Sunday, May 04, 2008

The Road to Yi Jing

(CHICAGO, IL – May 5, 2008) The straight arrow of a road that the federal government calls I-65 can make a driver drowsy en route from Louisville back home to Chicago.

Usually, going seems quicker than coming. But the unraveling of this year’s Kentucky Derby gave the talk radio hosts reason to script their dialogue with controversy, and nothing is a more caffeinated stimulant in rural Midwest America, or for that matter, in the rest of the nation, than trouble.

Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-track veterinarian at Churchill Downs, received more face time with the cameras than anyone else this past weekend. On Friday, he explained to the public how Chelokee, a colt from the same barn as Barbaro’s, suffered a career ending injury. On Derby day, Bramlage was the point man again in the post-Derby talk about the euthanized filly, Eight Belles.

“There was no way to even think about trying to save her,” said Bramlage, who ordered the injection that put Eight Belles to rest. But that quote wasn’t the man’s most revealing. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he remarked, putting the fluke accident in true perspective.

As everyone realizes by now, Eight Belles was finished running hard when she suffered the injury. Her two ankles snapped a quarter mile past the finish line at a point where the runners slow down, stop and circle back to be unsaddled. For the most part, the majority of the 157,700 fans didn’t witness her trauma.

Nevertheless, it was the first Kentucky Derby casualty in as long as anyone remembers, maybe ever. AOL.com splashed the headline “Kentucky Derby Ends in Tragedy.” CNN.com matched the message with “Derby Runner-up Put Down.” The New York Times ran on the cover of its Sports section a half-page photo of the stricken Eight Belles above a much smaller photo of Big Brown.

Coming close after the fall taken by the Kentucky Derby winner in the 2006 Preakness, Eight Belles’ demise has opened up wounds that a reeling sport could find lethal. In a bizarre way to look at things, Barbaro’s drawn-out fight for survival may be accentuating the public’s fury over problems only cursorily addressed previously. These are the crazy thoughts that run through your head – the reactive opinions of a battered nation bent on finding peace in something.

Without even the passing of a day, the talk radio hosts began drumming up reason after reason why thoroughbred racing should be banned entirely. First to be heard was a radio personality who called the accident “murder.” Coming up on Indianapolis, another guy on a different station was sympathizing with callers who equated horse trainers to Michael Vick, recently convicted for abusing pit bulls for purposes of dog fighting. By Chicago, the radio was abuzz with women revealing their personal episodes of sobbing in front of their television sets. The two hosts – sisters in real life as well as sisters united in sympathy with their listeners - let the callers carry on interminably, and sensationally.

Statistically, accidents on the track result in loss of life for less than two-tenths of one percent of race horses. But the people, who criticize the sport as barbaric, say if only one horse in a million should die, it’s one too many. Their argument is based on the reality that equines, unlike humans, don’t have the choice to accept risk. They believe greedy owners push horses to perform in ways for which they’re not physically suited. What these objectors would do with the breed never seems to come up as a challenge.

There aren’t enough words to describe all the intricacies, and, by the way, all the over-simplifications, in their argument. For the sake of business alone, overseers of the sport had better begin finding ways to address it. When a stellar performance such as Big Brown’s is ignored, it’s a set-back on many levels. The undefeated star will have to win the Triple Crown for casual fans to take notice. If not, his Kentucky Derby victory will resemble Bernadini’s Preakness – a footnote to another macabre page in horse racing history.

The problem of death on the racetrack can never be solved completely. But there are ways to limit the dangers. Thoroughbred racing has been exemplary in channeling money toward improving the safety and welfare of horses, but it is time to turn attention to changes that represent causal danger instead of circumstantial.

Of course, it’s important to have safe racing surfaces to run on, and fast ambulances to usher care-givers to a stricken animal, and well-equipped hospitals with state-of-the-art practitioners nearby. But, is it time to begin re-thinking how the sport is presented?

In addition to the bruising sentiments expressed in the over-the-top talk radio shows and on the Internet sites and newspapers, the public outcry over Eight Belles was supported by several observations.

Among the issues raised were the immaturity of thoroughbreds at the stage when they’re put into training, the low number of synthetic tracks (considered safer) in use, and the absence of sturdiness in current day bloodlines. The solutions that are never dreamt, however, are those that threaten the industry’s overriding respect for tradition. In those, the wisest methods to avoid future catastrophies might be found.

The Chinese concept of “Yi Jing” contends that change doesn’t come until problems become totally unmanageable, and then it’s unavoidable. Extremism occurs at this juncture. Say what? The Triple Crown is moved to the fall to allow horses time to mature? The Breeders’ Cup is moved to the spring to encourage horses to race as 4-year-olds? Equine orthosis is developed? Turf racing only is mandated? The imagination can run wild on a lonely road trip.

Comments (3)