Nostalgic Horse

By: Elizabeth Rancani

Big Brown did the impossible. He won the Derby in convincing fashion with only three starts from the far outside post. He is a super freak, and may just be the best horse to step on the track this decade. His win was eerily similar to Barbaro’s, and since Big Brown already has some soundness issues, hopefully he will have a better Triple Crown than the latter.

While cheers and jubilation were underway for Big Brown, the gallant filly that outran all but one colt, lay on the track awaiting the end of her life. It is a scene all too common, and as the racing community turns a blind eye, and shrugs it off to ‘accidents happen in every sport’, fans tune out by the thousands.

Writer William Nack feels that breakdowns started occurring at a more alarming pace beginning in the late sixties. By the late sixties horses that did not bear Native Dancer or Northern Dancer somewhere in their pedigrees were a rarity. Inbreeding is not a good thing in any species, so why does thoroughbred racing depend on it? Probably because they are not interested anymore in racing their own. They want a quick flash of brilliance, and a few big wins at three. Whatever happens after that is of no importance to breeders, as long as they can breed more six figure babies to sell in the arena.

The fifties had their share of breakdowns, and ironically that is when the term phenylbutazone entered the realm. Hail to Reason, Tim Tam, Turn-to, Your Host, Bally Ache, Venetian Way, Lavendar Hill, Prince John and Dark Star all suffered career ending injuries during this decade. Turn-to and Hail to Reason went on to sire hundreds and it is difficult now to find a pedigree without one of these unsound individuals.

Going back even further, in the twenties and thirties infertility was thought to be a by product of drug use. Grey Lag was all but infertile, as were Zev, Mad Play, Whiskery, Black Gold, Twenty Grand and Bateau. They were the ones that could not breed at all, but what of the previously doped horses that could breed? What were they passing along to their offspring? Writer Frank Talmadige Phelps once said decades ago,”when so many of a country’s leading performers give way so early, there are grounds for suspicion that something may be wrong with our racing and breeding program.”

Something is wrong, and 150,000 got a front row seat Saturday night. Trainer Larry Jones was helpless as the filly he rode most mornings lay motionless on the track. Jones is a trainer that is a throwback to another generation. He has never been suspected of using any type of illegal drugs on his horses, and last year his Hard Spun proved the most durable of all the classic contenders. But, Jones could not control the pedigree of his stable’s star, and in the end that may have been all that mattered.

Her injury was so bad that veterinarian Larry Bramlage said he had never seen such an injury in all his years on the track. There was no possible way to save her.

Chelokee also suffered a career ending injury this weekend, and his chances of survival are a coin toss. Veterinary medicine has made strides in recent decades, but it is helpless in many cases. That is unlikely to change.

The thoroughbred is a genetic mistake, and it will continue to be as long as the inferior are exploited. Horses that run more than ten times, but do not win a Classic or boast a pedigree full of Raise a Native, Mr. Prospector, Turn-to, and Northern Dancer are not in high demand in the sales ring. But make no mistake, it is no surprise that the sought after offspring suffer catastrophic breakdowns early in their career.

The sport of kings wants to initiate a marketing campaign that will bring people back to the track. This year ESPN and NBC focused more on feel good stories and less on handicapping in an attempt to bring in viewers. There was nothing feel good about the outcome, however. Unless the sport can right the wrongs, horses will continue to die on days the sport counts on the most to bring in new fans. The Kentucky Derby, filled to the brim with twenty horses has never had a major breakdown. The game is changing though, so it was only a matter of time before the country’s oldest race witnessed such a grisly end.