Lumping horse breeds together not a good idea

A few days ago, a cable television news network had a five-minute expose’ on the recent equine deaths at Churchill Downs, Pimlico and Belmont Park.

It was an agonizing five minutes for me as they started detailing the 12 horses that died during Kentucky Derby week and ended with the death of a thoroughbred one race after the Belmont Stakes.

That put a damper on Derby week that stretched out past the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes and on to the news channels thereafter.

Not only did a major cable news network do this lengthy piece, PBS also got in on the act, as well, pointing out that 901 thoroughbreds died last year and, as of this writing, an additional 136 have suffered the same fate so far in 2023.

Another publication described how “a legacy of black-market doping and lobbying groups are killing ‘the sport of kings’ further lamenting, “unrelenting propulsion ripping through channels of deep flexor tendons and shock-absorbing fetlock ankles, every ounce of a thoroughbred’s weight is condensed into aluminum shod hooves, bred so thin and small they average just four inches across.”

The painful rhetoric continued as a staff reporter wrote, “it is then-in those moment(s) of racing fury, when a horse’s every capillary is flushed wide in a 250-beat-per-minute frenzy that a pharmaceutical meets the arterial gasp of oft-leaking valves, sending lethal numbness crashing through the animal’s veins.”

The article goes on that the blame is shared by “ruthless trainers, greedy horse owners, shady veterinarians and track executives, paid-off sporting regulators, lawmakers greased with lobbying money and judges who slow-walk already watered-down safety laws.”

And another nail in the coffin…again, quoting, “And when they fall, rather than be inconvenienced by expensive medical treatment and unprofitable recovery time, we kill them.”

Those characteristics listed above may be true to a minute part of the industry but, since my first writing 60 years ago, I have come across many, many trainers, owners, and veterinarians who are the epitome of honesty and integrity. (Not too sure about the politicians!)

From Edgar Leonard way back when to Dancer and Haughton and on to Lady “J” and Linda Toscano and Wally and Ake, our industry is full of hard-working personnel from the darkness before the sun rises to the darkest of the midnight hours.

And, as for the comment about expensive medical treatment and unprofitable recovery time, when a horse—or ANY animal—is writhing in pain, well, any sensible attendant would prefer euthanizing to put the equine athlete out of its severe pain.

Yes, there are those that try and cheat the system…and some do succeed.

But recently, prison sentences and heavy fines have started to put a dent in that sector with an unusual amount of transparency that we all hope will get even broader coverage to improve the reputation of the entire industry.

The really sad thing about this was that all breeds are lumped together in castigating horse racing—any kind of horse racing…and that includes our grand sport of harness racing.

Equine deaths cover all breeds from thoroughbreds to quarter horses to hunters and jumpers and, yes, harness racing…and they occur—not just in North America—in every country where equine activity is on the menu.

The thoroughbred deaths in the U.S.A. are in the spotlight now and facing the wrath of journalists looking for a story—and transparency is good—but lumping all breeds that include racing is, in my eyes, ridiculous.

Heck, Mount South was destroyed at the Uttoxeter Course after it broke down after a jump hurdle.

The Pinkn was destroyed after hitting a hurdle injuring a foreleg on landing at the Newton Abbot Course.

Along Came Story hit a fence at the Hexham Course, broke a hind leg, and was destroyed.

Hiway One O Three was destroyed after colliding with another horse jumping a fence at Kempton Park.

Hill Sixteen fell and died from a broken neck at Aintree.

There are just a handful of what can—and has—happened in the equine industry.

And, if you’ve never heard of these tracks, it’s because they are at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yes, it happens everywhere to every breed with the equine industry which is just a drop in the bucket in the entire world of sports.

It’s a tragedy when one single death occurs on a racetrack, but, as we’ve cited before, God plays no favorites when it comes to athletics…and there are tragedies in every single activity considered as sport and featuring healthy and well-trained athletes.

There are some 8,000 sports around the world from A to Z—archery to Zui Quan (drunken boxing)—and the list of injuries and deaths in these sports is, in all probability, longer than the distance of the Belmont.

You think horse racing of any sort deserves more scrutiny?

It is estimated that over 50,000 deaths happen each year in the U.S. alone as a result of traumatic brain injuries…and one of the newer crazes is SLAP FIGHTING.

Yes, contestants slap each other silly with a single slap or repeated slaps to the head which can cause death. (Some are slapped so hard that they fall down, can’t get up and look like they should be euthanized, too.) Slap fighting leagues were formed in 2017 knowing the outcomes could result in death!

Artur Walczack is one example of this as he was slapped so hard suffered a brain bleed and died of multiple organ failure.

From baseball to boxing…from football to soccer…(well, maybe not chess)…from bull riding to skiing…there are injuries…there are deaths.

But the thoroughbred and standardbred are two very different breeds and “times” are changing.

Thoroughbreds are known for, of course, their speed and seem to have that refined look as they may be a bit taller and leaner than the standardbred—very elegant they are.

Our beloved breed, the standardbred, is more docile, has more stamina (we have records on the books for 100 miles, 50 miles and 30 miles, to name a few) and are very versatile. I think they have a much more robust appearance and, in recent generations have been bred for more speed than durability as many harness horses can pace a final quarter mile in “thoroughbred” time—:25 seconds! (We do have some tall ones, too. (Remember the giant French bred trotter New Hat?)

Yes, the number of thoroughbred deaths is worrisome, but, again, realizing that ONE death is ONE too many, it was reported that the standardbred industry over the past several years had less than 100 deaths in total.

Opponents say that even 100 is too many…and they are right.

But our sport is just one of millions of occupations with all involving the risk of dying.

Heck, I’m driving on my way to work on I-95 right now where over 40,000 were killed on highways. I hope I don’t get killed in traffic.

by John Berry, for Harnesslink