HBO's Luck Killed Not One, But Two Horses

There was a rumor that the horse seen in HBO being put down was not acting.  That is, the horse really was putting put to death on the race track.  Turns it that rumor was paritally true. There were TWO horses put down, this according to the New York Observer.  Both actions led the American Humane Association to temporally decertified Luck by removing there famous "no animals were harmed" tag.  However, they have since given it back.**

First of all, my feelings on Luck have gone from "It sucks" to "It is an abomination." It is one  thing to have a horse break down as part of the story.   To actually have horse die under your watch has just brought back every horse racing critics main argument: that thoroughbred horse racing hates horses and just exploits them for the money (which apparently, I am finding out, is one of the tag lines for Luck's story lines).

Second of all, the AHA was pretty quiet about their act.  They didn't draw attention to the horses' death and  their press release makes the incidents seem like it was all roses and buttercups.

Thirdly, the horse racing industry's marketing people (i.e. the NATIONAL Thoroughbred Racing Association) are 100% in bed with this show.  Even though Luck presents little positive about the business or for that matter reality, the NTRA has foolishly pushed ahead with full its ringing endorsement.
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** Corrected from an eariler post that incorrectly stated that the horse being put down in the show really was a dying horse.  Regardless, still was an idiotic and uncessary plot device.

Prepare the Way's Injury

This picture is for those who believe I shouldn't be concerned that HBO's Luck seriously injured and then killed a horse in the first episode.  This is Prepare the Way, a.k.a. Glory,'s x-ray of her left fetlock.  Those pieces of bone are whats left of her sesmoid bone (it is the sesmoid...elsewhere I have written other bones and those writings are wrong).    This injury almost killed her and nineteen months later its still not a 100% certain she will make it.  We recently fired a farrier who made the situation worse.  Fortunately, the new farrier knew what he was doing and reversed the lameness.

This is her today.  Notice that the front left leg has a bulge towards the hoof.  That will always be there for the rest of her life.  She can bear weight on it and even (to my occasional horror) picks up a gallop when she is feeling particularly silly.  But, its something we will always have to watch.

So...yeah..I know injuries are part of the sport.  They are far more traumatic for the owner than it is for anyone else.  All the more reason it didn't have to be in the first episode.

HBO's Luck Reviewed

HBO's much hyped "Luck" was premiered last night.   It is a horse racing drama that takes place at Santia Antia and stars some pretty big names.  My favorite director/Hollywood icon of all time, Michael Mann, is even involved in the project.

So why did it suck?  Yes, sucked.  Every single horse racing cliche was brought out in full force.  A mobster, a horse breaking its leg and having to be put down, desperate trainers, degenerate gamblers, alcoholic jockeys.  Only thing missing was the vet used a needle and not a .45 pistol to put down the horse.

Did I expect ponies running in fields of buttercups?  Absolutely not. Are there problems on the race track, yes. However, I don't think the writer truly spent anytime at the track.  None of the real, everyday problems and challenges were shown.  He just wrote what he thinks horse racing is all about, left out the true drama and heartbreaks and tried to make a horse racing version of the Sopranos.

I am happy I didn't have to pay for it.

Poll at the Paulick Report

On the Paulick Report, there is currently a poll asking users who they would select to give a horse racing "State of the Union" address.  As of 4:45 pm, this is the current tally.

PR Poll

Who would you select to deliver a horse racing State of the Union address?

Alex Waldrop, NTRA CEO (1%)

All Hail Kegasus, Lord and Protector of Preakness Infield (9%)

Bo Derek, actress, CHRB member (6%)

Crazy guy sitting alone in grandstand (19%)

D. Wayne Lukas, Hall of Fame trainer (21%)

Frank Stronach, racetrack magnate, owner/breeder (0%)

Jerry Jamgotchian, legal expert (3%)

Jimmy (The Hat) Allard, horseplayer, marketing whiz (4%)

Ogden Mills "Dinny" Phipps, chairman of The Jockey Club, owner/breeder (8%)

Steven Crist, publisher, author, horseplayer (25%)

This is both hilarious and honest at the same time.  "Crazy guy sitting alone in grandstand" is currently third.  Well, why not?  Given all the other ideas thrown up on the wall, why shouldn't a guy who knows exactly who is going to win in third race at Aqueduct on a cold rainy day in the middle of the week tell us how to proceed forward in 2012? Because it sure ain't the CEO of the NTRA (he's too busy getting tax breaks for the 1%ers) and sure as HELL ain't Frank Stronach.  I personally voted for Kegasus.

2011 Eclipse Award for Top Stud

The Eclipse Awards, the annual end of year honors for thoroughbred were handed out last in Beverly Hills.  Congrats to Harve de Grace for winning horse of the year.  Other awards are handed for three year old colt of the year, junville filly of the year, etc. etc.  But there was award that was not given out, and I am sure it was overlooked: Top Stud. 

That awards goes  to...wait for it...Congrats...no really, Congrats is the name of the horse (stallion page here).  Congrats breed live covered 205 mares in 2011.  If we assume he breed live covered a mare every day between February 15 to July 15 (the traditional dates for the thoroughbred breeding season), he got to meet a new lady everyday, plus an extra bonus one on fifty-one  of those days.  This of course, is assuming, that A) every mare only needed to breed once (highly unlikely) and B) the mares' owners allowed their mares to be bred in months other than March or April (also highly unlikely).    So it is possible that Congrats breed four mares a day at one point.  I hate to be the owner of the third and/or fourth mare.  All this service at $35, 000 for a live foal (for those doing the math at home, assume on the high end of an 80% conception rate and thats $5,740,000 for Congrats' syndicate).

Congrats had tough competition for this prestigious honor: Giant’s Causeway, 198; Bellamy Road, 192; Scat Daddy, 191; and Henrythenavigator, 189. Who are the marketing people for these horses? Because they are not getting paid enough. 

It gets worse.  This is from the Lords of the Jockey Club's own report on mares bred for 2011:

" The number of stallions covering 100 or more mares increased from 82 in 2010 to 84 in 2011. These stallions accounted for a greater percentage of the total mares reported bred this year — 30.6% of all mares bred in 2011 versus 26.8% of all mares bred in 2010 as reported at this time last year.
Further book size analysis shows a 2.5% increase in the number of mares bred to stallions with a book size of 100 or more in 2011 when compared to 2010 as reported at this time last year."

Did you get that? In 2011, 84 out of a possible 1,935 thoroughbred stallions are siring 31% of all foals in 2012.  This is our idea of diversifying the gene pool apparently.  Anything with four legs and Jockey Club papers is a mare prospect.  Diversifying the gene pool is by the way, according to the Lords of the Jockey Club, why mares and stallion have to get busy live cover in person.

Lasix! Lasix! Rah Rah rah! Lasix Pep Rally at Convention

At a convention of the NHBA (the national horseman's associations), the pro-lasix people had a little pep rally panel discussion about the "myths" of lasix.  From Bloodhorse.com:

"Dr. Steven Barker, chemist for the Louisiana State Racing Commission, sought to dispel what he called industry “myths” surrounding Salix. He said that contrary to some claims, Salix does not interfere with testing for other drugs when blood is tested; Salix isn’t performance-enhancing; Salix is effective in treating EIPH; and that it can’t be proven use of the drug is “denigrating” the Thoroughbred breed."

OK, you people keep bringing up the same old augments, I going to have keep refuting it and redirecting the argument until you get it right. Before going any further, it needs to be mentioned that the good doctor contradicted himself in a single breath.  How can lasix not be "performance enhancing," but at the same time be effective at treating EIPH, which some horsemen think degrades the performance of the horse?  Huh?

 Baker went on to say "The science has to be taken with a grain of salt in some cases,” Barker said. “Some facts have been left by the wayside. Some say Lasix is denigrating the breed. What’s the science on that? Nothing. This myth is complete fiction, having not merit or scientific data to support it.”

Yah know, except for the tens of thousands of horses that race n Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, and Australia where lasix is illegal and always has been.   There is NO scientific data.  And the fact that horses before the 1970s were sounder in the pre-lasix days than they are in the current lasix days.

The fact of the matter is that lasix is being used a crutch/short cut. So we are degenerating the breed.  We never needed the drug.  We don't need the drug.

If that wasn't enough, another doctor sent a video tape of himself.  Except this guy happens to be a human heart surgeon, not a horse doctor.  According to Bloodhorse.com, "Dedomenico said heart beats in horses can go from 40 to 220 a minute during races, meaning their blood pressure increases rapidly. He said if that happened in humans, they most likely would stroke .He also said each time horses bleed in the lungs, they build up scar tissue. “More than 90% of horses bleed into their lungs,” he said. “It shouldn’t be acceptable.' "

Well, doctor, we are not talking about humans are we now?  We are talking about Equus ferus caballus not homo sapien. Yes more than 90% of horses bleed...and it doesn't hurt them in 90% of the cases.

There is more lasix nonsense I read over the last few weeks, but no time to get into it now.  (Did you know 95% of the Breeder's Cup Winners were on LASIX?!?!? Actual statement.  *sigh*)

Ban lasix now.

New Year, Back to Training

This is a self-portrait of my ugly face and Marq Your Bible at his rest facility near Berryville, VA.  Marq Your Bible is now back at Diana McClure's training facility after a two month lay off and back in training. 

Lots of things to get to in future posts, like the statement by the HBPA that since 93% of the Breeder's Cup winners were on Lasix, it must safe and effective.