KENTUCKY DERBY

[Duchess]

A 20 horse field on what looksto be a sloppy track...A few of these horses have NEVER stepped foot on a sloppy track...When you see jockeys whipping those colts know that I wanna wrap it around their necks& pull tight...I'm keeping my eye on "I Want Revenge"

I'm so excited to watch ! ::boobs::

[ramseycat]

Is the Derby this weekend? I can't believe it's here already.

[Lady Cop]

AP

May 2: I Want Revenge, seen in his stable before the 135^th Kentucky Derby, was pulled from the race because of an ankle injury.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.⿿ Morning-line favorite I Want Revenge is out of the Kentucky Derby.[/b]

The owners of the 3-year-old colt have scratched the Wood Memorial winner hours before the Run for the Roses as a precaution after trainer Jeff Mullins discovered a hot spot on the horse's left front ankle.

An X-ray did not find any damage, but with a wet track expected for the Derby, Mullins and owner David Lanzman didn't want to take any chances.

I Want Revenge and 19-year-old Joe Talamo were to start from post No. 13 in the Derby. The duo established themselves as one of the Derby favorites after a last-to-first dash in the Wood Memorial last month.

[Cynical Ninja]

I don't like horse racing, I think its cruel and unneccesary, during the Grand National at least one horse always dies running it. And the way the jockeys whip them? :;beat::

[Duchess]

[/b]The owners of the 3-year-old colt have scratched the Wood Memorial winner hours before the Run for the Roses

Excellent decision even tho nothing showed up on x-rays, I wouldn't want to run my horse on that track today...Given the condition of the track I am becoming increasingly apprehensive about watching...Some of these very young horses have absolutely no experience on a sloppy track & it makes me nervous to think what could happen...I hate seeing a horse go down, I really do.

[Lady Cop]

I don't like horse racing, I think its cruel and unneccesary, during the Grand National at least one horse always dies running it. And the way the jockeys whip them? :;beat::

i was all for the foxhunt ban.

[Duchess]

Mine That Bird, a 50-1 long shot wins the first jewel in the race for the Triple Crown...He didn't just win, he strolled away from the entire pack after coming from behind...Whatta race !

[ramseycat]

It was awsome!! Mine That Bird was WAY ahead of the others. All of the horses were magnificant. Such beautiful animals.

[Duchess]

I watch my horses out in the field running, kicking, bucking and it is like the friggin' ballet, so beautiful they are in all their movements, I am hopelessly in love & utterly enthralled with them.

[LuMPyPussy]

Sounds like that horse has a natural affinity for running in mud. I wonder how well he'll do in the other two races if the conditions are dry.

[Duchess]

He should do very well...He also had a very long trailer ride in order to get to Kentucky...A long haul like that is often very difficult for the horse given they are using their legs the whole time to maintain balance, etc.

[Cynical Ninja]

I don't like horse racing, I think its cruel and unneccesary, during the Grand National at least one horse always dies running it. And the way the jockeys whip them? :;beat::

i was all for the foxhunt ban.

Me too.

All the toffee nosed whimsy and throwing a fox to be torn apart by dogs? ::angrier::

Cruelty to animals by man really pisses me off, I think people that do it have something wrong with their brains.

[Duchess]

Cruelty to animals by man really pisses me off, I think people that do it have something wrong with their brains.

Other than death of a loved one, cruelty to animals is the only thing that can reduce me to tears...It makes me feel murderous & I sincerely want that person to be tortured or worse, there is NO excuse for it.

[Cynical Ninja]

The vasy majority of serial killers tortured or killed animals in their childhood, I don't think thats coincidence. People who can get pleasure from hurting animals have something wrong with their internal wiring.

[The Antagonist]

OP isn't the Grand National a steeplechase race? Steeplechasing is extraordinarily difficult on the horses and although exciting to watch, it's also brutal for those who own horses and care for them to watch at the same time.

We don't have many steeplechase tracks here, I think only a handfull and only the ultra rich participate in them. You don't see any advertising or talk about it even when I was heavily into the horses and "in the loop" I couldn't tell you much about it here.

Fox hunting used to be a necessity and the sport developed from there. Originally they didn't keep a fox as bait but the hounds were actually set out to find fox that was considered vermin on one's property and it's evolved to kept fox and release to kill. It is cruel by today's standards but the sport itself can still be done, and is done here using a drag instead of a real fox. Using a drag is not cruel and you can still keep the sport going.

I don't know why they have not advocated for that solution to keep this sport alive there. We've been using drags instead for decades.

The derby was a blast! And a gelding at that! It was anyones race really. I was rooting for the old man on General Quarters but he tanked, finished tenth I think. But that little gelding breezed this! When he finished he barely went half-way 'round to slow down and he was hardly out of breath too. I watched him on the parade to the gate and he was insane, biting the lead pony and dancing on his toes, I thought he was either going to go dead last due to being distracted or do well but not finish first! He was spending all his energy!

The track wasn't that bad as I watched the people walking it. The horses probaby were shod with shoes with heavy boreum too for grip.They squeezed it dry and floated it and all kinds of stuff. Race tracks are not just dirt carved out anymore but are a surface atop of another man made 'platform' with drainage and it's even banked on the turns. Unfortunately the rail is always the sloppiest part as it's the part least banked and the drainage ditch is on the grass side of the rail.

Duchess, the whip is not that bad in the right hands and you can bet the jockeys hired for this race are 'the right hands'. My father was a jockey just after the war and he showed me how to sit a thoroughbred and how to use the whip. You really don't want to cause harm using it, the horse will grow 'calloused' or thicker skin in those areas making the whip useless. The whip is supposed to be only an extension of your arm. Jockey whips also are more like crops - they've a thick flat 'slapper' that has a 'feather' of leather below it that makes a 'whooshing' sound as it passes the horses ear. That whooshing sound has more effect that the slap from the flat of the slapper.

Any one of those trainers sees a welt or cut on their horse from a whip you can bet your last dollar they'll not be using that jockey again!

[Cynical Ninja]

Yes the Grand National is a steeplechase, there are some huge fences over the two laps of the course, one, called the chair has a landing point 6 feet below the jumping point, you can always see how wide the eyes of the horses are when they realise how steep the landing is, the jockeys are clinging on for dear life.

I think its too much to put a horse through.

[Luke Warmwater]

The vasy majority of serial killers tortured or killed animals in their childhood, I don't think thats coincidence. People who can get pleasure from hurting animals have something wrong with their internal wiring.

:shock: If this includes ants then I'm fucked.

[Lady Cop]

go girl!



AP

Rachel Alexandra is first female to win Preakness since 1924, holding off charge by Derby winner Mine That Bird to capture Triple Crown's middle jewel. | PHOTOS

[Duchess]

This morning, Rachel Alexandra is the most talented horse in all the land, at least in the racing circle she is...She's a big girl too, as big as most of the colts in that pack...I saw her stumble slightly as she was leaving the gate& she had the dreadful 13^th post position, it was a thing of beauty to watch her beatdown the boys...Her take from yesterdays 1.1 million dollar purse was 660,000.00, not too shabby, eh ?...Next up, the final jewel in the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes in 3 wks.

[Borndragon]

[user=29]Duchess[/user] wrote:

[iNext up, the final jewel in the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes in 3 wks.[/i]

Hard to do.