Some extreme animal rights activists have opinions about horse racing, and they are entitled to their opinions, but they are not entitled to make up their own facts.
Here are a few facts about horse racing.
Horse racing popularity is on the rise, as evidenced by the 15.7 million viewers who watched the Kentucky Derby and $233 million wagered that day, surpassed only by the record of $250.9 million in 2019. According to NBC, “the TV-only average audience of 14.4 million viewers topped all entertainment awards shows for the first time ever and marked NBC’s most watched broadcast since the NFL Divisional Playoffs in January.”
Preakness numbers were similar. According to NBC, “The 2021 Preakness Stakes TAD [total audience delivery] nearly tripled last year’s viewership (2.4 million viewers on Oct. 3, 2020) and is up 29% from the last Preakness Stakes held in May (5.4 million on May 18, 2019).”
Wagering overall in the sport is also increasing. According to Equibase, wagering on races was up 72.54% comparing April 2021 to April 2020 and 22.92% year over year. Comparing 2021 to 2019 year over year, wagering was up 30.4%.
America’s Best Racing, a fan-development initiative of The Jockey Club, shows that its fan base is growing and getting younger.
From 2019 to 2021:
- 18-24 age demographic increased over 5%
- 25-34 age demographic increased 2%
- 35-44 age demographic increased about 1%
Plus, more females are engaging with ABR, comprising 46% of the audience.
Critics of horse racing also fabricate or bend information to pull at the heartstrings of people who don’t know the facts about horses. They use words such as, “… torn from his mother as a mere babe, thrust into intensive training at 18 months …”
Those who know the facts about horses and their physiology know this is all completely false.
Almost everyone in horse racing is involved because they love horses, and they never want to see them suffer at any point in their lives. Weaning, which is separating a foal from its dam, is a natural process that takes place whether humans are involved or not. In basically all horse disciplines, foals are weaned at four to seven months; in the wild, mares wean foals at about a year old. Nothing is “torn” – it is a natural process. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, at four months, foals’ nutritional requirements exceed what is provided by the mares’ milk. By six months, they are independent and can grow and thrive with other young horses and often older horses who serve as “babysitters,” during which time they can get the exercise and social skills they need.
In fact, exercise is very important for young horses. In an article published in the Wildcat Canter by Mackenzie Rockefeller, one study shows that foals given a 30% greater workload resulted in “increased strength in the third metacarpal diaphysis, but also with significantly larger size of the third metacarpal distal epiphysis,” ultimately increasing the tolerance of the fetlock joint to the spring loads involved in race training.
Thoroughbreds that are mature enough are taught how to accept a bridle, saddle, and rider usually in the fall before they turn 2 – they are not “thrust into intensive training.” They often begin training as 2-year-olds and race if they are ready. The first races for 2-year-olds in the U.S. aren’t scheduled until April. It has been well documented in studies and demonstrated by veterinarians, including Dr. Larry Bramlage, top orthopedic surgeon at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., that horses that train and race as 2-year-olds have longer careers, show better racing performance, and are at a lower risk of suffering injuries than horses that do not start racing until they are 3 years old or older. These are facts.
Another claim often made by those who don’t know the facts is that every Thoroughbred foal needs a nurse mare when its mother is sent away to be bred. Not only is this not true, it’s a complete fabrication. Generally, nurse mares are used only when the birth mare cannot properly care for her foal, such as when a mare dies during foaling, when a mare cannot produce enough milk, or in the rare case when a mare rejects the foal. No farm wants to intentionally use a nurse mare, not only because it’s not necessary, but because it is stressful for the horses involved, it is expensive, and nurse mares can carry diseases such as salmonella and strangles that can be disastrous physically to the horses on a farm and economically to the farm itself should there be an outbreak.
Over the past several years, the Thoroughbred industry has made great strides to ensure its horses are taken care of when their racing careers have ended. Organizations such as the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, Thoroughbred Charities of America, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and myriad others are there to help retrain and find homes for retired Thoroughbreds. Since 2012, The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program has encouraged the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines by providing incentives for competition horses, recreational horses, young riders and Thoroughbreds in a non-competitive second career as well as a Championship horse show.
Leading Thoroughbred groups, under the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, oppose the slaughter or processing of Thoroughbreds for consumption by humans or animals, including the sale and/or transportation of Thoroughbreds for slaughter, and they support the SAFE Act, which will ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and ensure that horses are not shipped across the border for that purpose. This is another reason The Jockey Club fully supports many initiatives aimed at aftercare and at identifying at-risk horses.
Unfortunately, horse racing is sometimes in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. This is often because of bad apples who want to win at any cost and who bend the rules to their advantage – often the rules they bend pertain to medication. The rules are easy to bend because they vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Fortunately, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) was signed in to law in December 2020. HISA will ensure that horse racing has a national set of rules with consistent testing and penalties, in addition to safer racetrack surfaces, by July 2022.
As stated, most people choose to work in horse racing because they love the horses and the sport. Not everyone agrees with horse racing, but we all agree that facts are important. Making up statements and declaring them as fact to support your position is not OK, yet that’s exactly what critics of horse racing do. Before you accept what the critics say, do your research and learn the facts. We love horses. That is a fact.
