RIP to Mongolian Groom and CA Racing

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by 46zilzal

Breed speed to speed (an offer continuing shortening of all graded races so EVEN IF YOU WANTED to know where stamina comes from, there would be no way to find it), load up animals with Calcium leaching drugs ( a known side effect of furosemide) and, over time, this is what you get..

This is basically the issue in a nutshell. The rest of it we can argue has always gone on, shouldn't go on, could be improved, etc. But until you can make the breed stronger and more durable, these incidents will continue. I'm not an expert on the world of show dogs, but numerous dog breeds have also had mobility and vision issues bred into them because dogs that coincidentally had those issues were more visually pleasing. Unfortunately we can't put the genie back in the bottle or unring the bell.

I don't really think there needs to be a conspiracy involved to see we're dealing with a world less tolerant of horses breaking down in front of them. What percentage of the American population has ever owned or even ridden a horse? They see them as beautiful creatures that should be protected---which they should---but forget they were bred to race in the first place. If you "protected" them from racing by banning it, they wouldn't exist at all. But when the horse is being put down in front of you, it's hard to remember that.

[turfnsport]

Originally Posted by theiman

Yesterday at Belmont Park the 26th horse in 2019 was euthanized from either training or racing. For all of those naysayers who say that SA surface isnt safe please explain why the Belmont surface is safe?
Amazing how many ignorant posts on what the problem is in racing. If the surface at SA was bad, why havent jocks and trainers boycotted the track and moved their business elsewhere?

Thanks to PA for sticking up for what is going on.

By the way the horse that died from training at Belmont was Kid Robin Hood.


Bel 26
Sar 13
Aqu 4
Total 43 at NYRA tracks.

Where did you get these stats?

[cj]

Originally Posted by DGroundhog

He was accused of basically everything, but then again he doesn't have white privilege.

Nobody was accusing him of attempted murder. Just stop.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by DGroundhog

He was accused of basically everything, but then again he doesn't have white privilege.

YouTube

[DGroundhog]

Originally Posted by cj

Nobody was accusing him of attempted murder. Just stop.

They pretty much were. Tyler got a pass because he is white and the brown jockey was demonized. People wanted him banned from the sport for riding while brown.

Tyler continues to get away with it because he is white and male.

[thaskalos]

Since all of the horses list January 1st as their birthday...a lot of these horses who prepare for their 2-year-old racing campaigns are a lot younger than they are made out to be. Couple their physical immaturity with the powerful drugs currently in vogue...and a problem exists which could easily be remedied. To hell with "tradition", I say. Do away with 2-year-old racing...even if it marginalizes the "historical significance" of the Triple Crown. This is uncharted territory that our game is currently travailing through...and "tradition" should be held in secondary concern, IMO.

[cj]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Since all of the horses list January 1st as their birthday...a lot of these horses who prepare for their 2-year-old racing campaigns are a lot younger than they are made out to be. Couple their physical immaturity with the powerful drugs currently in vogue...and a problem exists which could easily be remedied. To hell with "tradition", I say. Do away with 2-year-old racing...even if it marginalizes the "historical significance" of the Triple Crown. This is uncharted territory that our game is currently travailing through...and "tradition" should be held in secondary concern, IMO.

I'd rather do away with drugs. Every study I've seen shows horses that race at 2 actually have better, longer careers than those that don't. Of course some of that is because those that don't obviously have problems. My point is we don't really know if racing as 2yos hurts horses. I don't think there is any doubt giving horses drugs has negative effects, both short and long term.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by cj

I'd rather do away with drugs. Every study I've seen shows horses that race at 2 actually have better, longer careers than those that don't. Of course some of that is because those that don't obviously have problems. My point is we don't really know if racing as 2yos hurts horses. I don't think there is any doubt giving horses drugs has negative effects, both short and long term.

I agree that taking away the drugs would be the preferable solution. But the chances of this law actually being implemented have to hover around the zero marker, IMO.

[cutchemist42]

Could you ever devise a database where a sire needs to have a track record of breakdown rate or else it's no longer allowed to produce offspring?

Not my original idea as a breeder on reddit suggested this and related a sad story where a certain horse produced a breakdown rate that was so bad they didnt enter any of the surviving horses into the yearling sales.

That sort of mindset now exists in F1 whe no modern car will ever set speed records as they design the cars and tracks to be slower for safety and the spectacle being better when the cars are slower.

[Someday Silent]

For those of you saying that Mongolian Groom's death was another random, unpreventable occurrence, please read the following article:

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...bCGz1W7gQ6Uidc

The trainer even said "I am not happy" regarding Mongolian Groom's workout.
I don't blame the track or bad breeding for this death. I blame the short-sighted humans around this animal who put up the $200,000 supplementary nomination and didn't want to lose it by scratching.

[FenceBored]

Originally Posted by Someday Silent

For those of you saying that Mongolian Groom's death was another random, unpreventable occurrence, please read the following article:

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac...bCGz1W7gQ6Uidc

The trainer even said "I am not happy" regarding Mongolian Groom's workout.
I don't blame the track or bad breeding for this death. I blame the short-sighted humans around this animal who put up the $200,000 supplementary nomination and didn't want to lose it by scratching.

A work of 1:02 flat for 5 furlongs is not a reason to scratch a horse.

[cj]

Originally Posted by FenceBored

A work of 1:02 flat for 5 furlongs is not a reason to scratch a horse.

It isn't the time of the work of course. The comments from the trainer though, not great. Of course we don't know what he said in interim between this article and the BC itself.

[Wabash]

It’s the track causing the problem. No wait, it’s the drugs doing it. Or maybe it’s the jockeys fault(attempting murder,lol. That was a good one). Or maybe it’s the owners fault according to someone. Or maybe, and this is what I think, shit just happens. I think as long as every precaution is being taken(sounds like it was for this BC), then all should be satisfied. Accidents will happen. Horses do break down for no specific reason sometimes. Shutting down racing all together will do much more harm than good. Just my 2 cents...

[Someday Silent]

Originally Posted by FenceBored

A work of 1:02 flat for 5 furlongs is not a reason to scratch a horse.

Not in itself. But when the trainer says things such as "I'm not happy... he was much slower today... I don't think it was the track because [another horse] worked fast", don't you think that's a crucial bit of context? Horses are creatures of habit, so when one suddenly performs/behaves much much differently, competent trainers take that as a sign that maybe something isn't right.

[FenceBored]

Originally Posted by cj

It isn't the time of the work of course. The comments from the trainer though, not great. Of course we don't know what he said in interim between this article and the BC itself.

If you're hoping for a 5f work of 59.80 and get 102.00 you're not going to be happy, but it's not so abnormal that you'd think you ought to scratch. Now if you sent him out for a 4f work hoping for 47.40 and it's 102.00, then you scratch.