I wonder if that’s what the horses whisper amongst themselves in their stables.
“Who’s it going to be next?” they might whinny to each other.
If I was a racehorse being groomed to run the Kentucky Derby next year I might wonder such a thing. Especially after the bad luck that befell Barbaro a couple of years ago and then Eight Bells this year. (Although Barbaro didn’t sustain his career-ending injuries at the Kentucky Derby. That happened two weeks later at the Preakness.)
Or maybe the track at Churchill Downs isn’t cursed. Maybe racehorses die every day, and not necessarily after coming in second in one of the biggest races around.
I got to thinking about that more today when a local news station here mentioned something about a track in San Diego having to euthanize 55 horses last year.
I never remember hearing anything about any of them. Why not?
I started cruising around on the Internet to see what I could find out about horse racing and racehorse deaths. I ended up finding some wild stuff.
• Wikipedia had a page titled “2007 racehorse deaths.” Horses (27 of them) were listed alphabetically. (Yep, Barbaro was one of them.)
• I also found a site called Race Horse Death Watch which was created in 2007 by a British organization called Animal Aid. Their purpose is to “expose and record every on-course Thoroughbred fatality in Britain.” Apparently officials there weren’t making such info public and were inclined to “dismiss equine fatalities as ‘accidental’ or ‘unexplained.’” (It was from this site I gleaned the phrase “raced to death.” Racehorses die not only on the track, but are killed when they sustain injuries that make them “worthless.”)
• In PETA’s Media Center they had a pretty extensive write up about disturbing racehorse stats. Namely, that racehorses die every single day and it’s something the industry doesn’t want to publicize. Even winners don’t live a life of retired luxury. Owners don’t want to spend money on something that has no chance of making them money. Hence, most racehorses are killed after their racing days are done. (Some go to stud farms, but even after that not all are left to live out carefree happy days in green pastures.)
I was very sad after hearing about Eight Bells’s tragic demise yesterday, but my research completely left me feeling disheartened. I think I’ve only watched a horse race twice in my life. I know I will never patronize one ever again now.
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