Newsday:

Horse deaths at race tracks should be as rare as Triple Crown winners

By KATHY GUILLERMO, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Seeing the video of the fourth race held the day of the Belmont Stakes, when a horse named Helwan broke his leg and was euthanized, reminded me of the very first time I saw a horse break down during a race. It was many years ago, and I thought it would be the only time. I thought that a death on the track was as rare as a Triple Crown winner.

What seemed to me then to be shocking and unusual is actually so routine today that numbers are reported in a detached way, as though they were simply statistics from less deadly sports - more than three horses a day die on tracks, which is 24 a week and 1,000 a year. These stats don't convey the horror of the loud crack of a bone and the horse crashing to the ground while running at top speed.

But what's even more astounding is that the racing industry could stop many of these deaths right now if it wanted to. Some good people in racing, some members of Congress, outside experts and PETA have been saying it for years: Get rid of the medication. Stop drugging horses to keep them running when they should be resting. Eliminate the use of the debilitating diuretic Lasix on race day.

The problem with horse racing
The drugs are leading to the breakdowns, and all medications should be prohibited in the week before a race. If a horse actually requires medication, that horse should not be racing.

Instead, not a day passes without the death of a thoroughbred or standardbred or quarter horse somewhere on a U.S. track. On June 14, Danzig Moon, who finished fifth in this year's Kentucky Derby and ran in the Preakness, broke a hind leg and was euthanized at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. On June 15, when only six thoroughbred tracks in the U.S. were open, four horses broke down.


Drug use is pervasive even at the top levels. Veterinary records released by New York state reveal that all eight horses who ran in the Belmont Stakes were given the powerful painkiller and anti-inflammatory medication phenylbutazone on June 4, just two days before the race. Is it coincidental that every horse was suffering from "inflammation?" The French horse Helwan, who died on the day that American Pharaoh won the Triple Crowin, had a winning career in Europe and had never raced on Lasix. But racing for the first time in the U.S., where nearly every horse is given this drug, Helwan was given Lasix, which can cause dehydration and the loss of a hundred pounds in a single day.

It is inexplicable that racing without drugs should panic so many trainers and owners. It is inexcusable that the racing industry doesn't stop its ceaseless bickering and clean up this mess immediately. Some members of Congress agree. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania have introduced a bill that would repeal the Interstate Horseracing Act, which allows betting across state lines, by phone and on the Internet. Ninety percent of the $11 billion wagered annually on horses comes from this form of betting, and without it, the racing industry would collapse.

Pitts, along with Rep. Anna G. Eshoo of California and Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, has also reintroduced legislation to end drugging in racing and ban violators. Both these bills would improve the chances for horses' survival, and clearly, federal oversight is essential. The racing industry won't do this itself. That much is clear.

Kathy Guillermo is a senior vice president with PETA.