Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

kris fujimoto — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:07:25 GMT

Just wanted to let Mr.Fischer know that MINE THAT BIRD was $516.00 payoff for a $10.00 ticket. I played him because I love his name and I loved the story behind him. I wished I owned him because I heard he has a great temper and he soooo loveable. He only lost to the grat filly Rachel because of the tight traffic at the second turn and 10 feet too short;but if Rachel were carrying the 126 lbs like the boys,our bird would have gotten her.Both horses put on historic performances and I am just thankful that all horses and riders came home safe. No winning ticket is worth a tragedy.

Kris

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

Mike Relva — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:43:22 GMT

Many so called fans are really just a bunch of crybabies for failure of giving MTB his due!

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

Daniel G. Fischer — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:06:38 GMT

I find it both arrogant and a lack of respect for Mine that Bird and what he achieved and accomplished... He was Canada's champion 2-yrold LAST year ! ... How can the powers that be and those wanna-be experts say his win was "shocking", he just flew in under the radar.

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

BlueHen — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:14:41 GMT

It's true the horses are so different. I was a hardcore racing fan as a kid, but sometime in the yrs. after Spectacular Bid, when I got well into high school and focused on going to college, I kind of got out of horseracing. Then I got married, had a bunch of kids, etc. -- only in the past few yrs. have I come back to racing, and I have to say, the horses even LOOK different. We never used to pray before races, "And Lord, may they all come back in one piece." Breakdowns just didn't happen that often then. It's sad. And I have to say, the whole steroid/drug thing was pretty shocking to someone who last really followed racing in the 1970s.....

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

sceptre — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:28:32 GMT

To better protect our racehorses from injury, we need vets who will blow the whistle, not those who merely wait to be heard when they feel there's something positive to say... There should be no pats on the back for the racing industry or the connections of I Want Revenge or The Pamplemousse (to name a few)-both should have been mandated scratches in the first place.

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

needler in Virginia — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:15:36 GMT

Maybe Dr Palmer can help me here. While I agree in principle with what you have said, Driftin Sage, there are some other factors at work: namely, the breeding for early speed rather than for the proverbial "Iron Horse" AND, to my way of thinking at least, the seldom-spoken-of drastic narrowing of an already small gene pool. Anyone who has studied the breeding of animals for specific purposes (in my case dogs for retrieving) knows that continued inbreeding can only accentuate faults. Those faults, once set, can never be eliminated completely unless a complete outcross can be found which doesn't destroy the consistency of the breed with which you work. After that, eliminating faults must be tracked and the breeding of affected animals must be carefully monitored so that the fault doesn't reappear....with luck. All this, of course, is rubbish and will never happen because once a breed has become an official "breed", as has the Thoroughbred horse, the introduction of another breed, no matter how similar to the TB, will also introduce all sorts of other issues that no one wants to deal with....most of all the handicappers! Run THIS idea by them, and I daresay the local psychiatric hospitals would be overflowing with punters!!

All I'm saying, I guess, is that the TB has changed over the years, probably not for the better. Humans have created these issues, but we will never be able to put the toothpaste back in the tube. We'll have to live with alterations of all sorts that aren't a happy prospect, but the equine heroes we once knew are probably gone forever, never to return. What we must do RIGHT NOW is slow down the speeding bullet, wait to train babies until they are more physically mature, STOP 2 year old in training sales completely, and hope for the best. Might work, might not .... but it sure is worth a try. What might it hurt?? And don't anyone come at me about the dollars. I'm aware of the financial issues, and I know how the world works, but someone, sometime MUST speak out for those who can't. Money is NOT the be-all answer to everything; common sense, however, might be...............

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

Driftin Sage — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:13:44 GMT

And again I say....if they weren't raced at so young an age before they have fully developed their bones, there would be many less injuries. Give them time to grow, develope stronger bones, and mature. This is what will cut down on so many injuries and fatalities. One more year would help so much.

re: Derby Weekend Celebration - by Dr. Scott Palmer

needler in Virginia — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:22:35 GMT

Well said, Dr Palmer, well said. Sometimes, in the money, the silks, the money, the parties, the money, the finish line, the money, and......oh, yes...the money, the raison d'etre (did I spell that right??) for all this is a sport called HORSE racing; this isn't goldfish racing, nor NASCAR, nor fantasy football. This "sport" is called horse racing for a reason ...... because it involves horses in a big way. Remember the line "no foot, no horse"? Well now it's even simpler than that: no horse, no horse racing. You're right, Dr Palmer; the changes may not be enough soon enough, but it's damned well better than nothing, and the Derby scratches reveal how far we have come in a very short time. Let the Force be with all those in racing as they learn how to think of the only voiceless participants here; owners, breeders, trainers, jocks, backside workers, stewards, vets, pinhookers, fans ..... of us need to speak for the animals we claim to love. Their job is to run fast; OURS is to make sure they can and do ...... SAFELY.