Death And Disarray At America's Racetracks

May 3, 2008: Track personnel try to hold down Eight Belles after the 134th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Eight Belles was euthanized after breaking both front ankles following a second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.

RUIDOSO, N.M. — At 2:11 p.m., as two ambulances waited with motors running, 10 horses burst from the starting gate at Ruidoso Downs Race Track 6,900 feet up in New Mexico’s Sacramento Mountains.

Nineteen seconds later, under a brilliant blue sky, a national champion jockey named Jacky Martin lay sprawled in the furrowed dirt just past the finish line, paralyzed, his neck broken in three places. On the ground next to him, his frightened horse, leg broken and chest heaving, was minutes away from being euthanized on the track.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

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Comments

[Hugatreetoday]

08:26 AM on 03/28/2012

It is human greed that puts these immature animals on the track. Over the years line breeding has concentrated the gene pool so greatly that it has come at the sacrifice of good bone. Couple that with young limbs that are not ready to withstand that pounding they take while thundering down there track and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. It's a wonder it doesn't happen more often than not. There are some trainers that will take their time and not push a young horse, bringing it along slowly. IMO the racing of 2 & 3 yr old animals should be banned permanently. But as with everything else, owners by and large do not want to wait that long for a return on their investment. They want a colt that will win and then stand at stud, retired as a 3 yr old. Then the whole cycle starts over again. (sigh) I love horses have owned and shown and been involved in horses for most of my life. I'm so saddened by how much they are pushed that I don't participate in competition anymore. I don't want to be a part of it. Instead I focus on contributing money to help rescue the animals no one else wants anymore...the throwaways. :(

[motoGpifupleez]

09:10 PM on 03/27/2012

People have exploited animals of all types for entertainment purposes for thousands of years. The fact that we can do better by them but choose not to is the most glaring inditement against us.

[Hugatreetoday]

08:27 AM on 03/28/2012

F&F