This blog is about the opinion of the average sports fan. The fan that goes to their favorite teams games no matter what. The fan that pays $15.50 for a hotdog and a soda that sits in the upper deck of the stadium in the heat of August or the chills of December. I will talk about current topics going on the world of sports. For example, Roger Clemens and his situation, horse racing and PETA, baseball trades, NFL previews, NHL and NBA playoffs, etc. It will be my own personal opinions and you can comment or add anything you would like.
I will post to this blog every Thursday. Obviously, I will make an exception today because this is the first post.
I'm going to jump right into my first post.
May 3rd was the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. This is the first of three horse races of the "Triple Crown" races. The second race is called the Preakness, held at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland and the third race is called the Belmont Stakes, held at the Belmont Race Track in New York.
The winner of the Derby was, as most know by now, Big Brown. However, the victory was overshadowed by something quite serious and sad. The horse that came in second or "place" as its called in horse racing was named Eight Belles. She was a female horse called a "Filly". A Filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare, which means she was under four years old. After running the race and coming in second, as the horses were slowing down to a stop, Eight Belles broke her two front ankles and fell straight to the ground and sent jockey Gabriel Saez flying over her head. The horse was examined by the on-site doctors and physicians and it was determined that she could not be saved and was euthanized right on the track.
It was at this time where all of the controversy started. In case you are unaware, the bones of a horse's legs do not knit well after they are broken. In most cases, the horse is euthanized. This held true in the case of Barbaro. Now, don't think that this was the old west and they shot Eight Belles. It is similar to how dogs are euthanized. This is where you would cue in all of the animal activist groups in America to step in. PETA or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was the first group to jump on this story. Mostly because they are the biggest and the most publicized animal activist group in the country. They are calling for the suspension of Saez, saying that he should have noticed an injury and pulled the horse up instead of whipping the horse to go faster. PETA is also calling for the banning of whips and wants the horses to race on softer synthetic surfaces. Personally, I find that they are going too far with this. Now, I am not for poor treatment of animals, and I feel that if you have to abuse an animal for pleasure then there is something wrong with you. But in this case I find it very hard to believe that Saez was pushing the horse to far or treating it unethically. The horses that are raced in these premier events have a worth in the multi-million dollar range. The owners do not let any jockey race these horses. Even when they pick a jockey, he or she must learn how the horse reacts to certain things such as tweaks or being tired after practice. I am 99% confident that Saez raced that horse with full confidence that the horse had no pre-race injuries.
PETA is also pushing for a ban in horse racing altogether. I am confident in saying that there will not be a ban because of the fact that there is WAY to much money at stake. The owners of the horses have net worths in the tens of millions of dollars if not hundreds. In our day and age, money is the driving factor in most things. I, personally cannot see horse racing come to an end because of this. Finally, the last thing that owners want to see is one of their horses injured or euthanized. Like I mentioned before, the horses have a worth of millions and it is the owners investment out there racing. It would be like any one of us going out and buying a brand new Mercedes-Benz, and within the first week of owning the car, give it to an inexperienced driver and have it get into an accident and then that is the end of the car. With the death of the horse or it being retired prematurely because of injury hurts an owner because they cannot get returns on their investment. It is accurate to say that Saez was in his first Kentucky Derby, but this was not his first race ever or his first race with this horse.
I truly hope that the right thing is done because all of this controversy can only rehash the pain that is in the hearts of the owner, his family and everyone who worked with this horse.
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