Steve Byrne on horse racing: PETA off track with Eight Belles complaints
martingretchen
I’m not a PETA basher. I agree with most of the stands taken by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Puppy mills, fur coats, steel leg-hold traps, factory farming. I’m on their side on all those issues.
But PETA missed the mark this week. Its cries for changes in the sport of horse racing, coming on the heels of the tragic injury to filly Eight Belles at the 134th Kentucky Derby, look like a rush to judgment.
Not that there shouldn’t be questions asked.
Should all tracks be turf or a synthetic surface?
Should we talk about whether fillies should enter Triple Crown races? Absolutely. Eight Belles, unlike Winning Colors (1988) and Genuine Risk (1981), had almost no experience racing against colts. Sure, let’s talk about banning fillies from the Derby, or putting tight restrictions on their entering.
And maybe we can talk about breeding practices. Fair enough. Horses have far too much muscle and not enough bone density. If something can be done about that, fine.
Should whipping be banned? Why not, as long as the rules are the same for everybody?
But where PETA really got it wrong was its call for suspending the jockey and yanking the trainer’s license. Say what?
The very suggestion that Gabriel Saez, a 20-year-old who has been racing in the U.S. for all of two years, drove Eight Belles to the point where she broke both front legs is absurd.
The horse finished second in the Kentucky Derby. The Preakness is two weeks away and possibly the Belmont Stakes in June. Hey PETA, Saez and trainer Larry Jones lost a nice paycheck here. Do you really think these two men are anything but devastated over this?
And we shouldn’t even get into the area of what Eight Belles might have been worth as a broodmare. PETA pointed out that Genuine Risk and Winning Colors produced few fine racing foals.
And Ted Williams sired John Henry Williams. Parents don’t always pass the talents on to the offspring. Secretariat didn’t beget the next Secretariat.
Perhaps the wildest statement made by a PETA member was the “cruelty” of euthanizing Eight Belles on the track because some 6-year-old girl who wants a pony might see it and be scarred for life.
The horse was in excruciating pain. So we let her remain in agony for a few more hours so a little girl won’t be traumatized? Not to have put her down on the track would have been unspeakable cruelty.
How many racehorses are put down on the track every year? A ballpark figure I read was 400. The fact that PETA is bringing this up after a high-profile race smells just a little of opportunism.
PETA, I love you, but let this one drop. Let the humans around Eight Belles mourn their loss without any finger-pointing.
Northfield notes
Northfield Park and the Ohio Lottery will join forces to present Pick Three Trifecta Night on Friday. The first 2,000 patrons receive a free pre-printed Ohio Lottery Pick Three ticket good for the Saturday evening drawing. If the three numbers on the ticket match the official order of finish in any of Friday’s trifecta races
(1-12), the ticket holder wins $50. Unclaimed $50 prizes go into a Lucky 13th drawing held before the last race. That prize is a guaranteed $500 and winnings have exceeded $3,000 in the past.
l Kelly O’Donnell, Bob Sidley, Cambest Prince and Crisp Sahbra were added to the Northfield Park Wall of Fame on April 30. Others honored that evening were Arch Milani (inaugural Wall of Fame Trustees Public Service Award), Dan Kennedy (Northfield Park Distinguished Owner), Debbie Eidens (John Lee Good Fellowship Award), Tim Olschewsky and Lorena Rodriguez (Outstanding Caretakers). The John Caton award for leading driver went to Aaron Merriman for the second straight year and Jodi Schillaci repeated as the Fritz Newhart Award winner for leading trainer. Polo Jenn and Look To Book shared Horse of the Year.
Thistledown thoughts
Bill Couch, Thistledown’s director of racing, gave Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown a big boost three months ago. Couch, also racing secretary at Gulfstream Park, got Big Brown an allowance race March 5 after trainer Rick Dutrow called looking to get his pupil some action.
As luck would have it, the race was run on dirt. It was originally scheduled to be on turf, but a forecast for bad weather caused the switch to the regular track. Big Brown won. He won again on dirt in the Florida Derby and, of course, won his last race on dirt.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.
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Filed by martingretchen May 10th, 2008 in Sports.
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