It’s Melbourne Cup Day today. Cast your mind back for a moment to the 2014 race.
Admire Radki collapsed in his stall post-race. He died of a heart attack. Seventh placed Araldo got spooked by a large Aussie flag and broke his leg in a fence. He’s humanely put down shortly afterwards; too much patriotism is bad after all.
The media went into overdrive afterwards. There were people who called for the sport to be banned. They were mocked by others who claimed these were isolated incidents; freak accidents in the otherwise lofty pursuit of horse racing. Racing Victoria quickly imposed a limit on the size of flags in what was a genius move. It was we who were at fault, not them.
Those against horse racing claimed track deaths were the norm, not an abomination. Racing directly claimed the lives of 115 horses in 2014, and this year is headed for a number around 120. Racing Victoria claimed that the deaths amount to one-twentieth of one percent of 200,000 racing starts. Both groups are right, but who you cite depends on where you stand. Let’s put it another way – if 120 cricketers, boxers or Aussie rules players died every year, these sports would be promptly outlawed.
Horse racing is a curious pastime that doesn’t obey the rules of public perception like other sports. In our professional ball sports, the actions of the players and the league are subject to public scrutiny in a way that racing identities aren’t.
In a way it’s the nature of the beast; public interest is near non-existent in racing out of season. There are two annual carnivals where we get a bit excited. There’s only one day a year when we all stop and watch.
Today is that day. On Melbourne Cup Day 2015, animal rights groups are hosting events like ‘Not the Melbourne Cup’. Terry Bailey, Racing Victoria’s chief racing steward is returning to work a week after his house was sprayed by gunfire. The bookies are lining up the mugs. We’re forgetting the sight of Kasiano Lad euphemistically breaking down in front of the Royal Randwick grandstand.
I used to think that the way forward for horse racing to improve the lot of its participants – both human and equine – was to get more people engaged in the sport. I now think that the only way is to not watch, or bet, at all.
Matthew Tomczyk
Roar Pro
The points we're discussing are tangential to the entire point of the article I wrote. At no point do I even mention CPR or 'wastage'. I did do a lot of digging before I published and came up with very little from industry websites. Trust me, I don't want to be quoting figures from CPR either. From the estimates I have, there have been similar numbers of track deaths this year as last year, giving me the impression that racing hasn't done anything to improve horse safety, and if it has it hasn't been very effective.
rock
Roar Rookie
That's not really the point though, any welfare group should be spending money on actual animal welfare, yet absolutely none of them do, it's all a bit of a charade. Oh, so you have went to there website and got the absolute correct number of deaths, because animal activist groups haven't been caught out lying at all before. If you actually did a bit of digging, RV have addressed this issue and have their industry numbers on the website. Is it going to be exact, nope, but it's going to be a lot more accurate then the numbers that are plucked from the air by that lot. I am in no way saying racing is perfect, but it is absolutely no where near what these groups come out and say. It always amazes me how the minority make the most noise of very dubious and usually nonfactual information, there claim about how many race horses are 'wasted' is absolute garbage, they completely discount the fact that the majority of thoroughbreds go to farms, are used for equestrian, show jumping etc. RV numbers may be a little on the conservative side, but they'd be a whole lot closer then CPR's.
Matthew Tomczyk
Roar Pro
Well presumably with their budget they couldn't afford to rescue a single racecourse maintain its upkeep. They think they can do the greatest good for the greatest number by spending it on campaigns and public advertising. I had to go to their websites to look up the figures of deaths in racing. Why? Because RV has an interest in keeping the workings of the industry under wraps. P.S. I'm not a member of that coalition.
rock
Roar Rookie
It's about the fact that there is absolutely nothing spent on actual animal welfare, something that animal activists groups claim to be for, yet spend absolutely none of their money on!
rock
Roar Rookie
So instead of buying pet's get them from a shelter, the argument stands. You by owning a pet are locking it up in your yard, house whatever. Did this animal choose to be there? Did it run into your home and stay there without being locked up? No it didn't, so why not let it run free as animals should, yet people keep it in their possession for the fact of enjoyment and companionship. The comparison can be made with owning a horse. Do horses die because of this sport, unfortunately they do, but there are hundreds of wild horses dying each day. And, horse are not forced to race, if you've actually been around any horses they actually love to run. That's what they do, and they love it, so spare me the self-righteous 'forcibly raced' garbage. Does the industry run off gambling, yes it does. Is it a clean industry, nope, there are some bad eggs out there as there is with every industry. However it is an industry that creates tens of thousands of jobs, contributes billions of dollars to the Australian economy. Unfortunately some people lose considerable amounts to gambling, however again no different to many industries that can cause financial and emotional stress. So if you call for a ban on racing, that's fine, it's your prerogative. However for the sake of being a hypocrite (and a applying the arguments used against racing), I expect that you'd be an organic vegan who doesn't drink and does not own a pet.
Matthew Tomczyk
Roar Pro
Hard to see what relevance this has to anything I wrote above.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
hmm, something missing here https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CS9g-37UsAA4BJD.jpg:large
Matthew Tomczyk
Roar Pro
It's not an outrageous stance to make, and I think it's accurate. Plenty of sportspeople die yearly, however not in as great a proportion as horses in horseracing. Nor are their deaths met with the same air of inevitability as in racing. And yes, I hear animals rights activists telling us to rescue from shelters instead of buying from puppy farms, etc.
Crystal
Guest
Actually "rock", animal activists do bring up the euthanasia of pets. Regularly. Particularly in the context of the sale, for profit, of pets in pet stores, when thousands of other pets wait abandoned in shelters. What are you doing about it? The horse racing industry is not about horses. Or racing. It's about gambling. If you think this form of gambling is so essential to society, such that animals should be forcibly raced - and regularly die - merely to facilitate it, then please go ahead and explain why. Without using a straw man argument.
rock
Roar Rookie
"Let’s put it another way – if 120 cricketers, boxers or Aussie rules players died every year, these sports would be promptly outlawed." So if we're taking that stance, then why are we still allowing people to own pet's or allowing them to be sold commercially. Approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized a year, but you never hear animal activists bring this up because of a warped view of reality.