Kentucky Derby

[BallHawk]

Who ya got?

I got Visionaire.

[red]

yuck :(

[Joemailman]

Fell sorry for all the fans of Eight Belles. Would feel weird to have won money on her.http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=407722

[FavreChild]

That was awful.

I'm glad I had a few mint juleps before seeing that. :(

[red]

that was probably the nail in the coffin for me as far as being a horse racing fan

i was a huge race fan when i was little. my folks use to take me to the track all the time and place bets for me. i loved going to the track and watching the horses run

but barbaro was just sickning for me, i loved that horse, and as soon as he pulled up in the belmont i knew he was dead

and now eight bells. just yuck. i just makes me sick

i love animals, except chipmonks, coyotes, and wolves, and bears lions and vikings, so i have really started to question the sport.

rich fuckers breading animals like crazy tying to find the right ones, only so they can beat the shit out of them nd make money off them.

watching that big titted bitch jump up and down like crazy happy about what her horse did while another horse was being put down, just brought it all into focus for me. these people in it only for the money, they could care less about the animals. i'm pretty positive that the owners are more pissed about their investment going up in flames rather then their animal dies.

like barbaro, they weren't trying to save that horse for a year because they couldn't stand to lose their pet. they fought to keep it alive because they stood to lose tens of millions of dollars in stud fees if he died. i bet they were milking that horse like crazy that whole time they were trying to save him

i'm done with that sport, get rid of it

one other thing, they keep saying that the fatality numbers are very low, only 1.6 deaths for ever 1000 horses that start a race. theres a lot of race tracks in this country running almost every day this time of year. running like 10 races a day with around 10 horses per race. to me that looks like multiple deaths ever single race day

that would be like 2.5 pro football players dying every sunday and dozens of college players each week

[Freak Out]

that was probably the nail in the coffin for me as far as being a horse racing fan

i was a huge race fan when i was little. my folks use to take me to the track all the time and place bets for me. i loved going to the track and watching the horses run

but barbaro was just sickning for me, i loved that horse, and as soon as he pulled up in the belmont i knew he was dead

and now eight bells. just yuck. i just makes me sick

i love animals, except chipmonks, coyotes, and wolves, and bears lions and vikings, so i have really started to question the sport.

rich fuckers breading animals like crazy tying to find the right ones, only so they can beat the shit out of them nd make money off them.

watching that big titted bitch jump up and down like crazy happy about what her horse did while another horse was being put down, just brought it all into focus for me. these people in it only for the money, they could care less about the animals. i'm pretty positive that the owners are more pissed about their investment going up in flames rather then their animal dies.

like barbaro, they weren't trying to save that horse for a year because they couldn't stand to lose their pet. they fought to keep it alive because they stood to lose tens of millions of dollars in stud fees if he died. i bet they were milking that horse like crazy that whole time they were trying to save him

i'm done with that sport, get rid of it

one other thing, they keep saying that the fatality numbers are very low, only 1.6 deaths for ever 1000 horses that start a race. theres a lot of race tracks in this country running almost every day this time of year. running like 10 races a day with around 10 horses per race. to me that looks like multiple deaths ever single race day


The sport of kings.

[The Leaper]

watching that big titted bitch jump up and down like crazy happy about what her horse did while another horse was being put down, just brought it all into focus for me. these people in it only for the money, they could care less about the animals. i'm pretty positive that the owners are more pissed about their investment going up in flames rather then their animal dies.

Don't talk about Dick Cheney like that.

[red]

watching that big titted bitch jump up and down like crazy happy about what her horse did while another horse was being put down, just brought it all into focus for me. these people in it only for the money, they could care less about the animals. i'm pretty positive that the owners are more pissed about their investment going up in flames rather then their animal dies.

Don't talk about Dick Cheney like that.LOL

[woodbuck27]

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/eight_belles/?qp_source=advebg08&c=ebg08&gclid=COHtoYLzkZMCFQurPAodShoKEQ

"Eight Belles" Should Sound the End of Racetrack Betting

Just after crossing the finish line in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008, a young filly named Eight Belles collapsed when both of her front ankles snapped. She was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the dirty business of thoroughbred racing.

Eight Belles' death is yet another reminder that these horses are raced when they are so young that their bones have not properly formed, and they are often raced on surfaces that are too hard for their bones—like the hard track at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles' jockey whipped her mercilessly as she came down the final stretch. This is no great surprise, since trainers, owners, and jockeys are all driven by the desire to make money, leaving the horses to suffer terribly.

PETA is calling on the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer, to bar the owner from racing at the track, and, at the very least, to stop using young horses who are so susceptible to these types of horrific injuries.

Click on the above LINK to read more.

[red]

peta is on, on a few things, but they're flat wrong on others

the jockey was not to blame, the horse was fine during the race and was just galloping when this happened. sure we whipped the hell out of the horse, but so does every other jockey in every other race. you can't suspend a guy for doing what everyone else is allowed to do

they are right about the track surfaces being to hard, the horses being too young, and everyone only caring about the money

they should also talk about how these animals are roided up since the moment they are born. we know from pro atheletes that injury rates can go up with roid useage, well these animals can't afford injuries, they die when they get injured.

they also have pain killers shoved down their throats on race day. these animals know when something is wrong with them, but owners and trainers try and "fix" that so they still run. maybe if the horse wasn't dulled up she might have known something was wrong and would have pulled up before the disaster happened. of course her owners wouldn't have gotten the prize money then

i think peta needs to drop the completely insane points in their argument is they want anything to be done. if a horse dies after the race because it shatters both front ankles, well that has absolutely nothing to do with getting whipped or pushed to hard. don't use this death to promote something else.

concentrate on the things that really might have mattered in the case, and try and do something to prevent it from happening again. then at some other point work on the other issues, like whipping

[Guiness]

There wasn't as much big money behind it, but greyhound racing took a huge dive because of the treatment of the dogs.

The numbers were dizzying - a greyhound has a racing career of 1.5 to 3.5 yrs long (from age 1.5 to 5), but a life span of 10-15yrs. The result is a lot of dogs that are no longer useful to the trainers, which leads to mass graveyards containing tens of thousands of skeletons.

Their plight was fairly well advertised, and things are quite a lot better now. Hopefully horse racing will get cleaned up as well, although there's much bigger money at play, so they might be better able to resist.

[Guiness]

you mention hard tracks, and soft bones on the young horses...the triple crown is very old...has something changed, or have these problems always been there, and just getting press now?

[Freak Out]

There are a bunch of factors that play into this kind of breakdown on the track...inbreeding, drug and steroid use...lots of stuff. Every horse in the race shared a pretty tight bloodline and were all "related". Racing in other countries is different in the fact that most steroids are not allowed.

[oregonpackfan]

There wasn't as much big money behind it, but greyhound racing took a huge dive because of the treatment of the dogs.

The numbers were dizzying - a greyhound has a racing career of 1.5 to 3.5 yrs long (from age 1.5 to 5), but a life span of 10-15yrs. The result is a lot of dogs that are no longer useful to the trainers, which leads to mass graveyards containing tens of thousands of skeletons.

Their plight was fairly well advertised, and things are quite a lot better now. Hopefully horse racing will get cleaned up as well, although there's much bigger money at play, so they might be better able to resist.

The abuse of greyhounds is well documented. Here in the Portland area, there is greyhound adoption agency that finds homes for former racing greyhounds rather than have them put down.

Despite their size, greyhounds make good family pets as they are mild-mannered and loyal to their adoptive families.

[red]

you mention hard tracks, and soft bones on the young horses...the triple crown is very old...has something changed, or have these problems always been there, and just getting press now?

one thing i saw a lot of on tv this week was how the horses are breed differently now. it use to be you took a fast horse and bredd it with a durible horse. now they just continue to breed speed with speed with the thinking that these horses only have to last like 10 races then their career is done

these horses today are just not built the same as they were 10 or 20 years ago

[Little Whiskey]

Do you think Alpo will pay extra for Eight Belles?

[Freak Out]

Do you think Alpo will pay extra for Eight Belles?

Horse flesh is horse flesh to them.

[Freak Out]

Speaking of that....who has eaten horse? I have and it was pretty good.

[texaspackerbacker]

What's the big deal here?

You have injuries in human sports all the time, and even occasional deaths. We don't even remotely consider eliminating them. This is just an animal and doesn't even rise to that level. And before anybody calls me callous about animals, I have four dogs I dearly love, and would do serious physical violence to anybody that would hurt them.

The incidences of horse racing deaths--horses, I mean--I would guess, would be far less, percentage-wise than boxing; We've had a ton of crap in the news about wrestling; Hockey fights that become felonies; Knee injuries on artificial turf; What's gonna happen when a wood bat splinter fatally skewers a fan or player?

I say again, this is much ado about nothing.

[Zool]

What's the big deal here?

You have injuries in human sports all the time, and even occasional deaths. We don't even remotely consider eliminating them. This is just an animal and doesn't even rise to that level. And before anybody calls me callous about animals, I have four dogs I dearly love, and would do serious physical violence to anybody that would hurt them.

The incidences of horse racing deaths--horses, I mean--I would guess, would be far less, percentage-wise than boxing; We've had a ton of crap in the news about wrestling; Hockey fights that become felonies; Knee injuries on artificial turf; What's gonna happen when a wood bat splinter fatally skewers a fan or player?

I say again, this is much ado about nothing.

I'm going to have to agree. I will equate this to the absolute outrage over Vick killing dogs -vs- Rae Carruth killing his pregnant girlfriend. The Vick story was huge. The Carruth story wasnt anywhere near as big and he killed 2 humans.

[Little Whiskey]

Do you think Alpo will pay extra for Eight Belles?

Horse flesh is horse flesh to them.

but could this be considered premium? kinda like kobe beef?

[Guiness]

The abuse of greyhounds is well documented. Here in the Portland area, there is greyhound adoption agency that finds homes for former racing greyhounds rather than have them put down.

Despite their size, greyhounds make good family pets as they are mild-mannered and loyal to their adoptive families.

Quite. And I think most tracks run agencies like that now...

They certainly are great pets - I used to live near an adoption agency that I helped out with, and have had 3 of them myself. You wouldn't think it, but they are quite sedate in the house.

[Guiness]

There are a bunch of factors that play into this kind of breakdown on the track...inbreeding, drug and steroid use...lots of stuff. Every horse in the race shared a pretty tight bloodline and were all "related". Racing in other countries is different in the fact that most steroids are not allowed.

Ya, makes sense. I remember seeing something about the inordinate number of stakes level horses that have Northern Dancer somewhere in their bloodline. I think it was like 80% or something!

I also wonder if track conditions plays a factor. Are the tracks harder in order to make them faster, so that the times are better? I wouldn't be surprised.

[red]

ok, i know i wasn't going to watch anymore horse racing

but WOW

big brown is a freak, jockey never even touched him the whole race. and i've never seen a horse pull away that fast that quick. and he looks like he can keep going

we might see another complete blowout like secretariat in the belmont. which to me is the most dominating win in sports history

[HarveyWallbangers]

ok, i know i wasn't going to watch anymore horse racing

You made it all the way to the next big race before watching again.
:D