This coming Saturday, May 7th, there’s another Royal event. The Run for the Roses, the first leg of the Triple Crown. The 137th running of the Kentucky Derby. The young royals of mainly North American horses will be there. Both connections and horses have the dream of winning it and of going on to win the Triple Crown of American racing.
No horse has done it since Affirmed in 1978. It’s been the longest gap ever in Triple Crown history. I started paying attention to Thoroughbred racing in the 1970s. I didn’t see Secretariat’s spectacular runs in 1973, but I certainly knew about them. By the late 70s, with three Triple Crown winners in the decade, I thought it was something that would happen, like clockwork, every few years. Little did I know.
Churchill Downs, even without horses there, is magical. In the tunnel and trackside, you almost see the horses and jockeys. Inside the viewing salons, you feel the money and the excitement. In the betting lounges, the tension and hope for the big win and desperation over the big loss surrounds you.
There’s a lot wrong with the horse racing industry, just as there is with any sport business that involves animals. Too 
many horses are bred in order to find that elusive ‘superhorse’. What happens to all the foals that don’t make it to the track? What happens to those that do make it, but aren’t good enough for the big time? What happens to those that are good enough but, like any athlete, get past their prime? The great Ferdinand,1986 Kentucky Derby and 1987 Breeder’s Cup Classic winner and 1987 Eclipse Horse of the Year, was slaughtered in a Japanese meat-packing plant in 2002 after his career at stud was deemed over. He earned over $3.75 million. His reward was to become steaks and dogfood.
But there’s also a lot right about racing. Thoroughbreds are exquisitely beautiful animals. Running faster than the wind is in their blood and bones. Most racing people love horses, whether they are owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms or exercise riders. They ought to. It’s the horses that run the race and win the glory and the money.
The jockey, trainer, groom and exercise rider all help the horse, but they are support staff. A jockey can cause a horse to lose 
a race, but he can’t make a horse win. It’s the horse’s mind and heart that runs the race. And that’s all the people need to remember. Look after the horse and the horse will look after you. And remember, when that horse no longer wins the big purses, that it was his or her effort that got you where you are.
That’s where owner syndicates and individual owners and jockeys can go wrong. They think it’s them – their handling, their business decisions that are key. People who believe in their own centrality in horse racing ought to invest in NASCAR or motorcycle racing. The thrill of speed and winning is the same, but the mode of production is different. The car or motorcycle is inanimate. It might be beautiful, it might be cherished, but it isn’t going to feel anything if it’s junked. If you’ve done well off racing, thank the horses that did it for you by treating them right in retirement.
In 2005 NY racing groups began the Ferdinand Fee, a voluntary $2 per race charge with proceeds going to thoroughbred retirement farms. Old Friends Equine Retirement Farm in Georgetown, near Lexington, is one of these, and another magical place. It’s the only racehorse retirement farm that accepts stallions. The majority of top-flight racehorses are stallions and, because of their often-difficult personalities, they are the hardest to handle. Most rescue and retirement farms are not equipped for them. So mares and geldings stand a better chance of having a good retirement than do the superstars of racing, the stallions.
