing industry. Morphine, which can keep a horse from feeling pain, was suspected in the case of Be My Royal, who won a race while limping. One trainer was suspended for using an Ecstasy-type drug in five horses, and another was kicked off racetracks for using clenbuterol and, in one case, for having the leg of a euthanized horse cut off “for research.”
According to the Association of Racing Commissioners International, Rick Dutrow Jr., the trainer of Big Brown, the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, has been fined every year since 2000 for a horse doping situation. In 2003, one of his horses tested positive for Mepivacaine, an illegal analgesic. Dutrow has served various suspension times, ranging from 14 to 60 days, for these violations, yet he is still allowed to compete despite his repeated violations.
Many injured horses are euthanized in order to save the owners further veterinary fees and other expenses on horses who can’t race again. Care for a single racehorse can cost as much as $50,000 per year.
Barbaro (pictured right), the 2006 Kentucky Derby champion, was euthanized after shattering his leg in the Preakness. At first, his owners spared no expense for his medical needs, but as the New York Times reported, “[M]any in the business have noted that had Barbaro not been the winner of the Kentucky Derby, he might have been destroyed after being injured.”
Another horse, Magic Man, stepped into an uneven section of a track and broke both front legs during a race at Saratoga Race Course. His owner had bought him for $900,000, yet the horse hadn’t earned any money yet and wasn’t worth much as a stud, so he was euthanized.
Such “expenditures” are considered par for the course in the horse racing industry. Joseph Dirico, the owner of a filly who suffered a heart attack and died mid-race at Pimlico, said of her death, “I guess that’s part of the game.” That sentiment was echoed by the general manager of Virginia’s Colonial Downs, where five horses died within eight days in 2007. “We’re upset when it happens,” he said, “but it’s just part of the racing game.”
2. Ban whipping: Injured horses who are whipped by jockeys will keep going until their legs shatter completely. Eight Belles’ jockey whipped her mercilessly as she came down the final stretch. PETA has asked racing officials to suspend both the trainer and the jockey who, through excessive force and neglect, allowed this tragic death to happen.
A “whipping ban” has already been proposed in the U.K., where the cruel practice has been regulated for years. Monty Roberts, known as the “horse whisperer” and author of the book The Man Who Listens to Horses, said of racing: “A whip has no place in horsemanship at all. It’s medieval for horses.” Renowned Kentucky horse veterinarian Dr. Alex Harthill said simply, “Sure, it hurts a horse.”
Last year, while racing at California’s Bay Meadows track, 4-year-old gelding Imperial Eyes took a wrong step and broke down in the deep stretch. Jockey Russell Baze, the winningest jockey in thoroughbred racing history, whipped the stricken horse to a second-place finish. Imperial Eyes had suffered a broken leg and was euthanized. Baze was only assessed a small fine and suspended from racing for two weeks.
3. Eliminate racing on dirt surfaces: Synthetic track surfaces—such as the surfaces used at Keeneland and all California race courses—are safer for horses and have led to dramatic decreases in breakdowns.
4. Limit the number of races per season: Even Triple Crown racers who have light schedules leading up the Derby break down under the strain. Horses who race on smaller tracks are often run so frequently that strains and breaks are inevitable.
PETA’s appeal to the horse racing industry—and the national outrage about Eight Belles’ death—have already begun to have a noticeable effect. In the words of The Wall Street Journal, one prominent horse auction company has “instructed agents and breeders to discourage jockeys from whipping horses during a coming sales show,” citing the negative media attention generated by animal rights organizations as its reason for implementing the policy.
In the same Wall Street Journal article, Alex Waldrop, the president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), said, “It is clear that the status quo is not an option. We have to stop identifying problems and start implementing solutions.”
5. Stop the “Sport of Kings,” period: If implemented—and enforced—the changes PETA proposes would stop a great deal of suffering. They will not, however, stop all the cruelty of horse racing—the only way to do that is to stop supporting the so-called “sport of kings.” There is nothing “sporting” about forcing animals to participate in these strenuous events, and there is nothing regal about animal abuse and exploitation. It’s time for the horse racing industry to cross the finish line.
In a commentary on the industry, a reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News remarked, “It is not something they talk about much in their advertising, but horses die in this sport all the time—every day, every single day.”
But unlike Eight Belles and Barbaro, these horses seldom make headlines. Their broken legs and battered bodies are simply hidden from public view. Most end up broken down or are sent to Europe for slaughter. Horse Illustrated magazine reported that 90 percent of all horses end up slaughtered and turned into food overseas.
Ferdinand, a Derby winner and Horse of the Year in 1987, was retired and changed hands at least twice before being “disposed of” in Japan. A reporter covering the story concluded, “No one can say for sure when and where Ferdinand met his end, but it would seem clear he met it in a slaughterhouse.” Even Exceller, a million-dollar racehorse who was inducted into the National Racing Museum’s Hall of Fame, was killed at a Swedish slaughterhouse.
People can also help phase out horse racing—and horse slaughter—by refusing to patronize horse races, working to ensure that racing regulations are reformed and enforced, lobbying against the construction of new tracks, and educating others about the tragic lives that the horses lead.
To learn more, read PETA’s complete factsheet on horse racing at http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=65. To send a letter asking your congressional representative to call for hearings on the problems in the thoroughbred racing industry, see http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/eight_belles_congress. To urge the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority to institute the reforms requested by PETA, go to http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/eight_belles.
(Special thanks to PETA writer Jen O’Connor for her assistance with this article.)
Written by RaeLeann Smith on May 21st, 2008 with no comments.
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