The following LTE was published in the Des Moines Register yesterday. It serves to remind that no matter who or where you are, you can be a voice for the horses. (If you think you need help putting a letter together, please reach out to me: patrickjbattuello@gmail.com.) Thank you, Ray.
“Prairie Meadows and its regulators should get rid of horse racing”
Regarding Lee Rood’s Nov. 4 column “Track’s success banks on innovation, growth,” let me provide a different perspective to the future of horse racing at Prairie Meadows. There is a dark side to horse racing that should provide more than enough justification to end horse racing at Prairie Meadows.
1. Horse racing is a for-profit business. You must have substantial means to participate. Racehorses are a commodity used by owners to generate money to cover the costs of the activity and generate a profit. If the racehorses do not generate enough funds to cover the costs of operation, they are eliminated from the picture through sale, retirement, or, more likely, slaughter.
2. Prairie Meadows is subsidizing horse racing with over $30 million per year. The subsidization of horse racing has been a fact since 1989, for over 35 years. With all the money invested to prop up horse racing, subsidies are not declining. Imagine what the community could have accomplished with those resources being used for community betterment rather than going into the pockets of wealthy horse owners from Iowa or other states.
3. The aforementioned business model was also used by those who participated in dog racing elsewhere. Subsidies were necessary to sustain the dog racing industry until clearer heads faced the insanity of propping up an activity that the patrons did not choose to support. Dog racing is no more in Iowa, and those earlier subsidies are spent on more logical endeavors.
4. The majority of the workers who take care of the racehorses are shipped in from other racetracks, just like the horses are. There [are] 150 dorm rooms provided for their housing. These rooms often house entire families. The affected children go to school at Southeast Polk until school is out, and then the families are left to their own devices until the race season ends.
5. Injured horses are drugged routinely so that they can still participate in racing and maybe earn a few more dollars to forego elimination.
Horse racing is a barbaric activity and is not the sport of kings, but is the sport for kings. It has been shown nationwide that the interest in horse racing is and has been in major decline for many years.
Therefore, Prairie Meadows should take whatever action is necessary to eliminate horse racing from its entertainment venue. Follow the path of the dog racing industry. Instead, Prairie Meadows should serve the interests of the community as it is mandated to do.
Ray Sears, Pleasant Hill
Also, among the always-plentiful busts in harness world last week, these:
“Matthew Newberry failed to blow into the breath analyzer prior to leaving the paddock when driving #2 Western Ready prior to race 14 on Nov 7 at Dayton Raceway.” $1,000 fine, 15-day suspension – though the suspension will be thrown out if not appealed.
Same track four days later, Joshua Sutton “was late for the breath analyzer test prior to post-parading #5 Bossa Nova Star in race 1.” $200 fine, to be halved if not appealed.
The larger question: What does it say about your industry if the drivers have to be regularly tested for alcohol prior to jumping in their carts?
And at Plainridge this past Tuesday, Fern Paquet Jr. “was observed using his whip in an excessive manner, striking the horse [8-year-old Sweet Sally Sue] six consecutive times in the stretch.” $250 fine, one-day suspension. As an aside, all that animal abuse did not have the desired effect: Sweet Sally finished 5th.
It’s encouraging to read this!
Wanda – Regarding jockeys and substance use: like in many high-pressure sports, some jockeys have struggled with alcohol or drugs. Racing authorities in most countries have strict testing programs for drugs and alcohol, and violations can lead to fines, suspensions, or bans. Still, the culture of weight control, intense competition, and long hours can make jockeys vulnerable to unhealthy coping mechanisms.
To your second point, about drivers needing breathalyzers: your comment suggests that people in positions of responsibility whether operating vehicles or handling horses should be accountable. Linking it to a program for new greatly directions underscores that idea.
Thank you, Ray. We need more people like you.
Thank you, Ray Sears, for your perspective and your letter to the editor.
It is evident that diehard participants of racing want more people to support this cruelty to horses. The people who participate in this inhumane so-called sport want people to be deliberately delusional about the whipping and the shocking of horses with illegal electrical shocking devices as well as the doping of horses with various substances to enhance performance.
There is a racing press article about increasing the number of foals born into this industry. Any foal born into the racing industry is going to be used strictly as a commodity and a tax write-off.
The newborn foals are innocent sentient beings that deserve so much better than to be pointed towards racing which means a painful existence and pre-mature death for so many young and underdeveloped fillies and colts. Horseracing is an atrocity that deserves punishment for people who participate in this inhumane so-called sport.
For drivers being required to take a breathalyzer test, it sounds like they all should be members of the Alcoholics Anonymous organization and be required to also participate in a new occupations program; a center for new directions.
More of these people who commit acts of CRUELTY to horses should be charged with Animal Cruelty and put in jail for awhile. Animal Cruelty needs to be taken seriously and horseracing is definitely Animal Cruelty!
I completely agree with Ray Sears’ letter calling for Prairie Meadows to end horse racing. His points shine a bright light on the dark realities that are justified in the name of “tradition” or profit.
The truth is that the current model of horse racing at Prairie Meadows depends on subsidies, on the commodification of horses, and on a workforce that is moved from track to track with little stability. When a business can only survive because the public continuously props it up while horses and workers bear the cost, it’s time to shut it down.
The parallels Ray draws to dog racing are especially telling. Iowa recognized that subsidizing a declining, cruelty-laden industry made no sense, and it moved on. It’s hard to understand why horse racing should be treated differently when the same issues — injury, drugging, slaughter, and diminishing public interest — are plainly documented.
Thank you, Ray, for speaking out.