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History Is Made at the Belmont!

Written by PETA

Posted 06-08-2008

After much hype around Big Brown's quarter hoof split, with the spotlight on the trainer and the owner and everyone else surrounding this “pushed” horse, it seems that he was finally allowed to run what may well have been the first natural race of his life. And the result is he showed how he really feels: tired and lame. Big Brown’s jockey did the right thing and pulled him up, sensing that the horse just didn’t have it in him. History has been made.Ten states already ban steroids, and the rest need to follow suit. PETA will be pushing for illegal and legal drug use to end and for horses to be allowed to be themselves. If money can’t be made honestly and comes at the expense of breaking animals' bodies and souls, then it shouldn’t be made at all. Please join us in urging Congress to properly investigate horse-racing cruelty by using this web form.PETA demonstrators flooded the Belmont yesterday in huge numbers. Here are some pictures:

Photo Credit: Jason Allen Photography

Tags:

Belmont, Eight Belles, huskies, basketball, of, North, White Rain Carolina, UNC, tar heels, wildcats, sparty, the best damn sports show period, celtics, george snedeker, nite light, John Velazquez, horse-racing protest

Recent Comments

kat commented:

Aug 6, 2008 8:53 PM

Big Brown losing wasn't because of his hoof. That was basically like your fingernail getting a little line in it. Doesn't hurt anything especially not when they wrapped it meshed it and then put animalsafe fiberglass over all that to ensure it wouldn't hurt him. Maybe he shouldn't have run in the Belmont. That's asking a lot of a horse who in 6 races hadn't run that far and especially not in that heat. Why he lost was not because of any injury even him throwing a shoe didn't faze him. Kent was smart in pulling him up however and i agree he may have saved his life. But Big Brown won his last race which just says to me he doesn't take heat too well and the temperature just threw him off his game. Now as for his trainer i wish BB had a different trainer i really do. I do not condone what rick dutrow did never will. But i also don't condone PETA for trying to protest a sport that has been around since the age of kings hell it even goes back to ancient greece. and if i'm not mistaken they were the ones who first came up with safety for the horses not just the riders. I appreciate what peta tries to do for many cases but i think they should focus on the real issues like banning trainers who abuse the drugs and petitioning for all tracks to be poly tracks which are much much softer and don't slick up when it rains. Focus on the issues rather than ban the whole sport and ruin it for those who actually do care about the animals and don't really care about the money.
Susan commented:

Jul 14, 2008 3:54 PM

Sarah Clair your right I didnt think of that although I doubt it was the rider... but I mean it might not have been the cracked hoof. It could have just simply been an off day everyone has their off days. He could have just not felt like racing that day.
shelby commented:

Jul 11, 2008 8:26 PM

Big Brown has an amazing talent and they are racing it out of him! His jockey knew what he was doing though. Not many jockeys are like that.
Sarah Clair commented:

Jul 6, 2008 7:04 PM

I think the funny part about all of this is that people blame the drugs and the hoof. but was it either of them? probably not. it was probably the jockey giving a shitty ride because he had thousands of people watching him waiting for him to screw up. or maybe it was the extreme heat and high humidity. and where was PETA at the Kentucky Rolex? Why isn't there a fight for safer jumps and more safety precautions?
elphaba commented:

Jul 3, 2008 6:29 PM

Dave why can't you let this go? I've heard your arguments time and again and they clearly mean as little to me as mine do to you. You can be wrong if you like but I grew bored with this long ago and will not be back for more. Horse racingexploitation and I will continue to do whatever I can to stop it while you and Danica cling to a dying 'sport.' Peace OUT.
Dave commented:

Jul 2, 2008 7:54 PM

elphaba.... That's exactly what I expected.... The "I'm right your wrong" attitude. This is the reason people don't take PETA too seriously.. You run around like a chicken with no head .When asked a question you fight back with some dribble you read in a magazine... Frank Whitely knew he raced a horse with 10 previous starts.If he knew she would break down he never would have raced her. Seabiscuit ran 89 times was he run to the ground? Again stay out of arguments you know nothing about. You want to talk horses? Prove your great knowledge. "I feel no need to prove what I know about horses " Makes you sound like the cry baby . Put on your big girl panties and dry your eyes . You want to go around or two with a horseman of 47 years.. Give me whats in your head not your heart... Tell me how will you stop horseracing? Instead of wasting your time fighting with me . I wish you would focus your energy on the real problems. Tell me how many horse adoption agencies do you work with? How many horses have you adopted or placed? How many horses have you taken care of out of your own pocket before you can find them good homes. Can I dare you to ask me Those questions? And still I have room for two adopted Greyhounds. Stop running around pointing the finger DO something...
elphaba commented:

Jul 2, 2008 2:39 PM

Dave and Danica I am bored with both of you. I feel no need to prove what I know about horses to a couple of idiots who wouldn't know the business end of one. Because of what I know I can see past all of the bs romantic notions people like you have and I know that it is wrong to create an animal with a desire to run that eclipses its ability to support itself. Stupid stupid idiots. Danica Frank Whitely knew better than anyone how fragile Ruffian was and I will happily insult anyone responsible for the death of such a magnificent animal.
Susan commented:

Jul 1, 2008 6:44 PM

Im a horseracing fan I love to watch the races when thy come on amd that bethe case obviousely I support it. But there arthings that I dont agree with. For example Big Brown shouldnt have been raced on Belmont Day not with a cracked hoof. Obviousely theres problems if they let thir horse run like that and they got what was to be expected. In the case of Eight Belles that was the jockeys fault. As a horse rider I can tell if someone is riding badly the horse is uncomfortable or if they do something wrong. And I observed the way the jockey pulled her up to stop her at the end of the race. He jercked the reins witch told her to make a suddon stop and since she wasnta reinging horse obviousey she wasnt trained to do so so when she stopped she put all her weigh onto her front hooves I noticed that as I watched it on youtube on witch they had a clip witch was hard to watch whitch resulted in the breaking. Obviousely if she had had another rider she wouldnt have sustained the injury. In Barbaros case it was a mistep nothing could have prevented it. Although they shouldnt have raced him after he broke throughthe gate he shouldve been scratched. And yes racing has othr flaws like the whip the whip isnt a bad thing but how its used can be. And steriods is obviousely a huge flaw. There can be bad owners trainers and vets involved in the horses life to. All in all racing isnt a bad thing but how its done can be.
Robert Cucciardi commented:

Jun 30, 2008 2:18 AM

Once upon a time man used horses for transportation and so on. We have now reached a time where we don't need them for transportation nor racing for human entertainment. If man wants to see how fast something is capable of going we now have what's called the automobile but I forgot these people would not enjoy that as much because they wouldn't have as much control over an automobile as they do over a help less animal. They wouldn't be able to drug an engine nor would "beating" an engine make it run faster. These people make me sick it's to the point of perversion. "Leave the horses alone". However GREED will always take a man's soul. I hope in my lifetime I can see our "greedy" and "corrupt" politicians pass some "serious" laws not bandaid laws to protect our animals. "Please Lord".
Danica commented:

Jun 29, 2008 11:04 PM

sorry i didn't think the first one went through. But i still want to prove my point. And Thank you Dave for posting that very well said

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