Barbaro

Would it have been more appropriate if he'd posted a picture of a Chinese restaurant?

Look, I understand it's a sad thing to see that happen. I saw it, and yes, I felt saddened by it. But it's a horse. I don't see any of the same outrage for greyhounds at dog tracks.

I know this will sound callous to some people, but horse racing isn't all that different from auto racing. The horse is the vehicle that is used to get around the track, and sometimes the vehicle has problems. When's the last time someone got pissed because someone made a joke after Tony Stewart got a flat tire in a race?

I think we're all missing a little bit of perspective.... I know it's important to a lot of people, but horse racing is a horrible, horrible thing. There's all kinds of stories about the jockeys and their struggles, and I'd guess there to be about 25 percent of all horses having their career end due to injury. I mean, say what you will about pro team sports and shitty owners, but at least the players get compensated. I don't think horses get treated all that well, do they? (and spare me the jokes about the horses getting put out to stud).

Yes, this is a sad story. My hope is that some good can come of it to make some changes in that industry.

 

Animal rights activists are probably going to be using this highly visible incident as a peg over the next several months.

I got a chance to sit down and talk to Pat Chapman about a year ago and she was very persuasive in making you feel like that horse was not just a golden ticket, but her child, too.

 

I am taking it into account.  Many of the horses who run in the Triple Crown -- whether they win or finish up the track -- are never the same again.  It's not my opinion, it's fact.

 

You are remembering it wrong. FuPeg came back later in the year, including a poor performance in the Breeders' Cup after........an injury.

 

No, it's a rationalization of a boy who's had waaaaaay tooo much Guinness.

Look guys, I made the glue joke, but it was to keep from crying over this poor animal's imminent demise. Dr. J doesn't think it's funny either, he's just trying to deal with some very disturbing images.

I'm a pretty big animal lover, and I'm going to have nightmares about the pic from a few pages back. So is Dr. J. It's a tragic situation.

 

Since the Travers is limited to 3 year olds, you're probably thinking about the Whitney

 

What Barbaro faces now is what the great stallion Nureyev faced in 1987. Jennie Rees of the Louisville Courier-Journal reminds me that Nureyev broke his right hind leg that year and survived. He broke it not racing, just walking around in a pasture. Here's a link to a Bloodhorse magazine story that tells the harrowing story of Nureyev's surgery and near-miraculous survival through multiple post-surgery crises ....

http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=6788

 

Let's hope that comes to pass.

Since we're a day past, what did many of you have as your Preakness headline? Ours was: 'Say a prayer' for Barbaro

 

I like that!

 

Yeah, some interfering sports editor trumped the universal desk and made them write that. What an asshole!