Various chart notes from Santa Anita yesterday:
Violent Storm “brushed the gate”
Little Rachel “never responded to urging [whipping, that is]”
Maven “bumped leaving the gate”
Winding “bumped leaving the gate”
Ted “clipped heels”
Agree to Settle “bumped leaving the gate”
Kiss My Cat “bumped leaving the gate”
Chevy Girl “bumped rival”
A Little Bit Crazy “bumped rival”
Overdue “hit gate at the start, bumped rival”
Larry’s Legend “bumped rival”
Big Buzz “took a bad step near 3/8 pole”
Harlocap “roused [whipped] in upper stretch, urged left handed [whipped] at 16th”
Yellow Brick “bumped with rival”
Texthelegend “bumped with rival”
Tiz Tok “bumped leaving the gate”
Vegas Burner “bumped leaving the gate”
Quincy Market “was hard to load” (finished last, 18+ lengths back)
King Apollo “bumped”
Stotland “bumped”
Savile Row “was rank in upper stretch” (finished last, 18+ lengths back)
Marinas Tina “bumped leaving the gate”
Lunar Impact “bumped leaving the gate, bumped [again] at 3/8 pole”
Fayette Fox “took a bad step on the turn”
Mount Mary “bumped early”
Rivka “bumped early, bumped [again] at 3/8 pole”
Quite a day, huh?
Then this: The New Jersey Racing Commission has announced yet another opioid positive – previous ones here – at Freehold Raceway. After “winning” the 1st race on November 4, 10-year-old Mac’s Secure was selected for testing: oxymorphone. Her trainer, Leo Iordan, was fined $1,000 and suspended for a mere seven days.
This is horseracing.
Two things.
One, “bumping into the gate” can be a very serious injury that can be overlooked.
These injuries are usually soft tissue injuries unless, of course, a racehorse flips over in which case it can be a fractured skull.
However, the mental trauma is stark and can be just as damaging as the physical outcome.
Second, pumping powerful pain killers into racehorses like MAC”S SECURE – a Senior racehorse, that shouldn’t even be running, is abuse.
It also masks issues that become grandiose with time and can often result in catastrophic breakdowns.
Most all reputable equine vet studies confirm this.
When I used to watch horse racing when I was younger, I recall that commentators would often refer to horses as “equine athletes” and talk about their “will to win”, “competitiveness,” and various other qualities which implied that the horses are like any other athletes participating in a sporting event. But to this day, I’m not convinced that any horse even knows that it’s running in a race and that only run because they’re being forced/whipped to do so. Do any horse experts here have an opinion about this issue?
You hit the nail on the head, Darold. I call it “The Big Lie.” Horses are no more “athletes” than dogfighting Pit Bulls.
If you have ever observed a group of horses in the same pen or corral or pasture or paddock, you will notice that at least one horse will be at the top of the pecking order. Horses always seem to be constantly establishing the pecking order in a group or herd of horses, unless they are not exposed to new horses. I’m not sure exactly how that translates onto the race tracks where horses are forced to be there in competition with jockeys on their backs and being whipped by the jockeys to run faster. The whipping of the horses is cruel and the horses would not run as fast or as far as they do without a JOCKEY relentlessly forcing the horse to run farther and faster.