The LA Times likes horses, don’t they?

I’ve never really understood why blogs feel the necessity to put down the MSM all the time. And locally, that means the Times. Of course, there is a lot that I disagree with, and part of that is their slant, but I still respect it, read it, and enjoy some of it.

Gruesome photo of Eight Belles (from AP).

One thing they did good on: the recent two part series on horse racing, after the horrifying death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby this month.

Sports Illustrated wrote:

[Eight Belles] crossed the wire 4 3/4 lengths behind favorite Big Brown. Then, with the second-largest crowd in Derby history still whooping it up, Eight Belles collapsed with two broken front ankles.

Then they killed her.

(Note: I do NOT read the sports section, but I look at the photos of the athletes in case I have to do a comic book someday with the strange perspective and muscles of superheroes! ;) And that’s how I saw the pic of poor Eight on the ground.) The Times Special Report online:

The Derby incident has prompted outrage, debate and questions about why thoroughbreds seem to be breaking down more frequently — doping, training, breeding and gender are the prime suspects — and whether anything can be done about it…So far, however, the industry has struggled to agree even on the scope of the problem, much less on its causes or possible solutions…

For example, there are currently no uniformly recognized statistics for on-track deaths…Nationally, that translates to hundreds of thousands of starts that end safely and several thousand that don’t.

Rick Arthur, the equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board, said fitness is the real issue. “When a 3-year-old gets to the Kentucky Derby, it becomes a real test of stamina,” he said. “The bones are ready, but they have never run a mile and a quarter. That’s what makes it such a test.” (Obviously the bones are NOT ready, you asshat.)

“We certainly debilitated the breed,” said Nick Zito, a two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer whose Stevil will run in the Preakness. “We’ve been talking about that for 15 to 20 years. They don’t make horses like they used to, right or wrong. . . . You look at the 2-year-olds of years ago. They ran them every week. They just don’t make them like they did.”

The second half of the report talks about synthetic tracks. (Yawn.) To me, it’s obviously the training and breeding, but there is so much gambling money to be made in racing, it’s hard to find the truth about these issues. Think of how much PR is going out right this minute to promote the joy of shooting horses!

PETA is suing the jockey.

“What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?” PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. “If he didn’t then we can probably blame the fact that they’re allowed to whip the horses mercilessly.”

Guillermo said if Saez is found at fault, the group wants the second-place prize of $400,000 won by Eight Belles to be revoked.

I think the responsibility lies on the trainer, Larry Jones. “Losing animals like this isn’t fun. It’s not supposed to happen,” he said. “We’re heartbroke. We’re going to miss her, no doubt.” Oh, boo hoo for you. Couldn’t have been how you pushed her, right? (She was the first filly since 1999, and only 3 have ever won.) And now you’re going to donate your $400,000 to the Old Horses Home.

Right?