Submitted by stavo, May 5, 2008 15:52

Amen, horse racing IS beautiful. But no one has mentioned that RUFFIAN'S trainer died the night before this fateful race on Saturday the 3rd. I say its fateful because here again was the big girl who could beat all the boys...and she did, save 1... and her need to urgently win with that belief in herself. If it had been another filly out there against her, no doubt she would have been right in that belief that her body could pull off the win. But --and its not sexist to say because female horses do consistently run slower times than the boys-- he wasa big boy with big game, and it was too much for her.

But 30 years after ruffian, the greed of the industry is still greater than its graces. The public is not there to see an ancient roman blood sport, but entertainment, given to us by beautiful athletic horses. I agree that many tracks ARE changing to the synthetic surfaces, but they still claim there is no conclusive evidence they are better & safer for horses. Well, in tennis we have synthetic surfaces that we KNOW are better for the knees, etc ... so its a lie to say we dont know how to make better tracks for these horses. Enough bull, and lets upgrade so we don't have this tragic element as part of this competitive entertainment. It is disrespectful to the fans who are watching on TV and disrespectful to say the LEAST of these noble creatures who give so much, not just for competition but because they admire & respect the humans who ride them & who applaud & scream their approval from the stands. And these horses want that love...like all of our pets. These are our friends on this planet. Is a little decency too much to ask from us?

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