Horse racing, like any other sport, has it's ups and downs. There are moments of thrilling victories, agonizing defeats and devastating tragedies.
Everyone is well aware of the tragic breakdown of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby. It was a horrifying site to see, as was the breakdown of George Washington and Go For Wand in their Breeder's Cup races. No one has forgotten Ruffian.
As awful as it is, I believe that it would have happened regardless of what race they were in at the time. It just so happened that it was in a highly publicised event.
This always seems to overshadow the thrilling moments of the sport. Secretariat's awesome achievements in his Triple Crown victory and the duels between Affirmed and Alydar. What about Silky Sullivan's dramatic stretch runs? The list goes on and on.
The fact is that injuries of all kinds happen in every sport. How many football or baseball players are forced to retire early due to injury? The only difference between them and horses is that a human can understand that his leg is torn up and knows that he has to stay off of it. He can hobble around on crutches or ride around in a wheelchair until he has healed. Horses can't but only the severist of injuries requires euthanasia.
I applaud the Jackson's for their heroic efforts to save Barbaro. It wasn't about the money. They loved their horse and were willing to do whatever it took to save him. I would have done the same thing.
Now we come to the topic of "cruelty". I know that there are thousands of people who frown on horse racing. Thoroughbreds are bred to RUN. Just like a labrador is bred to retrieve or a pointer is bred to point. Not all thoroughbreds are successful on the track and there are a number of reasons for that. I have seen a good many of them that just don't want to compete. They'd rather hang out at the barn and munch on oats and hay.
Some of them give a hundred percent on the track but are lacking in ability. Others suffer career ending injuries before they get a chance to prove themselves on the track. How many people know that Somethingroyal failed to ever see the winner's circle? She was not successful as a racehorse but proved to be a dynamite broodmare by producing Secretariat and Sir Gaylord.
Racing is a sport, just like any other event where competitors go against each other. Injuries occur in ALL sporting events, whether it be racing, eventing, rodoes or human sports. Horses are athletes too. As long as athletes compete, there will be good times as well as bad.
This year's Kentucky Derby appeared to be wide open to most everyone.
"Pyro will bounce back and win."" No, Visionaire is a better horse". "What about Monba?"" Tale Of Ekati beat War Pass!"" My money is on Colonel John."
Last year I picked Curlin. He didn't win the Run For The Roses but he went on to dominate the world. This year my pick was Big Brown. I couldn't see how he could get beat - until he drew the outside post. It is well known that his trainer had several choices to choose from at the draw, but he chose the far outside. That decision brought as much critisism as it did head scratching. No horse could possibly win from post position 20.
But Dutrow had a plan, and like any wise horseman, he kept it to himself. I stuck with my choice, firmly believing that Big Brown would dominate.
I had several conversations about the post position with people, trying to figure out why Dutrow would chose the outside. Maybe Big Brown would get restless if he had to stand too long in the gates. Possibly they were hoping that he would get away very quickly, flash that tremendous speed he has and get to the lead right away. Surely he would not encounter any traffic problems way out there.
I sat on the edge of my seat, as I am sure millions of others did, watching the race unfold. Big Brown broke sharply and was in good position entering the first turn, even though he was a wee bit wide. I noticed Gayego was a little rank in the traffic jam he got caught in. Shortly after the break, Pyro got creamed from both sides, wiping out any chance he might have had. Yep, I'm sure that's exactly what Dutrow was wanting to avoid.
Little changed as the field roared along the backstretch. Going into the final turn, the leaders began making their moves. Big Brown did not move with them. He appeared to be hanging. Looking closer I noticed that his rider, Kent Desormeaux, had not yet let him go.
Waiting until the perfect moment, Kent finally told his charge it was time to do his thing. That horse looked like a freight train as he powered into the lead. Another burst of speed propelled him well clear of the field. There was no stopping this runaway train!
After the race was over, Gary Stevens made a remark about how wise it was to keep a horse well off of the rail to help him relax The closer a horse is to the rail, the harder they try to run. It all made perfect sense to me now.
Dutrow had a master plan. Take the outside post and stay out of trouble because in a race with this many horses, the best horse may not win. The horse with the least trouble probably will. While he's racing along on the outside, out of trouble and not getting dirt kicked in his race, Big Brown was most likely well relaxed, saving his energy for when he needed it most.
He had a perfect trip and was good enough to overcome the worst possible post position, which in his case, was the best place to be.
I remember, in 1973, Howard Cosell making a comment that there was not an oustanding horse that year. I believe many have overlooked Big Brown and he could possibly be the next Triple Crown winner. I haven't seen anything that I think can beat him.
My brother bet me a dollar that Visionaire would finish in front of Big Brown. Thanks little brother! Care to bet on the other two races??
Everybody has their share of frustrations and things that aggrevate them. I think the three main ones for me are auto mechanics, plumbing and clients who don't pay their bill.
I do most of the repairs on my vehicles for two reasons. The first is the knowledge that some repair shops specialize in ripping people off. I know because I have been there. One example that pops into my mind is when I took a truck in for a front end alignment. The shop foreman informed me that I needed a castor-cambor kit installed before the actual alignment could be done. This much was true but he then said the cam-kit was about $200.00 and offered to order it for me. I immediately said no. He did his best to talk me into purchasing the kit and then I could have the alignment done later if I needed extra time to be able to cover the expense of the job. I stood my ground with another firm "NO" and left.
I took me about two minutes to drive to an auto supply store down the road, which happened to be owned by a neighbor of mine. I inquired about the price of the cam-kit.
April, the owner's wife, punched the necessary information in the computer and said "$12.99".
"$12.99???? Are you serious???"
"Yes", she replied, "But you have to have two of them. One for each side".
"$12.99??? Are we talking about the same thing???"
About that time, her husband, Kent, came over. We all knew each other pretty well. As well as being neighbors, their daughter was in the same class as my daughter and the two girls were friends. Kent asked me what was wrong. He has seen the look of shock on my face.
I told him about the conversation at the repair shop and he just laughed. He thought for a moment and said, "Let me see if I can put this in a nice way. Those people specailize in "fornicating" the public".
I had April order the kits for me and took them to another shop, this time in Shreveport that was owned by a relative of another neighbor. The total cost of the installation of BOTH kits and the front end alignment was a whopping $60.00.
The other reason I do my own repairs is the I can't see paying someone to do something that I can do myself. I HATE "playing" auto mechanic but at least I know what is being to to my vehicle and I'm not getting ripped off. I can certainly understand why mechanics charge so much for labor. Engines were not installed with repairs in mind. There is often little or no room to even get a hand in some of the places to undo bolts. I usually end up taking half of the parts out just to loosen one bolt or clamp. When I finally get to that one bolt, it doesn't want to come out or I need a special tool that usually costs more that the part I'm trying to replace.Along with that is the skinned knuckles, oil and grease from head to toe, and several choice words said. Did I mention how much I HATE mechanicing??
Plumbing. This has got to be worse than just about any household repair job there is. I live in a moblie home. These things were constructed with flimsy gray plastic pipe that is not compatible with any other type of water pipe. I think it should be against the law to use the stuff.
It's bad enough that a person has to squirm up under a dwelling, in a puddle of water, most likely in the winter, then you have to battle the bugs, spiders and who knows what else that is living under your house. Now you are lying on your back, it's pitch black under there and you know that no one is going to volunteer to come hold the flashlight for you. You've located the broken pipe and now you have to use both hands to make the necessary repairs, somehow manage to keep the flashlight propped up while working underneath wet insulation. Every move you make causes more water and debris to drip down on your face and in your eyes. I don't know about you, but whenever one of my pipes break, you can bet it's going to be after 5 p.m. and before I've had a chance to wash off all of the day's muck.
Clients that don't pay their bills will drive a person to seriously consider committing murder. I've had my share of people run out on their bills. They will come by, ooh and aah over how pretty their horse looks or how well he did in his last race. For some reason though, they can't seem to remember to bring their checkbook. I never forget to feed their horse, or fill his water bucket. I never forget to get him to the track on time for his race. How in the world do they think that horse got so pretty or did so well?? It surely wasn't because I forgot to take care of him. What makes people think that I, or anyone else, wants to do all the work and pay all THEIR bills while they sit back and collect the money their horses earn?? They would be one pissed off, unhappy camper if that were done to them.
I guess I just don't understand how some people think or is it that these types of people just don't think at all?
