NY TIMES Horse Racing Horror reminder : Welfare of Horses Must Always Come First

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FOR YOUR INFORMATIONPLEASE CROSSPOST The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/opinion/06tue4.html?th & emc=th---EDITORIALAnother Horse-Racing Horror Published: May 6, 2008There is no reason why a race of one-and-a-quarter miles should be adeath sentence for a horse, as it was on Saturday for the 3-year-oldfilly, Eight Belles. She was euthanized after breaking both front ankles immediately aftercoming in second in the Kentucky Derby. The racing industry has claimed, as it always does after such ahorrifying incident, that racing young thoroughbreds isn't all thatdangerous to their well-being. But the nature of racing and breeding has changed over the years. Good horses, whose careers often begin and end before their bones arefully mature, are racing less often than they used to, which means theyonly need enough endurance to last a few races. That makes it all the easier to breed for the lightness of build — andthe fragility — that Eight Belles showed.There are, of course, owners and trainers who love thoroughbreds forthemselves and for their ability to perform on the racetrack, which is areasonable test of sound breeding. But the real race increasingly seems to be to capitalize on a horse'ssuccess — to move a horse through its career as quickly as possible. The sums involved are immense, so much so that the horses seem more likefinancial vehicles than animals with an existence of their own. The life of the money comes to seem just as important as the life of thehorse. How beautiful a galloping thoroughbred can be — everyone who watchedthe Derby can attest. But we also got to witness just how narrow the margin is between beautyand tragedy. It is exactly as narrow — and only as sure — as the bones in ahorse's legs. The first rule of racing must be the welfare of these horses. Nothing else is acceptable.===========================Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.