The Truth About Horse Racing
A day that was supposed to be celebrated started out in tragedy at Pimlico Racetrack on Preakness Saturday. Homeboykris, a Maryland-bred who was a contender in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, collapsed and died shortly after claiming victory in the first race of the day. Hours later a filly, Pramedya, broke down in the fourth race and had to be humanly euthanized. Both incidents are heartbreaking and have left many people in shock. It has also left many people with the wrong impression of the sport.
When the Triple Crown races are run the world turns its attention to horse racing, a sport that usually doesn’t get a lot of recognition. People who know nothing about the sport will tune in to see if the Triple Crown will be captured again. These are the people who will assume that this is a sport of abuse when they see something go wrong, when in reality, it’s not. There have been a lot of angry comments going around the internet over the deaths that occurred at Pimlico on Saturday. While these people have a right to feel sad, they don’t have a right to bash a subject in which they are uneducated, and they certainly don’t have the right to be so hateful toward the connections of the two fallen horses who are in the process of mourning right now.
What happened with Homeboykris and Pramedya were freak accidents. No one could have predicted that they would pass away the way that they did. People are assuming that these horses (and many others) are abused and poorly taken care of. Common sense will tell you that if you want your horse to be able to run well and win it needs to be healthy and well taken care of. So, why would people think that racehorses aren’t taken care of? If these animals were abused they wouldn’t be able to compete, and they would be hidden from the public eye, not displayed on a major day of racing. Why would anyone think that people would spend thousands, if not millions of dollars on these horses, if they just planned to kill them? It just doesn’t make sense. When a horse breaks down it’s simply a very unfortunate accident. Any large, heavy animal can injure itself when it’s in motion, whether it’s a racehorse or not. The fact is, injuries can happen but most of the time they don’t.
Many people claim that everyone in horse racing is only in it for the money. They think it’s nothing but a sport of greed. The truth is that this is an extremely difficult sport to find success in. If horse racing was an instant way to get rich, then wouldn’t everyone want to be involved in it? The people who are involved in horse racing are involved because they love being around horses. It takes a lot of work to look after these animals, and they need to be taken care of every single day. There are no holidays or sick days. It’s a job that takes a lot of devotion. No one would pick such a difficult sport if it wasn’t something they were truly passionate about.
Another misconception about horse racing is that the horses are being forced to run and that they hate it. Running is what these animals were bred to do. It has been genetically imbedded in them through generations of breeding horses that love to run. Anyone that has been around a thoroughbred can see that they possess a competitive drive that is unique from all other breeds. There have been many times where I have seen a jockey fall off of his horse in the race, but the horse keeps on going, usually finishing in front. A horse without a rider can’t possibly be forced to run, so why do riderless horses almost always continue to run if the hate it so much? Just like a retriever is born with the impulse to fetch and retrieve, the thoroughbred is born with the undeniable desire to run. It’s simply who they are.
I’m not asking people to become a fan of horse racing. If it’s not for you, then that’s fine. I just hope that people will realize how much love and dedication goes into the sport instead of only focusing on the bad. I don’t think it’s fair to attack the connections of the ill-fated horses when you don’t know anything about them. Think about how terrible they must be feeling right now in the wake of losing their beloved animals that they once held so much hope in. Instead of being so presumptuous about a subject that you were never educated in, take some time to learn the facts before you jump to the worst conclusions. Just keep in mind that at the end of the day, no one wants to see any animal get hurt or die. I can say with certainty, that if there was some magic way of knowing that Homeboykris and Pramedya were going to die, their connections would never have run them.
By: Chelsea Lowman