You're right ... I missed my calling ... I should've been a shill for polytrack.

i doubt sumitas wants to get into any debate here, as that would involve the sharing of ideas...and he's only interested in his own here.
barbaro took a bad step, change of surface would have made no difference in that regard.
as for taking a blow, i don't think it will be as bad as it would have been if they had put him down right there on the track, or that night. everyone knows that everything was done that could be--but in the end it was up to whether he developed exactly what he did end up with--laminitis.

what will irritate me more than anything?? the second guessers who say that nothing should have been attempted to begin with, those who say the horse shouldn't have been 'put thru all this'....that kind makes me sick. they'd have been the first to criticize had the jacksons et al not made the attempt!!

we all knew barbaro was up against it. richardson said 50-50 from the get go, and never backed off of that. we were all hopeful when he came out so well initially, but anyone who knows anything about horses knew what he was up against.

Hey ... get with it fella ... before long we'll all be eating polytrack for breakfast ... wearing polytrack clothes ... and living in polytrack houses.

In fact ... I just switched to a polytrack keyboard ... and man-oh-man ... do my fingertips feel great !!!

It's clear the surface was the cause of Bobby's injury...

maybe to you sumitas, but that's far from a consensus. i assume you ARE talking about Barbaro, right? i mean, who the hell is bobby?

lol

maybe highways should be paved with the stuff. think of the possibilities. matter of fact, i think i'll put it in my yard, to heck with mowing!

BB, you are dead wrong here. The Ruffian incident caused some fans to go away forever. In fact, it ushered in a decline in racing. The impact was severe.

Well...I love racing! I'm also a PETA member. I can balance the two by demanding that racing continue to police itself, cut down on illegal use of drugs and other abuses, and constantly seek safer surfaces, equipment etc. I think folks that take the "all or nothing" point of view are indeed well-intentioned but misguided. There is a time to work within the system and a time to tear the system down and start anew...at this point, I feel racing is populated mainly by good folks who love horses are really do want to make it safer for horse and jockey alike. It's easy to see the dishonesty and cruelty, tougher to see the everyday acts of compassion and caring! Racing will survive as long as it has a right to survive....if it turns it's back on it's problems, it loses that right!
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Hmmm Love racing but im a Peta member. Dont make sense to me , Actually its a definite conflict of interest. You are commenting why? Racing is run by a bunch of rich people whom use the poor's labor to get wealthier. As a Peta Member you should be trying to BAN all types of racing not commenting on how it can be safer or better. BAHHHHHH

or tao, maybe it's yet another example of life not being a clear cut matter of black and white!!

sure are a LOT of judgemental people herabouts.....taking others to task about voicing their opinion, and now telling a poster he is conflicted.

oh, and why would PETA care that the rich are employing the poor??? (on a side note, how many poor people do you know who employ others?)

well, duh, dahoss!! it's OBVIOUS that the surface is to blame for the simple fact that it's NOT POLY!! (slather on that sarcasm THICK when reading that)

I'm always amused (when I'm not annoyed) by the people who say, "But it's so cruel to force those horses to run around like that!" I usually respond, "Have you ever tried to get a 1000 pound animal to do something he doesn't want to do?"

Personally, I don't think anyone who isn't a vegan should be lecturing horse racing fans about "cruelty," as the conditions feed animals are kept in make a $5000 claimer's life look like the Ritz. And these lecturers are directly supporting that cruelty with their lunch money.

(And no, I'm not a vegan. Giving up cheese would just about break my heart. :))

Danzig, i can't believe a sober person would make some of your posts...in any event, i'm all for improvements to horse racing and the world as a whole.