We'll have to agree to disagree. It feels exploitative to me to dye an animal's fur for my own amusement. You can see why they do it on tv or movies to match markings when the rest of the horse looks the part. The point is you're not supposed to know it's there, and they'd find an exact horse to use sans makeup if it were available. Regarding it being lighthearted and a media opportunity, I don't think all press is good press. Tons of things get disseminated on Twitter and Facebook that aren't good things. That's not my only barometer for successful PR.

It's also really only workable with certain color horses. If only those owners get to "exploit" their horses, well it's not really fair to the others either. I thought Jay's reference to carousel horses was silly. Those aren't live animals, obviously. It's kinda not the same thing. We make red teddy bears for Valentine's Day. Nobody goes out and dyes a real life bear red.

What are the aspects of what NYRA does that qualify as exploitation? The post parade? The winner's circle? I'm not quite clear on what they're doing that would induce an accusation of hypocrisy. If the thinking is we're exploitative even existing as a sport, well that's kinda PETA-adjacent isn't it? Why be a fan of something exploitative? Aren't we supposed to try not to exploit them? I take issue with people running a seriously ill-prepared horse in the Derby just to get to participate in the fanfare when they're basically serving up their animal to the wolves and they know it. That's exploitative too. Hoping you hit the board in a prestigious and lucrative G1 isn't the same thing.

It's possible that we really aren't far apart on this. The way that I read the "exploitation" quote of Jay's piece was that the people who feel that coloring a horse would be exploitation are the same people who feel that virtually every aspect of the sport is exploitation of the horse. At least, that most jives with my own opinion, so maybe I projected it into his piece.

Oh my God.

http://twitter.com/#!/cj_jennie


Jennie Rees‏@CJ_JennieReply

RT @jdemling: Tail of Blue Grass Stakes favorite Hansen has been colored blue for today's Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. #bluegrassstakes

34m Jennie Rees‏@CJ_Jennie

Jody Demling heard Dr Hansen telling someone 'They're not going to scratch him but they're not happy'

35m Jennie Rees‏@CJ_Jennie

Dr Hansen (TV in tow) was up in stewards office. Apparently he did it: dyed Hansen's tale blue w/o their OK. #hansen #keeneland #kyderby

Mr Hansen should have his hair dyed blue whether he likes it or not.:zz:

Just saw on TVG that they have removed the dye. Apparently the stewards had already told Dr. Hansen that he couldnt dye the tail. But Dr. Hansen had other plans for today, including having bracelets dropped from a plane or helicoptor and hiring a sky writer (weather disrupted both). Could this guy be any more obnoxious?

I say he should dye his hair blue. Let's see that. Unless he thinks it would be undignified, of course.

probably. ky derby is up next ya know.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...NEWS/304280075

Nice local article about Hansen - the horse and owner

Yeah, he's obnoxious, same as everyone said about Repole last year to a degree. I don't have a problem with these guys with the new money in the game. If you haven't noticed, we need some guys with personality.
It reminds me of Bull Durham when Crash tells Nuke "If you win 20 in the show, you can let the fungus grow back and the press will think you're colorful." Well when you win the BC Juvenile, go crazy and do whatever you want.

winner
 

not much for me about a white horse,and he will not make top 4 in derby!!!:D

His fiance is 25 years old?? :eek:

http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/stor...race-blue-tail

:zz: Not again. I thought he was over this. He's a racehorse, not My Little Pony.

I think he should dye it Zayat blue, in honor of the horse he ducked by going to WV.

I find it amusing that those in favor of the tail coloring actually try to make the case that it will somehow draw in new fans.

Zenyatta!

Imagine if they had dyed her tail white? The Z dumplings would have been hurling themslves from the grandstand roof as that would have been the absolute peak of their lifetimes and it would have been pointless to carry on.

Is it too late to bring her out of retirement, dye her tail white for this purpose, then scratch her at the gate?

If he races the horse as a 4-yr-old and 5-yr-old, as he says he intends, he can color the tail with rainbow glitter for all I care. I'd rather see silly owners having fun and keeping their horses in the game than dignified owners who can't wait to retire good horses.

--Dunbar

First, he hasn't done it yet. Let's assume nothing. All it takes is one "injury." He probably knows 3yo champ and HOY are out of reach so maybe his chance at a trophy will have to come next year. Then there's the fact that newer stallions are up against it going in so it's hardly the same risk it would've been a few years ago, esp. with his sire Tapit going strong. Why would someone go to Hansen over Tapit? It makes more sense to keep running him right now unless he's willing to chuck him to Japan. Plenty of "silly owners" retire young too. Silly doesn't automatically equal 'just crazy enough to run them as an older horse.'

Since when do we have to tolerate ridiculous people in exchange for them keeping their horse in the game? One person's "colorful personality" is another person's "tiresome." How about comport yourself with dignity? The Mosses seem to've done just fine getting fans for horse racing. They're not without crazy Zenyatta related pageantry, but they come across better (we'll ignore the last year Z raced, they annoyed me there but mainly for the campaign itself). He has yet to dye his own hair bright blue. That would get attention. Why would he though? That would just be silly.

He likes them old.