Horse racing attacked by Media---Daily

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

As hard as breakdowns are to deal with, this is never going to be a zero tolerance sport.

If horses were free running in fields they'd occasionally take a bad step and beak down, get spooked, panic, fall, trip over each other or run into a tree, come down with health issues like colic that lead to premature death etc...

The goal is to ensure that every horse goes to the track as close to 100% fit and sound as possible and that the surface they are running on is not adding to the frequency of breakdowns over and above the "accident" rate that might occur if they were running free.

If we at least approach that point, the critics have no ammunition unless we allow them to set the standard to zero tolerance, which is absurd. Clearly, we are still quite a way away from the "target". The difference between dirt and turf racing tells you everything you need to know before we even get into drugs and other treatments.

I agree. I think a low, nonzero rate of breakdowns is acceptable. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be involved in this sport in any way. It should be as low as we can get it, but it's never going to be zero and can't be. The reality is horses will break down occasionally even if they are used in other vocations rather than racing. They break down on trails, they break down in show jumping competitions, they break down pulling plows. It happens.

But we also have to understand that a horse that breaks down in a big race on television is a big story. And that efforts to try and prevent the media from covering it are futile and wrong. If we have a breakdown in a big race, we have to own it.

[castaway01]

People on this site are some of the more hardcore dedicated fans of horse racing (and gambling) that there are, and we have a ton of negative threads here. That's because there are a lot of negative things going on in racing right now and we're well aware of them. To point these things out ourselves and then cry "bias" when the media notices them too is pretty silly.

[ReplayRandall]

Originally Posted by castaway01

People on this site are some of the more hardcore dedicated fans of horse racing (and gambling) that there are, and we have a ton of negative threads here. That's because there are a lot of negative things going on in racing right now and we're well aware of them. To point these things out ourselves and then cry "bias" when the media notices them too is pretty silly.

Nah, the casualties of the sport have always been there, but the media is now pounding away on a consistent basis, as if they were purposely trying to make the events suddenly seem horrifying and barbaric.....PETA and their agenda, are now driving this narrative with the full participation from the MSM.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

Nah, the casualties of the sport have always been there, but the media is now pounding away on a consistent basis, as if they were purposely trying to make the events suddenly seem horrifying and barbaric.....PETA and their agenda, are now driving this narrative with the full participation from the MSM.

I don't buy this. We just finished a meeting at Del Mar. There was barely any coverage of casualties. Why? Because the number was low. If we continue to have very few casualties in Southern California, there will continue to be very little coverage of casualties.

The reason the Santa Anita meeting was portrayed as horrifying and barbaric was because it was horrifying and barbaric. Now, if you want to argue, 50 years ago a racetrack might have been able to get away with a horrifying and barbaric meeting, well maybe. But that doesn't mean people were right back then.

[ReplayRandall]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

I don't buy this. We just finished a meeting at Del Mar. There was barely any coverage of casualties. Why? Because the number was low. If we continue to have very few casualties in Southern California, there will continue to be very little coverage of casualties.

Dilan, the opposition is seasoned, financed, well versed and not stupid...They are a formidable foe, who destroyed Greyhound racing to the point of extinction. PETA knows when to push and not push their agenda....Respect is needed here, don't take lightly, as the MSM is their ally.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

Dilan, the opposition is seasoned, financed, well versed and not stupid...They are a formidable foe, who destroyed Greyhound racing to the point of extinction. PETA knows when to push and not push their agenda....Respect is needed here, don't take lightly, as the MSM is their ally.

Greyhound racing destroyed itself. I was down in Orlando off and on for the better part of a couple of years. I used to go to Target, and there was a dog rescue group out there with these old racing greyhounds. They had tons of them, every week. They were the sweetest dogs, but you had to have a yard and live an active lifestyle to take them in. There were rescue groups all over the state.

When Florida killed greyhound racing, I wasn't surprised. How would any voter feel when they (1) never went to the greyhound races and (2) only had contact with the sport in the form of that rescue agency in front of the Target with all those homeless dogs, clamoring for people to adopt them?

Animal rights isn't the enemy. Animal rights is a reality. Our society cares a lot more about animal welfare than it did back in the days when horse racing got its start. That's a good thing.

We as a sport need to deal with that reality, not try to push society to go back to an inglorious past or to pretend that we just have a media problem.

[ReplayRandall]

Florida was the last, that was easy.

PETA systematically destroyed it state by state, starting with Colorado, then Arizona, then the New England area and then Oregon.....I think there are 3 or 4 tracks left, they all tie in with casino gambling until they are decoupled, then they'll die as well.

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

They were the sweetest dogs, but you had to have a yard and live an active lifestyle to take them in. There were rescue groups all over the state.

Trust me on this...a yard, maybe, but an active lifestyle is not a requirement for owning a greyhound or whippet (1/2 greyhound). Any owner of same will tell you they are the laziest animals on the planet. A walk in the morning and evening (which you should do with any dog) and a place to lie in the sun and you'll have a very happy pet.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by ReplayRandall

Dilan, the opposition is seasoned, financed, well versed and not stupid...They are a formidable foe, who destroyed Greyhound racing to the point of extinction. PETA knows when to push and not push their agenda....Respect is needed here, don't take lightly, as the MSM is their ally.

Are you suggesting that greyhound racing was wrongfully terminated?

[classhandicapper]

The issue with PETA is they they aren't an organization simply looking out for the welfare of animals.

They are an extremist organization that believes humans have no right to use animals is any way shape or form for companionship, work, sport, policing, to help the blind or anything else no matter how much love and care they are given as part of it. There goal is always to destroy whatever it is they are focusing their attention on at the time.

If they were an honest broker working with tracks, trainers, owners, vets, maintenance crews etc.. to improve the sport, then by all means they should be part of the conversation and help. But that's not what they are. They are the functional equivalent of a terrorist organization hell bet on our destruction and cannot be dealt with in good faith. We have to police ourselves and discredit them as the whack jobs they are.

[Secondbest]

I have a question maybe someone here knows. What's the difference between breakdowns during a race between Turf and Dirt?

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

The issue with PETA is they they aren't an organization simply looking out for the welfare of animals.

They are an extremist organization that believes humans have no right to use animals is any way shape or form for companionship, work, sport, policing, to help the blind or anything else no matter how much love and care they are given as part of it. There goal is always to destroy whatever it is they are focusing their attention on at the time.

If they were an honest broker working with tracks, trainers, owners, vets, maintenance crews etc.. to improve the sport, then by all means they should be part of the conversation and help. But that's not what they are. They are the functional equivalent of a terrorist organization hell bet on our destruction and cannot be dealt with in good faith. We have to police ourselves and discredit them as the whack jobs they are.

They are neither a terrorist organization (I haven't seen any bombings of racetracks lately) nor an honest broker. They are an advocacy group.

Advocacy groups bring singular focus to a particular issue or subject matter. They are sometimes, even often, wrong. But a pluralistic democracy is formed from a collection of advocacy groups getting their point of view out there.

The key point to understand is that there are few things more powerful than an advocacy group armed with the truth. PETA is always going to be PETA- they don't like what they consider to be the exploitation of animals, we know that. But we lose when we give them real ammunition. A PETA that is talking to the 15 percent of the people who think that animals shouldn't race for human entertainment at all is a PETA that is no threat to us. A PETA that is talking to the 95 percent or more of people who think that horse racing shouldn't result in mass carnage of horses is a PETA that can destroy us.

[bob60566]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

The issue with PETA is they they aren't an organization simply looking out for the welfare of animals.

They are an extremist organization that believes humans have no right to use animals is any way shape or form for companionship, work, sport, policing, to help the blind or anything else no matter how much love and care they are given as part of it. There goal is always to destroy whatever it is they are focusing their attention on at the time.

If they were an honest broker working with tracks, trainers, owners, vets, maintenance crews etc.. to improve the sport, then by all means they should be part of the conversation and help. But that's not what they are. They are the functional equivalent of a terrorist organization hell bet on our destruction and cannot be dealt with in good faith. We have to police ourselves and discredit them as the whack jobs they are.

And what job North American horse racing is doing in regulating drug abuse in horse racing.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

They are neither a terrorist organization (I haven't seen any bombings of racetracks lately) nor an honest broker. They are an advocacy group.

Advocacy groups bring singular focus to a particular issue or subject matter. They are sometimes, even often, wrong. But a pluralistic democracy is formed from a collection of advocacy groups getting their point of view out there.

The key point to understand is that there are few things more powerful than an advocacy group armed with the truth. PETA is always going to be PETA- they don't like what they consider to be the exploitation of animals, we know that. But we lose when we give them real ammunition. A PETA that is talking to the 15 percent of the people who think that animals shouldn't race for human entertainment at all is a PETA that is no threat to us. A PETA that is talking to the 95 percent or more of people who think that horse racing shouldn't result in mass carnage of horses is a PETA that can destroy us.

An EXCELLENT summation...IMO.

[Augenj]

Originally Posted by MooseDog

Trust me on this...a yard, maybe, but an active lifestyle is not a requirement for owning a greyhound or whippet (1/2 greyhound). Any owner of same will tell you they are the laziest animals on the planet. A walk in the morning and evening (which you should do with any dog) and a place to lie in the sun and you'll have a very happy pet.

Agree with this. I've had three over the years and they were all couch potatoes except for an occasional zoomie in the back yard. I've also transported adoptable ones among tracks, adoption groups, and adopters. Sweetest animals on the planet.