NYT Series: "Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys"

Originally Posted by Kasept

Bill Shanklin takes a shot at the Times. Interesting responses in the comment section..
http://www.horseracingbusiness.com/a...xpose-8311.htm

I stopped after 6. Good grief.

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

I stopped after 6. Good grief.

Bingo!

[pointman]

The New York Times has become an embarassment and a partisan rag. It is barely hanging on by its reputation despite the fact that any past credibility it had is long gone.

The irresponsibility of this journalism loaded with accusations without fact checking is a reflection of the sorry state this rag is in. When journalists at Howard 100 News have higher standards than the Times, it becomes clear that no one should spend their money reading all the nonsense that is fit to print.

My guess is that the New York Times will be long gone before horse racing ever is.

[tector]

Here is their editorial following up on the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/op...slaughter.html

[Powderfinger]

The timing of that NY Times article really sucked, right before New Mexico's big racing day, the Sunland Derby. They should have been writing about how Mine That Bird won the race, etc. I have no doubt that it was sparked by the HBO cancellation of Luck. Just found out that it's going to be a "series" of articles in the Times, gee, I can't wait for the next installment. Apparently the first article was the most popular one of the day.

Ok, the article had many streches and downright falsehoods (c'mon, Saratoga has a higher rate than average?) The thoroughbred horse racing "industry" could virtually end the catastrophic breakdowns during live races. It would cost money and jobs, but if it's not done the whole thing could blow up. Maybe this will lead to some good, but I doubt it, how many times has that been said?

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Powderfinger

The timing of that NY Times article really sucked, right before New Mexico's big racing day, the Sunland Derby. They should have been writing about how Mine That Bird won the race, etc. I have no doubt that it was sparked by the HBO cancellation of Luck. Just found out that it's going to be a "series" of articles in the Times, gee, I can't wait for the next installment. Apparently the first article was the most popular one of the day.

Ok, the article had many streches and downright falsehoods (c'mon, Saratoga has a higher rate than average?) The thoroughbred horse racing "industry" could virtually end the catastrophic breakdowns during live races. It would cost money and jobs, but if it's not done the whole thing could blow up. Maybe this will lead to some good, but I doubt it, how many times has that been said?

I honestly don't think that a New York Times article had to much impact on Mew Mexico's big day of racing.

[Merlinsky]

This guy just posted a gem on the America's Best Racing FB page:

"John Smith: If theyre ever gonna change the sport of kings then the first thing they need to do is eliminate two year old races"

1) John, no, no that's not the first thing to do. It's idiotic to put a horse with a less stressed (and ultimately weaker) musculoskeletal system under the weight of a more mature animal and try to race them for the first time. Not everyone's 17+ hands a la Zenyatta. Most of them don't need to wait til 3 or 4 to grow into themselves and race soundly. Must've missed that story last month where Equine Veterinary Journal in NZ demonstrated horses that raced at 2 were more successful and raced longer. http://performancegenetics.com/2012/...-death-spiral/ Also links to an earlier Aussie study. Doesn't mean there aren't issues around youngsters, but don't add to the problem.

2) You need to sign up for the page "Let's Eat Grandma, or Let's eat, Grandma: Punctuation Saves Lives."

3) America's Best Racing still sounds like a type of feed or something.

[paisjpq]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I honestly don't think that a New York Times article had to much impact on Mew Mexico's big day of racing.

but maybe it opened a few eyes in state gov't?

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...e-drug-testing

im not naive enough to expect change...but its a start

[Calzone Lord]

The real and only problem horse racing has is that the takeout levels are way too excessive.

Horse racing has steadily been reduced to a widely perceived suckers game for degenerates because of sky high rakes that steadily rise more and more all the time.

The less a public knows or cares about the sport -- the worse off it will be.

A lot of industry people and execs want to "market" the sport as "entertainment" ... that is a serious mistake. They need to sell horse racing for what it was in its glory days in the late 1800's and early 1900's when the best professional horse bettors were household names. Many of the best of them came from absolutely out of nowhere -- many had little or no formal education -- most weren't people who made their money working anywhere else.