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What Andy wrote yesterday was both poignant and timely. His optimism is refreshing and encouraging especially considering it is Andy writing it. However I am not nearly as optimistic about the industry. I haven't posted in a few days simply because I have been very busy but also because there is just so much bs that is being spread, both by the quasi-terrorists and by respected industry figures that I figured I should step back and take another look at the situation.

I admit that I was wrong about Eight Belles ability to hit the board in the race. That she was able to overcome her pedigree and lack of a 1 1/8th prep says a lot about her and probably a lot about the other 18 horses in the race, but that is a debate for another day. Her death was both upsetting and unsettling to me. Upsetting is easy to understand but the unsettling feeling is one that may wind up lasting for a long time. My first thought was probably an unfair one but the reasoning is realistic. I wondered if this filly has had issues with her ankles before. She is big, heavily raced (by modern standards) and by Unbridled Song. If she made it through her campaign without issues she would be rare indeed. That is not an indictment of her trainer in any way. Horses are athletes, athletes have injuries, trainers and vets deal with them. Larry Jones has had more than his share of brokedown claimers, he knows when to say when and it is very unlikely that he thought there was any chance of Eight Belles breaking down. But I do wonder.

The second thought was how the media would have a field day with this story. I was actually surprised that the lead up in the general media to the Derby didnt include more negative stories about Dutrow. But I knew this would be too easy to sensationalize, especially with the human trash at PETA chiming in. They are a despicable group that loves to exploit suffering for camera time to advance their radical agenda. (For those who support them, this is like supporting the taliban because they keep crime rates low) I called Steve and urged against giving a point by point dissection of their "demands" because that is just giving them credibility that they dont deserve. They should simply be dismissed without regard. (I thought that Steve did a great job on Monday's show handling the situation)

Too bad Randy Moss didn't do the same. By injecting his personal beliefs and seemingly his own agenda into the discussion by talking about medication rules and banning the whip he played directly into PETA's hand. He actually said that he agreed with PETA concerning the whip. That is unconscionable for a person who's livelyhood is dependant on horseracing. I dont have any problem with Moss having his own views (though I disagree with many of them) but there is a time and a place and the morning after the Derby was not the time or place to start talking about these internal issues that the public simply doesnt care about. To use his platform as ESPN's racing "expert" to advance his own views rather than shout down PETA and the idiocy of the media in trying to place blame on the jockey or track surface is a real shame. I hope he realizes this when the next anti-racing brochure or ad features his quotes agreeing with PETA. Bill Finley also used the tragedy to knock the industry by rehashing many of his old rants about banning Lasix or some other nonsense. Instead of standing up for the industry so many of the racing media just reprising the same crap about the "dying" sport and too much medication and breeding for too much speed, etc. Perhaps they may actually look at each issue from more than one viewpoint but I guess that would take too much work. I keep reading about how horseracing is dying yet there are billions of dollars bet, billions spent to purchase horses and billions spent caring for them. There was just a 2 day event which attracted 250000 fans and hundreds of stars (admittedly many B listers). There are tracks like Saratoga and Del Mar in the Summer and Keeneland in the Spring and Fall where 20000 fans per day is the norm. There is international wagering, more life changing bets available and forums like this one. The sport is hardly dying. Changing, yes. Dying , no.

I have spoken about breeding and the modern day horse many times on these forums. The sport simply wasnt made to be a feeder system for the breeding business which it has become in many ways. All the talk of "breeding too much speed" into horses has some truth to it but it is not that cut and dry. As I have said over and over (mostly to deaf ears) when the breeding boom of the 80's occured and so many inferior animals were introduced (or not taken out of service) into the breeding pool the breed as a whole suffered a decrease in quality that is being felt today. When you add the preponderence of the blood of Mr. P and Storm Cat, willingness to breed to sell rather than race, corrective surgeries to foals, expanded pinhooking and top class yearlings forced to endure the rigors of 2 year old in training sales (as opposed to when these sales originated when mostly lower class yearlings were pinhooked or sold as 2 year olds) you have a real problem.
Maybe the bigger problem is that it is almost impossible to fix, especially short term. Blame the breeders if you please but they produce what the market wants or they go out of business.

The banning the whip talk is stupid. Since we hear so much about what other countries do concerning medication, what other countries ban the whip? We have restrictions in place now that stewards seem reluctant to enforce. How would you like to have bought a sound, sturdy but lazy horse that may need a slap on the ass for encouragement to get him involved? What about when a green horse starts to bear in or out during a race? Just hold on? Pull em up? We have rules now, maybe they can be clarified a bit but banning whips is a ridiculous idea.

I am not a poly hater. I think that it has it's place in the industry despite the chaos and confusion which has ensued from it's installation at many tracks. But the thought that tracks that dont have it are more dangerous than those that do are offbase. Dirt, turf, poly, cushion, etc. horses will breakdown on any surface because they are fragile. It sucks but it is true. Women basketball players shred their knees up at a much higher rate than men but we dont hear they should be playing on a different surface or shorter court.

This industry has, in my lifetime, always been a knee jerk reaction type business. They missed the boat on TV, OTB's, medication, etc. The game now is so much different than the game I grew up with and that is sad. Horses like Curlin can never be considered great by many of us from the older generation (I cant believe i am part of the older generation) simply because he will probably never do anything extraordinary. If he runs in and wins the ARC forget the last sentence. Horses dont carry weight, they dont run much at 2, good ones dont run at all past 3, singular races like the Breeders Cup, Dubai World Cup and Kentucky Derby have eroded the traditional fixtures and turned them into grade 3 type events. I cant tell you that I have the same respect for Todd Pletcher or Steve Assmussen as trainers or horseman as I did for Charlie Whittingham, Woody Stevens or Mack Miller. It is not the fault of the modern guys but could they accomplish what those other guys did with 40 horses, mostly homebreds? The jockeys seem to always be involved with some kind of controversy, usually involving them making more money which is not really endearing to them regardless of the circumstances. Tracks are now owned by corporation rather than individuals which is not a positive. And I now feel that there will be a real push to change so many things that simply dont need changing. I understand that in one paragraph I am promoting the notion that horse racing isnt dying and now i am talking about all the negatives and that seems a juxtapostion of opposing views. But I firmly believe that horseracing isnt dying yet I do believe that the sport I love is on the verge of making major mistakes that will render it a shell of it former self. Simply because one horse died.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this ridiculous witch hunt and the game in general, Chuck.

as a fellow member of the older generation (you'll beat me to forty one, here soon i believe?) i have to say that i thought this was one of the best posts i've ever read on this site.
i've had some moments when i questioned why i stuck with this sport, one i've been following for over 30 years. but saturday just seemed to encompass everything wrong with this sport in a few moments time, and it was a lot to take in-and it made me really and truly wonder what the hell i was involved in. when they say fastest two minutes in sports, they aren't kidding! what human emotion wasn't touched in those few minutes the other day for many of us?
they say change for many is harder to accept than death. i just hope that if any changes occur, they are well thought out, and have damn good reasons for them. some things should be stricter, use of the whip is already covered, and i also disagree with randy moss on that. but change isn't always good, and this sport doesn't need any changes like that.

Thanks Chuck. It is human nature to over react, lets hope everyone thinks this through for the betterment of the industry.

If only the people looking at our sport when things like this happen would listen to you, Chuck & Andy and maybe they would understand the sport more better and learn from the people who know about it. But, ignorance seems to rule the world and the public today....it's easier to "shoot first, then ask questions later".

whats with all these lengthy, well reasoned, heartfelt, essays on the state of the industry? is it sweeps week for message boards?

just kidding, good comments there chuck. i too was shocked about Randy Moss and banning the whip. of all the issues to be addressed, how does that make it to the top?

Unfortunately it seems that the knee jerk "change everything" responses get the most coverage. Well thought out responses such as Chuck's and Andy's aren't sexy enough to be carried by the know nothing media types. It's much easier to jump on a "dying" sport than to report fairly.

thing is, this sport has been 'dying' for years. longest death watch ever...

Like Hyman Roth dying of the same heart attack for 20 years.

I swear, I am sure Steve Byk has personally done more to try and refocus and attenuate the shotgun blasts to this sport over the last 72 hours than anybody else.

I, too, received the following e-mail today:

and I sent a return e-mail that said, "Where have you been for the past 72 hours?"

I vote for Steve Byk for Racing's First Nationwide Czar. Cannon for Director of The War Against Morons. BTW obviously resident administration intelligensia. Steve Haskin Respected Senior Advisor.

excellent comparison!

I am by no means an industry insider, but...

Based on things I have witnessed firsthand during Derby Week the last two years, it is clear to me that the racing media knows where it's bread is buttered, so to speak. So while I agree that sometimes their methods and motives SEEM questionable, I think in the end, the racing media operates with the long-term interests of the industry in mind.

Or at least they THINK they have the industry's long-term interest in mind. Usually I don't think the industry itself knows what is in it's long-term interests. But that's another issue.

But then again, my exposure to the inner workings of the industry is limited mainly to Derby Week and the Derby itself. That being said, it seems to me that the racing media is very weary about reporting or stating anything that could ultimately damage the industry.

Thanks Chuck...keep your chin up buddy!

I think though that we should prepare for more injuries as time goes on as we've diluted the racing stock and made the species more frail. I don't think there is anything we can do to turn this biological/physiological aspects of these injuries around any time soon.

Just like in sports Chuck, we have instead of making the athletes we have less injury prone, we've managed to make them more frail with ridiculous things like pitch counts in high school for baseball players, so when they come to pitch in colleges where we play 60 9 inning games, over 9 months, plus daily workouts, they all end up needing Tommy John surgery or having stress bone related elbow problems or shoulder labral tears. Junior high and high school is where you need to stress the bones and ligaments/tendon/muscle groups to repetitive motion to increase stamina and strength. In almost EVERY sport now, injury rates are exploding because we "pansy" them at the developmental stage of their lives. And the NCAA LIMITS them to only 20 hours of practice/play a week! I've never seen this epidemic of injuries to college age and pro athletes in my 30 plus years as a trainer/medical director!
We've gone from a 4 man rotation in MLB to hoping a pitcher can thrown once a week. Look at how the stupid Yankees are babying Joba Chamberlain, not letting him start and how they all are on pitch counts. You think Whitey Ford or Don Drysdale or Bob Feller had pitch counts? Now the best we can hope for is 6 innings and maybe 220 innings a year. We're lucky to have a college pitcher throw one game a week now (7day rotation)

Physiology is physiology, equine and human...when did the equine set start thinking that less is better? Why don't we breeze younger horses for longer distances to work up to the classic distances? Secretariat raced 8 times as a 2yo and many of those races were at 8.5f. Affirmed raced NINE times as a 2yo and ran the San Anita Derby at 9F and the Holleywood Derby at 10F in California prior to Churchill Downs. So in years past, a foundation was layed down. Why is the Derby the 1st time they probably race that far. Why can't trainers in Jan or Feb start laying down a foundation of distance works to prepare for KD, Preakness? Especially for the 2YO's that maybe show classic form (Champagne Stakes winners). And if they say there isn't time, then why race without the foundation? Why tell any athlete to do something they've never attempted before in their lives at the highest level of competition? What results can we expect besides injuries? But we do in horse racing. Yes, I understand that the triple crown is the test of champions...but the breed has changed. But we're not flexible because of tradition. Of the 12 horses I've been a part owner of, I had two Grade 1 stakes placed horses as 2yo's...and I'd asked my trainers what we were planning on doing to lay the foundation in the off season for their 3 yo season, only to get the "look". What do you think happened to each? One death and one with career long injuries. Bad luck? No bad planning and conditioning drills IMO. I agree with the vet Dr Bramledge who Steve had on todays show, stress them more at an earlier age to reduce injuries...not baby them!

If the breed is in effect weaker and more frail, then what can we do to reduce the injuries and bad press? Continue to ignore this frailty and race them in the same traditional time period of yesteryear KD, Preakness and Belmont? or do we admit the species is frail and we're past the point of no return and change the dates to May-June July? or discuss some other possible changes?

now that you mention it...i read on equidaily that many papers talked up big brown, but kept fairly quiet about eight belles. i also know that the paper here (whose sole picture from the breeders cup '06 was of pine island laying on the track) had only pics of racing, and none of the filly. they did have a separate article about her, but it wasn't sensationalized.

Excellent post Chuck. Eight Belles death was a tragedy. However, neither the jockey, the dirt surface, nor the whip were the culprit. I hope this nonsense fades quickly (which it surely will as soon as some other scandal in the world of sports happens). However, I also hope that something positive can come from this.

Paul

Chuck and Andy
Thanks for the well reasoned responses to the knee jerk reactions concerning Eight Belles breakdown and the perceived ills of the horse racing industry.

Steve
Thanks for not only reaching out to Dr Bramledge, to get an expert's opinion, but also for defending the sport that we support and love aginst the malicious, self serving rants of the PETA community

Another well done message Chuck.

I am finding it incredibly hard to get the bad taste out of my mouth from Saturday. From everything Eight Belles to the PETA nonsense to Randy Moss to the distasteful connections of a potential triple crown winner to the fact that I had to fly to Vegas to bet on the CD card because the major parties invested in this industry can't decide upon a fair splitting of the dollars I am investing. It's tough enough to be a fan so I can't imagine how tough it is to be heavily invested in the game.

The silence in the packed Hilton sportsbook after Eight Belles went down will stay with me for quite some time.

thats good but i think something needs to be done about the "meds". i kind of agree with moss on this. we are the capital of "meds" society. from horses to humans. everything is not solved with drugs. these guys(trainers) would be booted out of most every other country. and now we get horses with problems just because they rightly won't run them that way. the horses are breeding and perpetuating the problem.

I've rethought the whole thing and have decided to join PETA.

I'm banking on the chicks being hot.

I'd like to book this bet please....


well said chuck.

Say hello to Pam for me ;)

She's getting old but her boobs will be forever young.

Looking Back and Forwards
 

I, too was depressed about the outcome of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. The only bright spot i thought was Big Brown's effort (the horse) and the courageous effort and ultimately terrible outcome of Eight Belles.
All i could think about was another unfortunately and untimely death of a horse who gave it her all, on the biggest stage that we have.

I was saddened first by Eight Belles having to be put down like the rest of us are. I was also saddened by who was the trainer of the winner of the Ky. Derby. I thought about all of the hard working and honest trainers who have never had a chance to win the Derby or even get close to racing in that race.

I was next saddened in reading the NY Times the following day and the negative coverage and editorial by one of their sports writers basically calling for the end of racing and comparing our sport to greyhound racing. Enough said about that.

In an industry that does not have one voice given the separate entities of state jurisdictions and differences in track ownership we are sorely lacking a place to move forward.

As a fan and lucky enough to be involved in a very slight way on the ownership level, i can only hope that our dark moment will lead to changes that can be positive. That said, after reading Chuck's piece, one can not see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point in time.

Thanks Andy Serling for your wonderful essay and i also look forward to racing as we enter Belmont, Churchill Downs and then Saratoga.

well done chuck.......

You're screwed.

literally

Rimshot. And he's here all week, folks! :D

try the veal

oh...bad form..even for Shrek

She sure has one F'd up nose without all the air-brushing.

Saw her on the "Larry King Live" show a few weeks back, and of course w/o a bra(B!tch!):rolleyes: Was it just the camera angle or are her nipples too high? Looked very strange........

They will continue to ignore the truth that's staring them in the face. I think this is a great post. I agree with all you have said. The only point I would maybe disagree with is the way you would deal with 2yos. I would race them more often but at shorter distances. But then that's because I would shorten the TC races themselves. I don't know if longer works and races would be the answer but it might be. As you say, it did work in the past. But the question is whether or not the breed is past the point of no return, as you put it, and can't be trained the same way as the horses of yesteryear.

Again, great post.

This doesn't relate to the horse topic but...NCAA limiting practice and play time completely makes sense.....seeing as how they are students first.

lol @ that. Pretty funny that you believe that's true. Maybe at the lower levels and even up to mid-major level. But at the upper levels, a lot of them aren't students first. You think Michael Beasley and OJ Mayo were students first? Please. They were only in college because David Stern made them go. I know for a fact that in the second semester, Mayo wasn't attending classes at USC. Why should he have? That would have only been necessary to keep him eligible for next season, which he already knew he wouldn't be spending at USC.

Actually, Secretariat ran 9 times as a 2yo and only the final two were at 8.5 furlongs after he had a foundation of seven races working up to that distance. I don't have Affirmed's past performances in front of me but I believe it to be the same case. I actually think part of the problem is that the 2yos are stretched out too quick in an attempt to space their races and keep them fresh for their 3yo season that they wind up going two turns before they get the foundation sprinting. Many top horses now start at 5-6 furlongs, move up to 7 for their second start, and are on to 8 or 8.5 by their third. If Secretariat and Affirmed were so successful getting that foundation in sprints before going two turns and were then able to win the Triple Crown why aren't trainers today trying that? I'm not advocating 9 races cause I know the majority of horses today couldn't do that even though it is pathetic that they could 30 years ago and can't now. But why not at least get four starts in at 7 furlongs or less before you stretch the horse out to a mile or 8.5?

i agree, a bigger foundation of sprints is the way to go at two.

I agree about the sprints. The connections of top horses seem almost afraid to lose races these days and don't like to race horses into shape while losing. Nearly all the great ones lost multiple times, but today for whatever reason the big name connections see it as a black mark against the horse.

Ongoing thanks to Chuck for providing us with the unique perspective he has as a horseman... And to all here that can exchange serious thoughts intelligently with a minimum of rancor.

Not awhole lot to add to what was said. Great posts and the essence of what this board can do to inform and give perspective.

I know dogs are equated to 7 years for one human year, so what are horses. I'm just curious at 3 what age would they be in human years. I would guess about 10 - 12 years old maybe? If that's true, I have learned what giving a horse foundation over the last couple years and it really seems like two things working against each other i.e. lightly raced and getting foundation don't go together. Perhaps some kind of conditioning races should be made before allowing horses to compete at the higher level. I don;t vene like that idea as I write it but it appears that some new outlook on raining is needed. I remember people thinking Afleet Alex's trainer was strange galloping his horse for miles day and night.

On more thing, if the future has more troubles like this weekend, the storm of protest will grow, and chances are that it will. The answers are needed soon as in now to tackle some of these issues. As you get older it's amazing to look back at just how much things have changes. It's even more startling to realize they will change even more in the future.

True and trainer win %'s werent the determining factor in who was good and who wasn't. I overheard a fairly big owner at Saratoga last summer tell his friend that he is sending horses to a guy who he doesn't consider to be a very good horseman but had a high win %. It is like only undefeated horses are any good. If horseracing was the NFL, the Patriots would have been retired after the Indy game because they had nothing left to prove and they wanted to go out undefeated.