Let me ask you something. Who cares about Horse Racing?

[devilgrrl]

Will the media please shut up about Smarty Jones? Who cares about the Triple Crown, The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness? And what happens now that he lost? Does he make a one way trip to the glue factory?

Horse racing strikes me as a sleazy and abusive sport anyway, in the same way factory farming does. Other than the fact that horses are beautiful animals, I don't get allure of racing or steeple chases - to me it's animal abuse and the people who own the animals are more often than not - filthy rich assholes.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. What happens now that he lost, you ask?

He gets put out to stud.

That's right, the rest of his days will be spent having sex and looking beautiful. These horses are treated better than most humans in reality.

[Southsideirish]

10. Unless he's a poor breeder - then look what happened to Ferdinand.

[Commendatori]

2. Just be glad Smarty lost

I agree with you, and was ecstatic to learn that Smarty lost. Had he won, it'd be "all Smarty, all the time" in the media.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

3. Change the channel or skip the article?

I don't care about it either (or who or IF J-Lo marries..) but it seems to be news worthy to somebody.

[GOPisEvil]

4. I do.

Don't like it, don't watch.

[devilgrrl]

6. I don't...

so quit shoving it down our throats and start covering some real news.

[GOPisEvil]

7. Sure. I'll get right on programming the networks I own.

For the record, I'll agree that "news" should be news, and sports should be sports, only intersecting when something momentous occurs.

However, if CNN reports on the Stanley Cup champion tomorrow, will you complain? Just wondering.

[Bridget Burke]

9. Lots of useful information in those user profiles, right?

Including the fact that some interested in "real news" admit to being hockey fans.

[devilgrrl]

14. The Stanley Cup will get one day of coverage if any at all.

I've been hearing about this Smarty Jones horse for the past few weeks. So no, I won't complain about the hockey coverage.

[GOPisEvil]

15. Well, there's a Stanley Cup winner every year.

The last Triple Crown winner was 1978. Plus, this horse is not the typical candidate for being a champion at this level. He's a classic underdog, and that's why there's additional coverage.

But, he lost, so it'll die down by tomorrow, I'd guess.

[Gman]

11. And I do too...

don't watch ESPN, for one.

But you may also want to learn about horse racing before you declare the owners in the categories you described.

The vast majority of owners are NOT filthy rich, nor are they assholes (although most are probably Repubican... but I digress). I've known several owners over the years and all were good down to earth people that loved their animals and took excellent care of them. Running a horse is not a cheap investment as is, to a large extent, dog racing. Greyhounds reproduce much more rapidly and are often "disposed of" inhumanely. I know a couple of good greyhound owners and trainers and several rotten human being greyhound owners although I love dog racing.

----------->Why am I responding to this???? I had The Lounge turned off for this very reason... these kinds of posts. Now with the high traffic and the features turned off, look what I'm doing! Replying to a Lounge post!!

[devilgrrl]

16. Thanks for your comments...

and painting horse racing enthusiasts with different brush strokes, the picture looks better. :-)

[jakefrep]

23. Amen...

I've grown up around the sport. My dad has owned and raced horses for the better part of the last 35 years, AND HE'S A DEMOCRAT!

These people love and take good care of their animals. Charity programs have been set up to retrain race horses as riding and pleasure horses when their racing careers are over.

Even if Smarty Jones had won the Belmont, we would still be subjected to "All Ronnie, All The Time" anyway.

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. Mrs. McLargeuge does

I, on the other hand, don't understand the attraction.

[Southsideirish]

8. I agree - if you have been to a race when a horse had to be "'taken

down" due to an accident and then hauled with some kind of dragger - ugh!
A relative has owned racehorses and loves the sport but 'says the way they do it in Europe is the class way - on the grass (easier on the hooves) and they are much more selective about breeding, thereby, eliminating poor, indiscriminate breeding and the resultant cheap "claimer" races that we have here - especially at our low end tracks in the southern U.S.
The lives of the great thoroughbreds is good but for the "also rans" -especially if they lose consistently and/or age - not good.

[Gman]

12. There are Seattle Slew descendents that are $2000 claimers

Even the best breeding doesn't guarantee a stakes runner.

[Awsi Dooger]

31. Yahoo!!! Any reference to Seattle Slew deserves applause

The one and only undefeated Triple Crown winner.

[Old and In the Way]

13. What else don't you like?

I'm not a big horse race fan, but I can understand the excitement of a Triple Crown race. Horses are bred for this stuff....it's in their nature to race. Have you discussed your concerns with any horses? Maybe they enjoy their lot in life.

Or maybe your real issue is that you don't like filthy rich assholes?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

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[candy]

18. Milions of people around the world,obviously but-----

I'm not one of them.

[Beaker]

19. degenerate gamblers.

that's about it.

[HEyHEY]

20. Yeah, I never hear people talk about it

Guess I'm hanging out with the right crowd

[trumad]

22. What a snobby post...

Look...if you're going to make broad statements about a subject, at least do some research. You obviously have no idea what you are talking about...

Please allow me to return the favor by commenting on something that you may enjoy. Is it cigarettes and Chablis at your local poetry Bar? Maybe it's your Monday morning meet-up's discussing the virtues of being miserable 24x7?

[KamaAina]

24. Well, no one, now

now that we have a significant number of college graduates who have never seen a Triple Crown. It probably seems as remote to younger people as DiMaggio's hitting streak.

Does he make a one way trip to the glue factory?

Every time one of these nags chokes, I keep waiting for the special limited-edition collector's bottles of Elmer's Glue :evilgrin:

[GumboYaYa]

25. Personally I love horse racing. There is no more exciting

moment in sports than the two minutes it takes to round the track IMO.

As for the horses being abused, that is just flat ass wrong. Those horses live in the lap of luxury. Use your brain, do you really think that someone is going to abuse a horse that they pay tens to hundreds of thousands of dollares to buy. The horses also love to run. If you have ever ridden a quarterhorse you know what I mean. They strain under the reins until you let them open into a full gallop.

Each to their own I guess, but you sure do carry a lot of venom around over something you "don't care about."

[RebelOne]

26. The truth about horse racing

This is taken from one of my animal rescue groups.


A graphic reminder -- the truth about horse racing.

Here is how a racing legend, Exceller, met his end in a
slaughterhouse on April 7, 1997:

"Anne Pagmar, who led him to slaughter, said Exceller knew what was
going on. He smelled blood and expressed fear. Tied off and hung by a
single hind limb, fractious horses thrash while their executioners
bludgeon and bludgeon. They are alive when their throats are cut and
they are bled to death.

It's an unpleasant reality; it isn't the topic of pleasant
conversation, and it probably won't be part of next Sunday's Round
Table agenda.

One American horseman, when told of Exceller's last walk, said, 'They
have to die sometime.'"

Exceller was elected to the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. The
plaque in the museum makes no mention of the manner of his death,
only that he died in 1997.



Please make a small donation or volunteer your time to a horse rescue
(one that does not condone the exploitation of horses) in memory of
Exceller, and all race horses who were, and will be, sent to
slaughter.

Please -- do not support the horse racing industry.

[Justpat]

27. Exceller died in Sweden.

He had been sold to Sweden years ago when he failed to produce
any really good horses here. A lot of times stallions with turf
breeding do better as sires in Europe where it is mostly grass
racing. Exceller's fate encouraged many people here to ensure that
if the stallions do not work out as their new owners had hoped
that they will have the option of buying them back. Arthur Hancock,
who owned and raced Gato Del Sol bought him back from foreign
intersts after the Exceller episode. No one sold any horses with
the understanding that they would meet such a despicable end.


The racing industry has many retirement foundations for horses that
can no longer race and are not sound enough to be riding horses or
show horses. They hold auctions and fund raisers throughout the year
and most people in this industry contribute whatever they can to these
groups. Myself included.

As in any industry there are some people who get into it without
having any abililty to understand and train horses and they give the
rest of us a bad name. There are thousands of us, however, who devote
our lives seven days a week, 365 days a year to caring for our horses
and making sure that their lives are comfortable and secure. To all
of you who hold these pathetic stereotypes of the racing industry
I invite you to visit our barn, see how we operate and then decide
how "abusive" the industry is. Anyone who wishes to take me up on
this can send me an email and I will respond.

Contrary to your ill informed ideas about the racing world, the
great majority of us treat our horses with respect and love. They
are wonderful, intelligent, sensitive creatures and we consider it
an honor to be able to work with them.

[RebelOne]

28. Hey, I am not arguing with you. This is only info that I

received through one of my animal rescue group lists. But I do know that a lot of race horses do end up in slaughter houses when they are no longer useful. I love horses, since I have owned 3 in my lifetime and I know that they are wonderful and intelligent as most animals are. That's why I am a vegetarian because I know animals have feelings and emotions.

[Justpat]

29. The animal rescue group might want to start with the facts.

Exceller was not in this country. His death galvanized the racing
industry to make sure this doesn't happen again. Ferdinand was in
Japan where they put him down by their methods which are appalling
in contrast to euthanasia here.

Most horses are humanely put down on the farms where they live or
board. The issue of equine slaughter is something being worked out
right now in the industry. The May 27th issue of the Blood Horse
had an article by the past head of the American Association of Equine
Practicioners in which he explains the association's position on
equine slaughter. He does not support the new bill coming up for
consideration before Congress. He says that: "The bill pay little
attention to equine welfare and does not provide the infrastructure
or funding provisions to care for the unwanted animals." He wants
there to be programs like the ones the racing industry has come up
with for all horses. He thinks that before slaughter is considered
the animals should be given a chance at adoption. The bill also
does not prohibit horses from being shipped to Canada or Mexico where
they are slaughtered for food. Only 10% of horses put down in slaughter houses in US are Thoroughbreds. The Vet's objections to
the current bill put up for passage is that it does not offer enough
of the options that Thoroughbred people have put in place to take
care of old and unsound horses.

On a personal note - here is my own story of a horse I owned and
bred. I had a little gelding that I raced for a year and half, then
sold him to another trainer who had an owner who paid a decent price
for him. He was claimed from this new owner in his first start for
him. Then he was claimed again by someone else and ended up running
at a cheap track in West Virginia. My daugher and I pooled what
little money we had and claimed him one night up there. By this time
he had a bad knee and was basically just running around picking up
a check almost every time he ran. We took him home and turned him out
for a year and now my daugher is making him into a hunt horse. He loves it and we are happy that he is safely back where he belongs.

[LWolf]

30. I do.

Horse racing is not sleazy, but is abusive. It is abusive because of the money involved. It costs more to wait another year to begin training, so they start colts too young, which guarantees a large number will break down beyond further use and be put to death, one way or another. They breed for a single quality, letting other important characteristics (like being able to run without bleeding lungs)fall by the wayside; so most of the horses can't perform without medication. They produce way more foals than will ever actually make it to the track, and training methods are often abusive enough that these traumatized "failures" don't make good saddle horses for anyone later on.

Did you watch the footage of Smarty on Saturday? See how he kept pinning his ears and baring his teeth at his handler in the stall? Not a well-socialized response.

All in the name of profits; and you have to be already richer than sin to make any money owning racehorses.

That said, racing in itself isn't sleazy or abusive. It doesn't have to be. And these horses are bred to run; they don't hate running. My mare is a half-thoroughbred, the daughter of a stallion a family member rescued off the track in the 1960s. He broke a cannon bone in training as a 2-year-old, and they were going to "put him down." This family member rescued him and he lived a long happy life. Mostly on 3 legs; the broken leg was never able to bear weight properly again. He was friendly, happy, and loved people. I grew up with him. His last daughter, my mare, loves to run more than anything in the world. She is incredibly impatient; everything must be done quickly. We haven't found a horse in the 15 years of her life that can keep up with her walk without trotting. She will do anything I ask. I've never asked for more than a slow canter. She asks. She begs. And if I give permission, she flies. She exudes joy when she runs.

Because I love my horses, I'm interested in equine sports. Because my horse is the daughter of a race horse, and I've known many other TBs off the track, I've enjoyed watching them race.

I could care less about baseball, basketball, hockey, or football. I think Little League is abusive. Not because kids playing a sport is bad; because adults corrupt the process, this time for ego instead of $$$.

But my friends who love all of those other sports don't offend me with their enthusiastic discussions.

[Justpat]

34. You should spend time around racing

before you pass blanket judgements on it.

As for Smarty pinning his ears at his groom - you cannot equate a
horse that is dead fit and ready to run with a pleasure horse or
a show horse. The mind set of a race horse is different - not wrong.
They are geared for competition, not placidity. The great majority
or horses in training are actually very intelligent and have good
dispositions. They are trained to run, not to canter around a ring
or jump a set of fences. The different equine disciplines require
diffenent energy levels. Racing is by far the most demanding and
that is why so much goes into making them like what they do and make
sure that they are controllable.

The ones with a real dislike for racing go on to other jobs in life.
I have one right now that I am sending away to be a show horse as she
just does not like the stress of racing. She has lots of ability but
not much in the way on interest in racing. She a great filly and will
make someone a wonderful show horse.

I would like to politely suggest that you hold every faulty sterotype
regarding racing if there is anything I can do to inform you about
what goes on in this industry - don't hesitate to ask.

I love racing and don't like to see the public hold false ideas
about how we conduct our lives and how we care for the horses.

Your horse is lucky to have someone who loves her so much. All the best..

[Awsi Dooger]

32. devilgrrl, please provide a list of subjects I'm allowed to care about

I promise to bow, and never deviate or question. A few minutes ago I was eating frozen yogurt, but that's put away pending your approval.

Reminds me of a few years ago at Caesar's Palace, when the sportsbook manager excluded me from wagering there after a winning streak, telling his boss, "He bets on things we don't win on."

"Here," I mockingly told him, "I'll give you $10,000. Just call me tonight and let me know what I have."

I care about horse racing immensely, and not merely from a betting standpoint as another poster suggested. Other than one-on-one matchups or classic races it's foolish to wager on thoroughbred racing, with so many variables and about an 18% house take.

Check out Old Broad's terrific posts and manage a little common sense. The huge TV races are generally won by elite owners and trainers, but that hardly represents the sport as a whole. Funny Cide's owners were a group of about 10 old school chums who invested a few thousand apiece and came within a few lengths of Triple Crown immortality. The vast majority of people who work in the sport have nothing to do with the horses themselves. The best person I met via eBay is a ticket puncher at Aqueduct. A friend of mine from college has helped develop software that examines breeding patterns and theory.

Virtually every summer I travel to Saratoga. I park across the street next to a midsize stable whose workers are always upbeat and glad I'm back, saving a parking spot for me every day. We sit there and BS, watching the fans of every description head toward the grandstand. Sometimes I don't even make it to the track. These guys are primarily black and anything but filthy rich assholes. Racing is and has been their life. Frankly, I'm thrilled you apparently don't have the veto power to sweep it all away.

[NorthernSpy]

33. curious

Other than one-on-one matchups or classic races it's foolish to wager on thoroughbred racing, with so many variables and about an 18% house take.

(emphasis mine)


What would you say is sensible to wager on?


Mary