“The Sunday Debate” (scroll down a bit) in The New York Times:
“Yesterday was the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby. But with all of the documented problems in horse racing, is it right to continue celebrating the event?
“Yes. It’s an iconic American event, celebrated countrywide, where attendees get to dress up for fun, C.L. Brown writes for the Courier Journal: ‘The big hats, the stylish fascinators, the seersucker suits makes the Kentucky Derby almost like prom for adults, only there’s no curfew to worry about.’
“No. The horses are exploited, abused and forced into intensive training, Patrick Battuello writes for LINK nky. Beneath the ‘well-crafted facade’ of the Derby, he writes, ‘lurks a sinister core, one that abuses and kills beautiful, intelligent, and sensitive animals.'”
“Prom for adults” vs animal cruelty. What do you think, did I win this one?
The pageantry, hats, fashion, and spectacle isn’t the issue. The question is whether entertainment justifies a “sport” where serious injury and death are known outcomes. Even with reforms, racing relies on pushing young horses, often not physically mature, to their limits. If we were designing horseracing today, knowing what we know about animal welfare, would we create it this way? No! Tradition alone isn’t a strong enough reason to keep celebrating horseracing. Pushing horses to their physical, emotional, and mental limits, whether standing in a stall 23 hours a day or on the track, for profit and prestige is wrong. Thank you, Patrick, for Horseracing Wrongs!
ABSOLUTELY 🙌👏👍thank YOU Patrick
Yes! I think you hit this one out of the ballpark. Equally interesting was the article in that same newsletter lamenting the unfairness of sports betting taking away from racing`s handle by the national head of the HPBA. Too bad! Hopefully the taking away of handle wagered on racing will accelerate racing`s demise.