A Wake Up Call for Horse Racing

I wasn't going to do a post today, however an article that Joe Drape, an Eclipse winner contributed to caught my attention. Sunday's NY Times article about the breakdowns and drug issues in the sport could put a nail in coffin in the public eye (Warning: there is a photo of a deceased horse on the top of the article if you are viewing online).

The article mainly focus on Sunland Park in New Mexico where breakdowns are the second highest in the country, only Rudioso Downs also in New Mexico is higher according to this chart. However, both of those tracks are primarly Quarter Horse tracks and the article combines Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse data together. Also according to the same chart, Aqueduct had 5.3 breakdowns for every 1,000 starts. That will be going up though after the very brutal inner track season that had more then 15 breakdowns.

The article comes on the heels of HBO canceling Luck after the death of three horses (two while filming and a third being an off camera accident). Instead of me posting my views on this more, there are two posts that go into depth more then I can. 

Above the Fold: Racing in the Times from Retired Racehorses

Horse Racing: Is King Dead? from Buttonwood Stables

Both of these posts are replies to the NY Times article. 

This article should be a wake up call for horse racing in North America. It's the only place in the world that has a serious breakdown issue and drug problem. Europe, Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), do not have this problem. The question is: will it be? Right now, I'm afraid the answer is no. 

I think this tweet from Adam Wiener (co-founder of Hello Race Fans) sums it up best:

"To avg person racing is just another sport with problems. NFL=bounties; MLB=steroids; NHL=fights; Horses=drugs. All trace back to greed."

In that change needs to happen, lets just hope it does.