Whatever you say! I think I probably know what happened to my own horses, and you’re also contradicting yourself at this point, but that’s okay. If you train race horses, I can see how you think the way you do, and if you look out for the welfare of your horses, more power to ya! But I’m the one taking them once they are retired and cleaning up all these trainer’s messes, and I definitely see the worst of the racing world, regularly. My baby Maya was ruined by the racing lifestyle, and while I realize that she did come from a pretty low trainer, I do think the whole industry needs revisions in how the horses are treated.
The chance of having a triple crown winner is 100%, the success rate is 9% which is insanely higher than I would have guessed.
You are the one? You take in 20k plus or minus retiring race horses per year? That’s impressive.
You seem to be lacking an understanding in how math works. A percentage of catastrophic injuries PER START looks at every single solitary horse that started anywhere ever and counted whether they died or not. If your horses raced they were fortunate enough to be in the gigantic or not category.
No need for sarcasm here. I didn’t say the only one. I just said between her and me, I’m the one taking them after they retire. I’m not attacking trainers as a whole here, so no need to get defensive, either. I have good relationships with a lot of trainers and a lot of respect for what they do. But no one can deny that there are bad ones out there, too.
Who defines “no longer competitive”? Eventually, every horse that steps foot on a track will be retired from racing… from catastrophic breakdown, no longer competitive, injury not compatible with racing career. Many times, the horse will be dropped down in class so they do end up at tracks like Mountaineer.
Racing is a business. I don’t see any productive suggestions on how to address what you feel is the problem other than you don’t agree with the horsemen.
On a lighter note 
TVG had a TV camera at BB’s barn at SA this afternoon to catch Justify’s return from the TC. That van (I think it was Brookledge) had a huge wrap with TC Champion and Justify’s name on the sides (supposedly also had the silks of all the owners but didn’t see them). Lead pony off first then Justify. He looked like he’d just come in from turnout… nice bounce to his step. Had a LE escort from Ontario airport to SA.
I know many don’t like BB but I do appreciate BB’s effort to get his stars out for meet’n’greets although sounds like Justify needs to be watched a bit more than AP as Justify likes to bite. The 4 LE who did the escort got their photos take with Justify and BB 
BB will not say what Justify’s next race will be. He was asked yesterday during the Stephen Foster coverage on NBC and again today (indirectly) in Simon Brey’s TVG interview with BB.
Did mention Haskell was a possibility but still sounds like a solid decision is still a week or two away.
It was Bob Hubbard
Wrong again!!! Good thing you are not attacking trainers as a whole because you seem to lack a tremendous amount of knowledge, and what you don’t know, you make up!
I’ll volunteer - the horse can finish 123 frequently enough to earn enough money to pay it’s way. Or at least keeping the owner and trainer thinking they’ll cash a big bet next time out.
I asked twice if you were a trainer and you never denied it and indicated that you were in your other comments, so I assumed you were. You read a lot more into my comments than what was actually there, but I made nothing up. I have a lot of experience with retired racehorses and I based everything I said on actual experiences. If you can’t deal with the fact that the racing industry has a problem, then I can’t help you. The horses it has ruined can speak to that just fine all by themselves.
What is it with newish posters attacking people on the racing forum. Palm Beach takes in racehorses for rehab and I’m sure owns and has owned many that have retired from racing. That is what she said you are wrong about.
You are not the only person on this forum that gets OTTBs so quit acting like your special in this capacity.
With all due respect, your utter ignorance puts in you in a position where you are unable to “help” anything about the racing industry.
I’ll admit, I’ve tuned most of this argument out, mainly because it has stemmed from a place of naivety. But I’m becoming increasingly irritated at how those who aren’t in the know at all think they have all the answers. Issues in racing are far more complicated than that.
Horses race at two because of bone density. Bone remodeling responds to stress, and that stress is most needed when the horses’ bones are actively growing. There is no other discipline where the type of bone density required for flat racing is so imperative. Starting race horses later in life results in more catastrophic injuries, not less.
Even a horse like Justify, who didn’t race at two, still trained at two.
I’m sorry your “baby” Maya was in bad shape when you got her. But you can’t making sweeping claims about the industry based on your lone experience. Quite frankly, I’ve found most people who “rescue” thoroughbreds think they are in bad shape because they provide them with an absolutely atrocious standard of care and handling as compared to what they were used to on the track. They are really just “rescuing” them from themselves.
I do not think I am special to the OTTB industry and I am not trying to fix the racing industry myself. I’m calling for the trainers and owners to be more responsible, that’s all. Maya was not the one lone experience I have had, I just cited her as the most recent one. I am good friends and work with a lot of owners, trainers, and breeders in my area and actively take in retired racehorses and rehome them and have been for years. My standard of care is very high and I have a good equine vet who I have come out to see the horses right after I get them and he is more often than not horrified at the shape they are in. Just because I am seeing the industry from a different side than you are does not mean I am naive. And, I will say, I attacked no one in particular. I was attacked myself after I stated some of my experiences with the industry. This was a classic example of the dirt being swept under the rug. When it’s brought back out, these are the kinds of reactions you get.
Well said. I found this statement odd, “I am good friends and work with a lot of owners, trainers, and breeders in my area and actively take in retired racehorses and rehome them and have been for years. My standard of care is very high and I have a good equine vet who I have come out to see the horses right after I get them and he is more often than not horrified at the shape they are in.” With friends like that… Sounds like the problem is the friends. Why not edumacate them friends so the horses don’t get in horrific shape?
You are preaching to the choir. No one here advocates allowing the condition of a horse to progress to horrific.
There you go reading more into what I said then was there again! I never said those horses came from my friends. Why would I have friends like that? I also get horses from people that aren’t friends. I have only once taken a horse from a friend. Usually their horses I network out to someone else right away. The ones that I find that need major rehab are the ones that I take myself. And what exactly are you advocating? You hotly denied the stories I told from my own horses. You seem to be ignoring it if not advocating it.
Thanks! And duh… went back and looked at the photo to see Bob Hubbard’s name on the decal on the door (blush).
I often see Brookledge (labeled on the outside) vans traveling on I10 through the Phoenix area.
You, of course, are also actively working within the TB industry to actually reach the trainers and owners you would like to be more responsible to change existing behaviors?
I suspect the owners/trainers that I’ve seen here in COTH would already be in the “more responsible” category
