10/31/07 The Future of Horse Racing in the US

How much longer will horse racing be able to continue in the wake of another top equine athlete's very public breakdown last Saturday at the Breeders Cup . Unlike Barbaro, George Washington, a premier European horse barely received a by line after the four year old shattered his leg and was quickly euthanized on the track discreetly screened from viewers . This was the second year in a row horses have been killed at the Breeders Cup, racings premier event begging the question if horses are being lost at this rate at highest echelon of racing what must be occurring at regional tracks. Blame the breeders, they are the ones perpetrating pencil thin cannon bones in response to a market dominated by sheiks and the Ultra-rich, ( for whom horses can be as disposable as a designer handbag.) They need to know they are breeding themselves out of business, we common folk are forever tormented by the image of Barbaro's dangling leg in the 2006 Preakness and if fans fail to tune into the Triple Crown or Breeders Cup for fear of seeing yet another beautiful creature destroyed, there go the big sponsors, television coverage ultimately leading to the demise of the horse racing industry in the US .