Thoroughbreds and the Rich: A Deadly Embrace

[marmar]

from Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality:




Thoroughbreds and the Rich:
A Deadly Embrace
Concentrated wealth is killing the horse-racing industry — and horses, too. We explore the inequality lurking behind the tragic fate
of the 2008 Kentucky Derby runner-up.
May 12, 2008

By Sam Pizzigati

Every year, on Kentucky Derby day, the movers and shakers of the “sport of kings” have a chance to thrill the American people — and recapture horse racing’s once-vaunted glory. This year, they fell a bit short. They didn’t dazzle Americans with the 2008 Kentucky Derby. They appalled them.

The top headlines, after this year’s “run for the roses,” went to the horse that finished second — and then promptly collapsed with two horrific broken ankles. Moments later, veterinarians euthanized the badly injured thoroughbred, the star filly Eight Belles.

Newspaper columnists, on and off the nation’s sports pages, have spent the week since the Derby decrying this latest in a long series of horse-racing fatalities. They've been fiercely debating who exactly deserves the blame. The jockey? The trainer? The entire horse-racing industry?

The blame needs to go deeper. Eight Belles actually died from a social malady, and that same malady — economic inequality — is killing off horse racing. Today's racing scene offers us up an unsettling object lesson on the heavy, even deadly, price we pay when we let staggering quantities of wealth concentrate in the pockets of a precious few.

In our 21st century United States, we don’t talk much about this concentration. And we don’t much about horse racing either. And both these realities represent a real change in American life. Just a few generations ago, back in the 1930s, Americans cared deeply about the distribution of our national economic pie — and horse racing, too.

In fact, Americans used to follow horse racing more fervently than all other sports save baseball and boxing. Racing’s most famous horses routinely packed racetracks with 60,000 fans at a time. The legendary Seabiscuit could draw 40,000 fans just to a workout. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.toomuchonline.org/articlenew2008/may12a.html

[tuckessee]

1. Gambling on horses is what made racing popular in the past.

Today there are many other more commonly available forms of wagering.

Why play the "the Ponies" when there are casinos everywhere, Las Vegas, the lottery, internet gambling, poker and easily available sports booking on truly popular games like football, baseball & basketball.

[malaise]

2. What about the dispensable athletes on on sports teams

Where do athletes get all the drugs. I'll never forget that HBO special Fields of Fire where locker rooms were full of syringes with every imaginable drug.

All creatures great and small are dispensable to the rich.

[iamjoy]

3. It's Very Sad

I have this romanticized vision of horse racing because as a kid I loved Farley's Black Stallion series.

It's hard to let that go.

[lonestarnot]

4. Tracks that are mixed with dirt and turf make for a very fast track.

When a sore horse is run on this kind of track, they are going to break down. It's a wonder she didn't break all four legs. Horse racing is cruel and always has been.