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Ruffian getting shot under a tent after her final, heartbreaking race
I think something like this happens in Anna Karenina. I had a flashback even though I'd never been to a race. I think I read it there.
I think they have improved the conditions and standards for the animals over the years but it is still at least an exploitative sport. I knew someone that owned a few race horses and he invited me to dine in the owner's lounge at Woodbine once during an evening race session. That was a fun experience. He grew up on a farm with horses and had a great love for them. At the time I didn't ask how he felt about these things and unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, so I will never know.
I think there can be a balance of humane treatment of animals and utilizing them for human needs (including entertainment).
I just have a hard time seeing how someone could object to horse racing as a sport, while not objecting to eating animals. If there are cruel practices, object to the cruel practices, but if you want to ban the activity entirely, I think you have to be consistent and stop eating meat.
I am not saying it should be banned. I just added that as an option. I was just curious what people thought. As I said, I think at very least it is exploitative but I also enjoy the sport.
I placed bets in NYC OTBs as a teenager, but I also loved going to the track. Belmont and Aqueduct, then later the small DC tracks- Bowie and Laurel. I went to the Preakness once in the mid 1980s, and the Belmont Stakes once. I even got an insider's tour of the Saratoga Racetrack once. That place is beautiful. I even went to Windsor Downs in England in the 1970s. I love horse racing. I still watch Secretariat's Belmont Stakes race on YouTube every few months, and it still gives me chills.
But, there's no doubt that it's a business, and the animals have often paid the price. I remember Ruffian getting shot under a tent after her final, heartbreaking race. Steroids, lasix, other doping. The fragility of a thoroughbred's limbs is the cause of many tragedies.
I love horse racing, but maybe it is best that it just fades away.