Is There a Right Track for Horse Racing?

Two years ago, the second place horse in the Kentucky Derby collapsed just past the finish line with fractures in both front ankles. Eight Belles was not the first racehorse to suffer in the race to success and, as long as horses are bred for speed over soundness, she won't be the last.

Every horse that raced alongside Eight Belles was descended from the same sire. These horses have been inbred again and again, creating generations of incredibly fast and incredibly fragile animals. Their careers, and lives, are shorter than ever before. And just as the AKC encourages breeding for unhealthy deformities, the various horse racing associations applaud accidents-waiting-to-happen like Eight Belles.

These horses aren't just trotted around a ring. They're pushed to the point of exhaustion, made to run on dangerous dirt tracks, and pumped full of painkillers to keep them racing even when their bodies are screaming for a break. All in the name of speed that's worth betting on.

Horse racing associations have been struggling with drug abuse for years. The desire for winning speed leads trainers to pump their horses full of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. There's an entire industry around drug testing for horse races, yet the punishments don't seem to be much of a deterrent. For instance, in the first half of the decade, only 14% of all the violations in California resulted in disqualification.

Then there's the well-known dirty little secret of what happens to horses who can't race anymore. They're often euthanized or sold for slaughter (despite the fact that it's illegal); rarely are they given a chance at an off-track life through adoption or sanctuaries.

Can horses be saved without banning races? Maybe.

It's not the racing that's inherently bad. Thoroughbreds are wired to run. The problem arises when gambling spurs trainers and owners to drive horses beyond their physical limits and to ignore the welfare of the animals. The industry needs to realize that horses need different, and more, regulations than, say, slot machines.

Protecting the horses' health needs to be a priority. This means everything from the track (artificial surfaces cause fewer injuries than hard dirt) to the training (horses shouldn't be raced before they've physically matured) needs to be redefined with the horses' best interest in mind. Rampant inbreeding needs to be stopped. There should be zero tolerance for performance enhancing drugs, and racing on painkillers should be outlawed. The industry also needs to take responsibility for the horses throughout their lives and give them a second chance for happy retirement from racing.

Like greyhound racing, horse racing is suffering in the current economy, with fewer races being registered and some tracks facing closure. This is the opportunity for the industry to redefine itself, to once again become a celebration of the beauty of horses and the bond between horse and rider.

The New York Racing Association has already started to make changes. They recently issued a new policy calling for harsh penalties for selling horses for slaughter, and promoting horse rescue and adoption for retired horses. They're also going to start cracking down on drug abuse with out-of-competition drug testing.

It's a start ... but the humane finish line is still a long way away.

Photo: Rennett Stowe