General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe day at Saratoga Race track where I felt the electricity run right through my body.
I have been going to Saratoga Race track for over 35 years. It has wonderful fair like atmosphere.
I have seen some of the greatest horses, greatest races in the history of horse racing. On this day I witnessed, heard something, that I have never witnessed, heard, before or since.
It was 2009, Woodward Stakes day. The Woodward is a race for the best boys in the country. In this Woodward a female was attempting to beat the boys. Her name was Rachel Alexander. On this day a legend would be born.
Rachel was a speed horse who could carry her speed a long way. She liked to take the lead, catch me if you can. I knew this was going to be a tough race for Rachel. The race was a mile and an eighth long. I thought she could win IF she could take the lead and slow the pace down, If no one challenged her for the lead. Even the greatest speed horses can be beat if they go too fast at the beginning and middle of the race. They can tire coming down the stretch.
I always sit on the lawn behind the grandstand. For this race I stood on a bench in front of the grand stand. There was a decent size crowd, but not near the size crowd you see on travers day.
The race starts, Rachel goes for the lead and a couple of horses quickly challenged her for the lead, not good news for Rachel. I looked towards the tote board to see what the fractions were. The first fraction, quarter pole, came up. They were going way too fast.
Second fraction, half pole, was slower than the first fraction but still too fast.
Rachel held the lead coming into the stretch. When she hit the stretch, she dug in. The closers in the race made their move and they were gaining on Rachel quickly. She was tiring, she ran too fast at the beginning of the race. One of the closers Macho Again, was gaining on Rachel with every stride. Then it happened, A noise came from the grandstand I never heard before. It was not a normal roar from a crowd.
When this noise hit me from behind the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I felt something go through me. For a second or two I stopped watching the race. I looked behind me and said out loud, What the hell was that?
I turned back to the race. Macho Again was still gaining, inching closer, Rachel kept fighting and hung on to win the race by a head.
As I walked back to me seat I was still confused, shocked by what I heard. What the hell was that? Then I figured it out. I saw women crying everywhere.
What I heard that day was, thousands of women screaming like someone was beating their own daughters. It was amazing.
Go to youtube and type in 2009 Woodward States. The call of the race by the announcer is one of the great calls in racing history.
BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)shockey80
(4,379 posts)People could say all sports are inhumane. What are we going to do cancel all sports?
People just hear the bad stories about horse racing and react. There are owners and trainers that treat their horses like we treat our pets. Horses have better health care than many people do. I also know this, horses love to run. I could say owning a dog or cat is inhumane because of all the abuse. But I don't do that because I know most people treat their pets well.
MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)Many sports are inhumane.
That's just a fact.
shockey80
(4,379 posts)MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)Tipperary
(6,930 posts)Seriously dude.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)When an animal can legally sign a contract (ie never), then we can discuss if it's humane. Because now? It is cruel and appalling, and as much as I cry for how my fellow women are treated, I cry more for the voiceless cruelty done to animals, just so humans like yourself can have a good time with their buddies and picnic while animals are used and abused and tortured, and then literally shot when they quit earning money.
So yeah, that is why so many of use don't like your OP.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)But I get it... fandom allows our biases to easily overpower our critical thought. I suppose logical fallacies are more entertaining than "siting home and doing nothing..." those being the only two choices you allow yourself.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)Santa Anita. Ever heard of it? Yeah, just a bunch of bad stories. Rigggght.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)oioioi
(1,127 posts)Crunchy Frog
(26,587 posts)Goodheart
(5,325 posts)a kennedy
(29,669 posts)https://www.playfecta.com/kentucky-horse-racing-commission-rules-on-new-rules-for-whips/
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)The drugs used on these horses kill them before their time. Never mind how many meet with unfortunate accidents because they are no longer profitable.
Phoenix61
(17,006 posts)Coventina
(27,120 posts)shockey80
(4,379 posts)It is sad horses do not heal when they break a leg like we do. That's how they were made. They put horses down out of mercy. You may not know that.
We put on a cast when we break a leg. 6 weeks later we are healed. That doesn't work with a horse. People have tried.
If horses bones healed like ours there would be very few horse deaths.
You may also not know this. Horses by nature are very high strung. They are easily panicked. Horses kill themselves when they are in their stalls, out for walks, running in a pasture on a farm, getting a bath, at stud, etc.
Horses love to run. Horses love to race. Nature made them the way they are.
Coventina
(27,120 posts)Horses love to run and compete, yes, but horse racing is cruel and barbaric.
They do not know the risks they are incurring under human control.
Also, they have been bred to have locomotive-powered lungs on champagne-flute legs.
Humans have turned them into something nature never intended.
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)And I am not talking about broken legs. Others in this thread have told you it is barbaric. And it is. All so some idiots can bet money on innocent animals.
Response to Tipperary (Reply #19)
Post removed
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)JFC just stop excusing animal cruelty, especially cruelty for profit and "entertainment."
This is barely a notch above dog and cock fighting.
demmiblue
(36,855 posts)brooklynite
(94,581 posts)...why people spent the entire day picnicking behind the grandstands and watched everything on TV.
brooklynite
(94,581 posts)When I went to Saratoga, Id go to the rail for every race.
shockey80
(4,379 posts)Myself, I do go out and watch the big races or if I have a long shot I love in a race. Some people don't go out and watch any of the races.
brooklynite
(94,581 posts)Never understood that either.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)....but I HAVE to go out front to watch each race live.
Goodheart
(5,325 posts)Zenyatta's races were SURREAL.
"How on earth did she do THAT? " we'd all exclaim.
Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)Mike Smith simply waited too long. Supposedly he still can't get over it. It would have been beyond incredible for a filly with a deep closer style to finish her career unbeaten.
Goodheart
(5,325 posts)Clearly the best horse in the field. Denied a perfect record by a head! What a jewel.
shockey80
(4,379 posts)Many of our sports heroes take drugs, steroids. How cruel and barbaric. I know what you are going to say. It was their choice, lame. Just because you don't like a sport doesn't give you the right to judge me. This was a good story I told and the high and almighty, all knowing, have to ruin the post.
BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)And illogical.
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)Comparing humans choosing to take drugs to animals who have no choice. Smh.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)If an MMA fighter or footballer wants to ruin their health by taking PEDs or getting CTE, they are sentient adults.
JFC just stop and take the loss.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)All they see is a raw number of short term injuries and deaths, and launch their simpleton outrages accordingly. They can't wait for the next spike so they can launch their simpleton outrages again. It is like a jack o lantern with the lid unlatched.
Anyway, I love Saratoga and the 15 year stretch I was a regular from 1995 through 2010. It is an incredible atmosphere. I always camped in Scotia then drove up to the races in early afternoon. Sometimes I'd play golf at SPAC or at Van Patten before making the afternoon trek to Saratoga. That's when I'd often experience the change of weather that the OP described. It could rain like heck at the track after being perfectly clear for golf, or the other way around. Some days were brutally hot and humid. It would vary even more year to year than day to day.
I remember that 2009 Woodward. I was supposed to be there. But I never made it to Saratoga that summer at all. A month earlier my father and I were involved in a major traffic accident in southern Georgia on I-95. We were fortunate to survive. We had to call off the trip to heal, physically and mentally. It was my dad's goal to make that trip the following year. We did and I'll always be grateful. It was my father's final big trip before his health declined to the point he couldn't do it. In 2010 we not only attended Saratoga but also we went to see Pimlico and Belmont. Granted, they were simulcast days not racing days but we were able to walk the grounds and get a feel for everything. Belmont is impressively expansive but hardly the atmosphere of wondrous Saratoga.
Hialeah during my youth is the only track that rivaled Saratoga along those lines. But I place Saratoga clearly on top. I always loved to watch the entertainment not far from the paddock at Saratoga, then get as close as I could to the walking ring as the jockeys were mounting, then after evaluating the horses from a physical standpoint I'd make my way back to the rail area maybe 100 yards shy of the finish line. It was fairly easy to move around in that area, except for huge days like Jim Dandy or obviously the Travers.
Best race I ever saw at Saratoga was the amazing finish from You and Carson Hollow in the Test Stakes. I felt so devastated for Carson Hollow. I remember eating at Ripe Tomato and not being able to taste the food at all. That race was another phenomenal call by Tom Durkin, in fact one of his best. The race is on YouTube.
I liked Rachel Alexandra but was never a huge fan. I think that aspect of Calvin Borel dumping the Derby winner Mine That Bird to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness didn't sit right with me. It was obvious it would play out that way. Borel was the regular rider on Rachel Alexandra. I was hoping he would honor the historical nature of giving the Derby winner the best chance of maintaining opportunity for the Triple Crown. Instead Borel chose the more shortsighted route.
BTW, Billy Turner's wife is a member here. Or at least she was about a decade or so ago. Great Democrat. I used to reply back and forth to her in the sports forum. I always regretted that I didn't stop and visit them at Saratoga. But I had no way of knowing that my annual visits were coming to an end. Once my mom died in late 2008 then my dad was diagnosed with a terminal condition I was the only one in the family who could stay and help.
BannonsLiver
(16,387 posts)USALiberal
(10,877 posts)PTWB
(4,131 posts)Tipperary
(6,930 posts)Are you calling your fellow duers names? My goodness.
Coventina
(27,120 posts)MrsCoffee
(5,801 posts)PTWB
(4,131 posts)Please take some time to reflect on the absolutely disgusting practice of everything that encompasses racing animals - from the disgusting breeding practices, the grueling training, the horrible injuries, etc. All for the cheap amusement of low-brow, anti-intellectualists.
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)One can hope. But at any rate, thanks for your post.
Raftergirl
(1,287 posts)We go once, maybe twice during the session. Its a fun day. Bet a little on each race and usually come out even, a little ahead or a little behind. But spend more on food and drink.
We get reserved seats in the clubhouse but always go down to the rail for the races.
Will never go on Travers Day. Way too crazy for me.
Weve been going for as long as weve lived here. Will be 30 years this summer. Ill have to start remembering to always subtract a year from now on.
Tom Traubert
(117 posts)Its a beautiful track steeped in history. My issue with horse racing is that horses are run far too young. 2 year olds are not physically mature enough to deal with the stresses of training and racing. Horses shouldnt be raced until they 4-5 years old. But horses cannot earn money unless they race, and an early start increases the potential financial return on the investment made in the horse. I wont go to the track until this changes, and there is little chance that it will given the cost of breeding and maintaining thoroughbreds and the money thats in the sport.
Doremus
(7,261 posts)More than likely she ended up in the same glue factory that Secretariat and all the other greats did when they ceased making money.
Sad, but true.
Response to Tipperary (Reply #44)
essme This message was self-deleted by its author.
Green Line
(1,123 posts)Neither did Secretariat. Rachel lives out her retirement days at Stonestreet Farm in Kentucky, she had 2 foals, a colt named Jesss Dream who stands at stud in Ocala and a filly named Rachels Valentina who is broodmare in Kentucky. Secretariat lived at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky during his breeding career, he died at 19 from laminitis, a terrible, but common equine ailment. There are many thoroughbred after care farms that retrain them for a new career, there are also retirement farms where the horses are are taken care of for life. Do bad things happen? Yes, but the entire industry is improving with after care.
essme
(1,207 posts)He looked pretty damned happy, and enjoyed visitors.
Rachel Alexandra is alive and fully retired.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)I am no horse racing fan, but I do know that your analogy is wrong.
I have serious qualms about racing a huge animal whose ankles are barely larger than mine. I would much rather see them while away their life's days eating grass and clover in some pastoral field. But I prefer to keep that argument on a factual plain.
TuxedoKat
(3,818 posts)of the race brought tears to my eyes. What a moment. I immediately found the race on youtube. It was great! Thanks for sharing!!!
Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)I hope I can get back there soon. Actually I visited in late October 2018. Obviously the summer meet was long gone. It was a wet dreary cold day but I'm glad I detoured 100 miles to visit Saratoga and all the spots I immensely enjoyed for those 15 years.
PTWB
(4,131 posts)essme
(1,207 posts)How many people that wrote that are vegetarians?
If you aren't, then you are a hypocrite.
Veggie since 1992.
essme
(1,207 posts)Coventina
(27,120 posts)If not, please read up on it. It is stomach churning stuff.
essme
(1,207 posts)is ridiculous if they are having a double bacon cheeseburger for dinner.
Either care about animals and advocate for them, or don't.
Coventina
(27,120 posts)before I speak out against horse racing.
essme
(1,207 posts)It's horrific. I can't even think about pigs and chickens.
Coventina
(27,120 posts)I find comfort that the animals get some sort of revenge from blocked arteries and rotten colons.
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)essme
(1,207 posts)I am just so sick of the whole meat industry.
I think I am sick of everything right now-- the US just seems like an ugly place to me. Trump overload.
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)They are some of the most beautiful and empathetic creatures on this earth. They deserve better than people drooling over race wins and preening over winner ownership. That being said, I understand how you feel about everything right now. But, horses are always a good thing. The pretender in the White House does not have an iota of anything that makes a horse great.
essme
(1,207 posts)I seriously think I need to take a "news" vacation. I have been overdosing on DU since Covid 19, and I started working from home.
And horses are always a good thing!
Tipperary
(6,930 posts)I have pretty much stopped watching the news. I cannot take it. I so despise the despot in chief that it makes me beyond sad. This is not the country I grew up in.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,351 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)Trying to wrap my head around this right now.
demmiblue
(36,855 posts)The whole thing is quite bizarre.
obamanut2012
(26,079 posts)Tipperary
(6,930 posts)This op never disappoints. I will have to look for that one!
Crunchy Frog
(26,587 posts)Bet he's really upset now.
Raine
(30,540 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)...and then got nervous when Borel fell off her in the post parade. Indeed the roar was deafening, and the old Saratoga stands seemed to be shaking. Tom Durkin's call equaled the the excitement of the race - a classic.
Here it is, she really DID "raise the rafters here at the spa"!