Turfway up 18.7%

Originally Posted by eurobounce

So 8 in a two year period vs 24 in a one year period.
I think the numbers speak for themself.

That's a start.
I think even one on-track fatality is one too many.

While it's likely impossible in this day and age to achieve perfection,
the racing industry has perhaps unfairly pinned all its hopes on
synthetic surfaces without investigating the dire needs for improvement
in the Puett Starting Gates.
Now that Michael Dickinson's got the right idea and it's going
to be a tough sell, but I admire him for speaking out for the need
to change the way thoroughbred races are started.

For those of us who religiously watch the head-on starts,
find that on regular occasions you will see thoroughbreds colliding
like "the break" on a Billiards table.
Every subsequent move by the player is based upon that initial shot.
Similarly these races are being played out, with some horses
enduring crucial loss of optimal positioning. And other horses
who are suffering pains from that initial impact, on their joints,
ligaments, and muscles for the entire race,
under jockeys who cannot read the signs of the impact
or are yet powerless to control a frightened animal who's suffering mightily.

I ask fellow forumites here
when was the last time the racing industry called for improvements
to the way thoroughbred races are started ?

When Barbaro had to be reloaded in The Preakness only to get
tangled up with Brother Derek on his second launch from the gate,
still the leaders in the racing industry did nothing responsible.
How long will it be before another catastrophic incident
takes place on national television?