I was 18 when I first saw a racehorse break down. It was the late 1990s and I was an exercise rider galloping horses at Del Mar racetrack, the Pacific Ocean glistening in the distance. Seared into my memory is the image of a petite dark bay horse on the inside rail just by the wire in the bleached light of a southern California morning. The rider, who had escaped injury, stood tugging at the reins fighting to keep the horse still. The horse had suffered a clean break of the right front ankle and his foot dangled and swung from the bottom of his leg. He turned and staggered on the stump in panic – euthanasia would soon follow. I averted my eyes and felt instantly sick as I jogged my filly by, the siren that blares across the backside when there is an accident ringing through my head. At that time I could not have known it would be the first of many such scenes I would see over the years of my life on the track.
Decades later the deaths roll on. Seven racehorses lost their lives in the days leading up to this year’s Kentucky Derby. Four breakdowns, a broken neck in the paddock, and two yet-to-be-explained collapses paint a grim picture of horse racing in America.
The horses died at Churchill Downs during the only time of year racing is relevant to most Americans, so they were highly publicized. But hundreds of racehorses across America meet the same fate every year, as they always have. The deaths are routine and while the industry drums out statements admitting it’s got problems, they are problems that never seem to be addressed. Two horses died on Saturday alone, but Derby Day racing continued on schedule. Maybe the powers that be could have called things off. But there’s the money and the fashion and the mint juleps to think about. The message is clear: “We don’t care.”
There is no other mainstream sport where carnage and indifference occur so regularly – and are as tolerated. These horses were doing what was demanded of them and they still suffered and died. There is clearly a problem with what is asked of them. The horses are unable to withstand moving at such speed when they are so young and underdeveloped. They are pushed to exhaustion. The repetitive percussive drill of training and running kills some of them, and ruins others for life. Meaningful reform is not just about sifting out the dopers or changing track surfaces, it must be more holistic. The lack of horsemanship and respect for the animal has led to a business where horses are treated like cars.
When trainer Todd Pletcher was asked if he agreed with the state vet’s decision to scratch his horse Forte from Saturday’s race, his smugness was appalling. “Obviously we’re in an environment where scrutiny is super high. I’m not sure in some years [Forte’s bruised foot] would have been an issue but this year it was,” he said.
Does Pletcher, one of the industry’s leading players, feel the scrutiny is undue? It almost certainly prevented Forte from runing with an injury. Forte’s owner, Mike Repole, didn’t come across much better. He said “the cruel part” of racing was having his horse scratched from the Derby lineup. The deaths of the five horses who had been killed at that point seemed a lot more cruel.
US horse racing is in contraction, and it has only itself to blame. The deaths are not going to stop, not completely, not ever. Horses were dying 20 years ago when I was a young rider, and they are still dying today. The racing industry touts reductions in track-by-track fatalities but it has yet to put together its own unified database to record all deaths. At some tracks reporting fatalities is voluntary. If the sport is to save lives and salvage any degree of respect, it will need to make big moves. Major reforms to the breeding shed (too many foals are produced), and horses’ training, track experience and retirement are grossly underfunded. Every year countless thoroughbreds land on dealer lots and in killpens.
Racing will never be banned – there is too much money to be made from it, particularly as gambling becomes easier across the US. But things could be very different if only the racing world was willing to change. There are many within the industry who care well for horses, envision a better sport and long for change.
But, like me, they won’t be betting the industry will change for the better anytime soon. For too many in the racing, a horse is just a moneymaking machine.
