The old saying goes, “Fool me
once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame
on me!”
After 21 horses have perished at the Santa Anita horse racing track in southern California in a little more than two months this year, the facility finally capitulated and has cancelled horse racing indefinitely while investigators can try to determine the cause of the problems at the track.
Ya’ think?
I read about this story a few weeks ago when the tragedy had “only” reached about 20 horses injured badly enough that they had to be euthanized due to broken bones and other issues while racing on both the dirt and turf courses at this track.
Where was PETA, you ask? Below is their statement today about the track’s issues:
“On Saturday, after the 20th
horse died at Santa Anita racetrack, PETA called on Governor Newsom to close
the track. Today, following the death of yet another horse, Santa Anita has
stated that it is closing until further notice. This was the right thing to do.
The track should remain closed until the California Horse Racing Board dumps
the drugs entirely, or injured horses whose soreness is masked by legally
allowed medication will continue to sustain shattered bones. PETA renews its
call for a criminal investigation into the trainers and veterinarians who may
have put injured horses on the track, leading to their deaths.”
Maybe these guys ought to,
quite literally, stick their heads outside for awhile in Southern California as
the track has been subject to heavier than seasonal rains over the past two
months with nearly one foot of rain falling on the Santa Anita racetrack.
I grew-up near Louisiana Downs in the Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana area. When the track first opened in the pre-casinos days of the 1970’s, the new track brought bettors from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas as the “Sport of Kings” grabbed a foothold in the region.
Watching live horse racing seemed
a lot like going to an afternoon baseball game.
You would take some time to study your possible picks, walk around to
watch the horses slowly come onto the track, maybe make a “Wile E. Coyote” wager,
and then cheer during the running of the race itself.
Hopefully, you would win a
few times to keep your dignity intact by the end of the session and want to
return again soon.
However, I winced in observing the horse racing track becoming sloppy with rain. Most tracks will run the scheduled races in the rain unless there is severe weather (lightning, hail, etc.) in the area.
The tracks have spent a lot
of money attempting to provide a relatively safe footing for the races.
Still, though, it always
seemed dangerous to me.
These powerful and beautiful
1,000 pound animals would still run hard even in the rain and muddy conditions,
but you had to wonder how dangerous it was for the horses and, to a lesser
extent, the jockeys, too.
Common sense would tell me
that the issues at the California race track are most likely traceable to the
recent heavy rains. However, PETA’s
concerns about drugs being used in the sport to mask injuries raise another eyebrow
of suspicion.
According to one source,
