|
My personal view of whipping is that if they would simply enforce rules on excessive use of the whip strictly, it would be fine. Everyone knows the difference between hitting a horse a couple of times to keep him straight or to coax her to start her run, and beating a tired horse 12 times in the stretch as he drops back. One is proper horsemanship, the other is animal abuse. And the sport should be against animal abuse whenever possible.
The Santa Anita rule looks overbroad.
And by the way, I am known here as a California homer, but I kinda of agree with the idea of moving the BC at this point. We are still in quite a mess, and there's a nonzero possibility that Santa Anita may fall back into a crisis. I am sure Churchill can take the BC on short notice, and that would probably be a good idea for the health of the sport. They could give the BC back to Santa Anita if/when it is clear that the track has its house in order.
|
