Two Thoroughbreds broke down Thursday: 7-year-old Hammurabi in a claiming race at Golden Gate Fields and 4-year-old Cat Tail Cutie in a claiming race at Remington Park.
Earlier in the week, at Monticello Raceway, Standardbred John Henry broke a leg (in a non-racing fall) and was killed. This is Monticello’s 2nd death of the year (Standardbreds break down far less frequently than their Thoroughbred cousins), and NY’s 109th overall.
I am not familiar with the ins and outs of Standardbred racing, but I would imagine one factor in the lower death rate of the racing Standardbreds is the slower speed at which they race. As a world renown equine orthopedic surgeon (the bulk of his patients are racehorses, the majority of them – Thoroughbreds) once stated: “SPEED KILLS.”
RIP Hammurabi, Cat Tail Cutie, and John Henry.
Well… Joy apparently Thoroughbreds are made of glass. Standardbreds are made of steel.
As you likely know Ontario has the Standies going year round.
That is tough to hear…what I do know about the Standardbreds, they end up at the kill auctions just like the Thoroughbreds. Of course some of them are forced to labor some more (after racing) at the hands of the Amish. Then they, too, are tossed aside.