Positive aspect of Eight Belles
 

Larry Jones stated after the tragedy that it had to happen for a reason and something good would come out of it.

I was just thinking. Obviously a mass of people not caring at all about horse racing or only having a fleeting interest were drawn into the sport over the last few weeks. And not all of them are on the scale of the crazed PETA variety.

I wonder if many of these same people will also be drawn into the next three weeks and the lead up to the Belmont. If any news is good news the amount of coverage has exploded and just maybe a Triple Crown winner will bring in people to the sport for the right reasons, instead of the wrong ones. I think it will and the tradegy will pave the way for new fans of the Sport of Kings.

Spyder

I hope so

Here's an article from today's Inky that speculates on the possibility of this being a watershed year for internal changes in the industry, which in turn might improve the sport's image with the uninitiated public, as a result of the Eight Belles tragedy: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/...se_racing.html

I read an aticle at Equidaily (which I, unfortunately, can't link right now because I'm at work and they don't let us access any site categorized as "gambling") that made a good point about the Triple Crown publicity. It argued that the race for the TC, in a year such as this when it appears there's a good chance for a TC winner, is more helpful to the sport, in terms of publicity, than actually having a TC winner because most winners are hustled off the track to the breeding shed and don't establish the kind of long-term fan base necessary to keep people interested in the sport.

Once people get a grip that the triple crown hopeful is a jazzed up steroid freak they might become even more critical. Just like the home run king, and many more banned athletes, is alleged to be a jazzed up steroid freak. Except Big Brown is known to get it at least once a month.

I guess you can say anything on a message board. I know I was talking with Elvis Presley yesterday. He said that JFK died because of a drug overdoss and he really didn't get shot but his head just exploded and they had to make up the story. He said it was the same guys who staged that fake moon landing.

Spyder

A certain entrant for dumbest post of the year.

there is too much joire de vivre in this thread.

If there will be any good to come out of this, I was hoping that we would see some changes and improvements in the health and safety of racehorses.

Just because DaHoss spelled it incorrectly yesterday doesn't mean you have to continue to do so.

Joie de vivre.

not all of us are fluent in spanish you know

I hope you're kidding.

It's French.

I would love to think this may be true but it's not. As a matter of fact some of the changes for "the good of the breed" may wind up being more detrimental to the health and safety of horses. Pandering to public opinion (and most of the public has already moved on) does not mean anything really will change especially when those changes will cost people more money. Just as the detention barn in NY (which was a PR move that was widely praised by the press and others) has accomplished nothing other than make it more expensive for owners and trainers to run horses in NY, most of the moves that have been proposed are full of holes or will simply be lip service that is easily circumvented by the clever and devious.

Si

your hopes have come true---gracias

I saw that, too (I know, spelling police redboarding), but I'm not quite as pedantic a soul as you. Also, you can get away with it because I think you scare them.

pedantic?

I had trouble sleeping after not correcting DaHoss yesterday.

I'm phucked up....what can I say.

Carp Diem!

Spyder

This is just not true Chuck. I am not going to argue that there aren't significant downsides to the detention barn for many outfits but I see how the detention barn has changed things and anyone that is really paying attention to NY races, shippers, and specific trainers and the horses they choose to ship out of town can see exactly where the detention barn has changed things.

I am not saying this is the entire picture, and could probably argue both sides of the issue quite well, but saying it has accomplished nothing is simply not true. I am also not going into detail here. The facts are there if you are really paying attention on a day to day basis.

maybe I should have used quotes "joire de vivre" or sp?
i kept his (sumitas) original spelling in order that the ignorance live on unfettered by facts.