Some of us might want to do this

[ggpagels]

From publichandicapper.com

"They are graceful, powerful, beautiful, courageous. Horses run as
hard and fast as they can, sometimes even when injured, because we
ask them to. Yes, they love to run. But we make them run faster than
they normally would. And they do it, day in and day out. They do
what we ask for our entertainment and betting dollar.

What can we do for them? We can treat them with kindness and
respect. We can give them the best medical care possible. We can
stop the practice of horse slaughter in this country. We can adopt a
horse. We can help rescue old racehorses that might otherwise go to
slaughter.

In light of Barbaro's sacrifice for us this year, consider not
making that next pick 4 bet and instead contributing it to an
equine-related cause. Take a day off from handicapping and send
those betting dollars to a place where they will help horses, not
just be used for our entertainment.

Consider making a donation to the Thoroughbred Retirement
Foundation:
http://www.trfinc.org/

Here's another group we have always liked, the Exceller Fund:
http://www.excellerfund.org/

Consider helping to end the practice of horse slaughter. Get info on
horse slaughter here:
http://tinyurl.com/4bkez

You can take action to eliminate horse slaughter right here:
http://tinyurl.com/nh4qx

Barbaro was a great racehorse and a courageous animal. We hope and
pray that he makes it through his surgery and can enjoy a long life
at stud and beyond. The latest story we found on his surgery is here:
http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=33655 "

[Zaf]

Great idea Jerry.

I will be happy to send a donation to one of the places you mentioned above.

[Lee Carson]

When you start a hard racing program as early as two years, pushing for the Triple Crown races, that's what you get. How many 3's have you seen with a brilliant 2 yo career and fail to run a step when 3 yo? If we really did love the horse, serious racing would be delayed until 4 yo, when the horse is physically mature enough. Its all about fame and fortune and the horse becomes so much fodder. Helping horses by adopting an old horse simply does not solve beating up on 2 yo and 3 yo before they are ready. I don't think we will eliminate baby races, but that might be a good start. The article begs the real point of the problem.
Lee

[DanG]

Thanks for the link Jerry,

Much appreciated and very worthy of a donation.

[Victor]

yeah but

they used to be able race at 2

Let's take a look . . .

Secretariat was the 2-year-old Champion Horse of the Year?

That would be correct.

I have no objection to outlawing 2 year old racing, but what does that have to do with what happened on Saturday?

Name your Champion and then let's see if the "no 2-year-old racing" rule applies. Has there ever been a horse not raced at two that won the KY Derby? Well, no. (Ok, let's outlaw the KY Derby too if that would help.) :rolleyes: The problem is fragility and that relates to the breeding decisions made over the last 50 years. Case closed (but still open) because we are in control of this mistake in the same way we made it in the first place. You want to win the KY Derby (TRIPLE CROWN) and not break down in the process? ok, breed them that way! Simple Economics, another area I'm vaguely familiar with.

[Victor]

actually, the last decent 2-year-old Champion was Easy Goer (1988). For whatever reason, that's when things took a turn for the worse. When you look at the pedigree of Barbaro, you see Dynaformer, a turf horse, who by the way, never won that much. It's way overdue for "the boyz" responsible for breeding them to address the problem as stated. Stop ignoring the robust factor in favor of Brilliant Speed because this is where you've taken us.

F Pegasus
Grindstone
Charismatic
Unbridled Song
Barbaro
Smarty Jones

Not a nice list.

[Victor]

Afleet Alex

added. :(