Barbaro and the Racing Industry Reality

I didn’t have money on Barbaro last year in the Preakness. I won some money that race, and it was the ugliest win I’ve ever had. Watching the Kentucky Derby Winner first bust through the gate in his eagerness to get on the track and win, my heart sank. I thought it was my money going down the drain. My heart sank far further as I watched him shatter his leg to bits, and even further as the jockey pulled him down to a walk, my horse going on to win. While he was laid up with the injury Barbaro foundered (the bones in his hooves turned) and was euthanized in January. This weekend crowds all over the nation are remembering the fantastic horse with special events in Las Vegas, Delaware Park and other locations. Thousands of race fans will be both mourning and celebrating Barbaros brilliant but tragic career. I HOPE in all the fuss Thoroughbred Race Fans everywhere will think about the thousands of thoroughbreds pulled off the track every year and sent to slaughter due to injuries muss less severe. Many racehorses which are simply not fast enough end up “deceased” on paper (insurance money collected, I’m sure) and sent to auction where for a few hundred dollars they are purchased and sent to slaughter for dog food or to be shipped off to France as PEOPLE FOOD. Their last moments not of a loving owner and a sympathetic vet, but the terrifying sights and horrible smells of a slaughter house. I’m a big Thoroughbred racing fan. I also understand the need for slaughter. I am not against either. But if you’re thinking of Barbaro this weekend, please think about the rest of the “deceased” thoroughbreds too, who won’t be remembered by huge crowds this weekend, hundreds of them every weekend heading for a nasty end. – Missy Morris

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