Feinstein Wants Santa Anita Halted

[alydar]

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac..._P67unec7EGyIo

[The_Turf_Monster]

It'd be nice if a little common sense given the spotlight came into play, like not running a 9 year old in a low level claiming race

[dilanesp]

At some point, when the shark keeps eating people, you have to close the beaches.

I think Belinda Stronach may be the only person in the industry who really knows how much trouble the sport is in here. It could be over as soon as November 2020.

The BC should be moved to Churchill, as I said in an earlier thread.

Santa Anita should close up early until the fall and should probably consider installing another synthetic track and getting the technology right this time.

To try to forestall a ballot initiative killing the sport, the Stronach Group should consider putting its own initiative on the ballot barring race-day medication, requiring the transfer of vet records for horses coming from out of state, and reducing live racing dates. That will give members of the general public concerned about the sport a reform plan to vote for.

If California's racing community doesn't get out in front of this, our sport will be dead here.

[PaceAdvantage]

The general public, as a whole, doesn't care about racing. Not one bit. This includes both the GOOD and the BAD about the sport.

How do I know? Because breakdows have been happening since the sport was invented. They were happening when I first got into it back in the late 1980s.

Go For Wand...Ruffian...Barbaro....a whole host of high profile breakdowns through the decades. Life moved on...the anti-racing folks never got the foothold to drive the narrative in those cases. And the public, which didn't care about racing, didn't care about dead horses.

But now it's different. Because the industry is allowing the anti-racing folks to drive the narrative big time. So that's all the public is going to hear and read about. And that's the side they will gravitate to...precisely because they don't care about racing.

This whole topic is a non-starter for the general public, unless they are artificially aroused and inflamed (and we all know how painful that can be).

This is becoming like the Iraq war, when the media would report on every single casualty during the war...soon there will be a daily running horse death count on the cover of every major Los Angeles paper like there was during the war (if it hasn't happened already).

The anti-racing folks finally have something they can ride off into battle with, and it's quickly becoming a very powerful tool.

Once again, racing gets caught flat-footed and behind the eight ball. Racing's thirst for suicidal tendencies appears unquenchable.

[dilanesp]

I think it's a little different.

The arc of history favors animal rights arguments. Not all of them-- the US isn't going to turn into a nation of vegans any time in any of our lifetimes-- but ones that involve allegations of cruel treatment of animals.

Here are some datapoints:

Cockfighting was once a thriving sport in the South and West. Now it is illegal everywhere.

Dogfighting is illegal, and a very good NFL quarterback's life and career was ruined for participating in it.

Bullfighting is illegal in the United States and has been banned in France and (in its lethal form) in Portugal, and has also been banned in parts of Spain, which is the country that brought it to the world's attention.

Greyhound racing, once one of the most popular pastimes in Florida, has been completely banned there.

Fast food restaurants are, under pressure, releasing more products based on Veggie Burgers.

Horse slaughter, once common, has been banned in the United States.

The Ringling Bros. circus had to shut down, and the only major nationwide circus producer does animal-free shows.

You aren't going to be able to fight this, or to convince people that they really shouldn't care about animal welfare arguments. Why? Because, honestly, people now live in cities. Folks in rural areas are comfortable with a lot of practices that involve the death and/or suffering of animals, or their use for work or entertainment purposes. In the cities? Animals are pets.

So once too much of a spotlight is shined on horse racing, that's it, we're on the defensive. And for whatever reason, this story about the deaths at Santa Anita finally did it, in the way that Ruffian and Go For Wand and Eight Belles never did. Part of the reason for this is probably that the sport is simply less popular than it used to be-- people are more afraid of taking on horse racing when there are 50,000 people at Aqueduct and Santa Anita every Saturday. And we have far more legal gambling, which means the public doesn't need us to get their gambling fix as they once did.

So we are now officially on the defensive. We either present a more humane form of horse racing that the public can buy into and accept, or we die, at least in California where animal rights is at its apex. Other states, especially more rural ones or where the horse business is a greater portion of the economy, can probably take more of a stand. (E.g., Kentucky, Arkansas.)

[horsefan2019]

New poster here. Santa Anita is my local horse track, the media and PETA members have been camped there. It doesn't matter if they install a synthetic track or not, these people want to shut down the track. They have an agenda.

[The_Turf_Monster]

Let's not act like this is some impulsive agenda. Times have changed and with social media, news at your fingertips, etc. the sight/news of a few dozen horses breaking down in a few months at one track is predictable news with predictable consequences

For the good of the sport, suspend the meet, put in an artificial surface, and pray that Del Mar is smart enough to card the bulk of its races as routes on the turf

[horsefan2019]

Originally Posted by The_Turf_Monster

Let's not act like this is some impulsive agenda. Times have changed and with social media, news at your fingertips, etc. the sight/news of a few dozen horses breaking down in a few months at one track is predictable news with predictable consequences

For the good of the sport, suspend the meet, put in an artificial surface, and pray that Del Mar is smart enough to card the bulk of its races as routes on the turf

A couple of years ago those animal activists were trying to shut down Del Mar too. Their facebook page was littered with posts from those people. They are trying the same tactic with Santa Anita. The media has given them the ammo, probably more so since its a way bigger media market than San Diego.

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

New poster here. Santa Anita is my local horse track, the media and PETA members have been camped there. It doesn't matter if they install a synthetic track or not, these people want to shut down the track. They have an agenda.

So, between Dilan and PA we have two magnificent posts detailing the situation, and then the new guy comes in and makes a short, concise, accurate post that sums up the real story.

Everybody's right on this.

And it really is agenda-based. But whose agenda?

[The_Turf_Monster]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

A couple of years ago those animal activists were trying to shut down Del Mar too. Their facebook page was littered with posts from those people. They are trying the same tactic with Santa Anita. The media has given them the ammo, probably more so since its a way bigger media market than San Diego.

Totally agree but there is chum in the water right now with sharks circling, sometimes it's better to let it die down than try to make money for a month. If they can get through this month, the Del Mar meet, and the fair circuit with nothing too crazy happening, this dies down and goes away imo

[horsefan2019]

Listen to the language carefully. PETA is using this moment to try to get racing suspended all across the US. Its just not Santa Anita anymore. Santa Anita could install a synthetic surface in time for the fall meet and it won't make them happy. When you have language like "shut it down", "killing fields", and certain politicians from a political party who have no problem currying favor with these people, it is basically an all out war at this point. The sport will have to make changes in the future, otherwise I could see certain people in power that will probably try to empower a national body for more regulations, if not outright attempt to ban the sport in certain states.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I think it's a little different.

The arc of history favors animal rights arguments. Not all of them-- the US isn't going to turn into a nation of vegans any time in any of our lifetimes-- but ones that involve allegations of cruel treatment of animals.

Here are some datapoints:

Cockfighting was once a thriving sport in the South and West. Now it is illegal everywhere.

Dogfighting is illegal, and a very good NFL quarterback's life and career was ruined for participating in it.

Bullfighting is illegal in the United States and has been banned in France and (in its lethal form) in Portugal, and has also been banned in parts of Spain, which is the country that brought it to the world's attention.

Greyhound racing, once one of the most popular pastimes in Florida, has been completely banned there.

Fast food restaurants are, under pressure, releasing more products based on Veggie Burgers.

Horse slaughter, once common, has been banned in the United States.

The Ringling Bros. circus had to shut down, and the only major nationwide circus producer does animal-free shows.

You aren't going to be able to fight this, or to convince people that they really shouldn't care about animal welfare arguments. Why? Because, honestly, people now live in cities. Folks in rural areas are comfortable with a lot of practices that involve the death and/or suffering of animals, or their use for work or entertainment purposes. In the cities? Animals are pets.

So once too much of a spotlight is shined on horse racing, that's it, we're on the defensive. And for whatever reason, this story about the deaths at Santa Anita finally did it, in the way that Ruffian and Go For Wand and Eight Belles never did. Part of the reason for this is probably that the sport is simply less popular than it used to be-- people are more afraid of taking on horse racing when there are 50,000 people at Aqueduct and Santa Anita every Saturday. And we have far more legal gambling, which means the public doesn't need us to get their gambling fix as they once did.

So we are now officially on the defensive. We either present a more humane form of horse racing that the public can buy into and accept, or we die, at least in California where animal rights is at its apex. Other states, especially more rural ones or where the horse business is a greater portion of the economy, can probably take more of a stand. (E.g., Kentucky, Arkansas.)

And what's even worse is that the tax dollars generated by horseracing may no longer be enough to warrant the continued support of the politicians...in the wake of a growing public sentiment against the sport. With all the other forms of legalized gambling around, and this being an animal-loving country...how can the sacrifice of so many horses a year be justified just in the name of "sport"?

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

...or to convince people that they really shouldn't care about animal welfare arguments.

Here's where you lost me. I never said or implied such a thing should take place.

[Suff]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

. They have an agenda.

Who doesn't?

To lay it on media and mal-adjusted animal lovers is to easy.

Due to technology we see animals in their natural habitat. You can go on Google or Youtube and see every living creature right down to parasites and fungus's.

In general, using animals for human pleasure or entertainment has fallen out of favor.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by horsefan2019

New poster here. Santa Anita is my local horse track, the media and PETA members have been camped there. It doesn't matter if they install a synthetic track or not, these people want to shut down the track. They have an agenda.

The horse racing industry and the horseplayers also have an agenda...and, who's to say whose agenda is the most valid?