Big Stud Fees ≠ Great Racers

NYT investigates the deadly, drug-filled world of horse racing

(NEWSER) - If the extent of your horse-racing knowledge starts with the Kentucky Derby and ends with mint juleps, the New York Times' look at the deadly sport is both an eye-opening and jarring read. It reports that an average of 24 horses die every single week on the country's racetracks. Most aren't high-profile losses like that of Eight Belles, who was euthanized at the 2008 Derby after breaking two ankles. They're less expensive horses whose deaths typically go unnoticed, their bodies sent not to a pathologist for examination, but to a rendering plant or dump. More»

Comma To The Top is the people's champion

(NEWSER) - Looking for a rooting interest at Sunday’s Kentucky Derby? Well, you should be cheering for Comma To The Top, argues Edward McClelland of Slate , for one simple reason: "He can’t produce sperm." Which means he’ll be able to race for another three years. “If early favorite Dialed In wins, he’ll retire at the end of the summer, and follow in the hoofprints of 2010 winner Super Saver, who is currently servicing mares for $20,000 a spasm.” More»

The way we treat thoroughbreds is a disgrace, says Marlene Fanta Shyer

(NEWSER) - You might imagine that the horses who run in tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby live lives of "pampered luxury." But you’d be wrong, writes Marlene Fanta Shyer in the Christian Science Monitor . “The truth is often closer to years of abuse and a brutal end at a foreign slaughterhouse.” The vast majority of these horses are given Phenylbutazone, or “bute,” to help them run while injured, which can cause kidney damage, internal hemorrhaging, and other problems. More»

Officials cite animal welfare concerns

(NEWSER) - The whip is on the way out at Britain's Towcester racecourse. Bosses at the course, one of the country's toughest, will require riders to stick to the "head and heels" system, in which the whip can only be used for steering. "It is the Towcester board’s view that the public who attend our fixtures do not enjoy watching horses getting whipped after they have raced up our steep hill," a source tells the Telegraph . More»

(NEWSER) - Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge has been scratched because of an ankle injury, reports Newsday. The 3-year-old colt—the morning line had him at 3-1 odds to win today's race—showed soreness in his left front ankle after an early workout, said trainer Jeff Mullins. "We could tell he wasn't 100 percent." The new favorites: Dunkirk and Pioneer of the Nile at 4-1, followed by Friesan Fire at 5-1, notes the Online Gambling Paper. More»