2009.06.11
Petty: Save Virginia's horses
The race to save Virginia's thoroughbreds
Glenn Petty
Petty is the executive director of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association in Warrentown and the chairman of the Virginia Horse Industry Board.
Fans of the commonwealth's thoroughbred racing and breeding industry were disappointed Saturday when Virginia-bred Charitable Man finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes. While the 3-year-old colt ran a good race, coming up short in the final leg of this year's Triple Crown was disarmingly indicative of the path this traditional industry has been on over the past 10 years. This year's race provides yet another good opportunity to examine what is right and what is wrong with an industry that once produced Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
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In the midst of everything else the state of Virginia ( and every other state in the country) is facing....did I read this guy correctly in thinking he's advocating for more OTB outlets?
I love horses as much as anyone, but I can't imagine that the fate of the thoroughbred "industry" is paramount in most people's minds. Vinton has a nice OTB parlor but I'd like to know the opinion of Vintonites who live near it, and their feeling on what it's brought to their community.
Comment by Kristen — June 11, 2009 @ 8:16 am
It is hardly Virginia's horses that Mr. Petty is trying to save. Get real. If a horse just lives to run in a race, you wouldn't need to beat it with a crop to "make" it run faster. If you loved your horse, you would not subject it to this highly injurious and short lived spectacle for other people's amusement and monetary gain.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — June 11, 2009 @ 8:34 am
We have the va horse center her in Lexington As much as it can be fun to watch events i can't help but think how strange it is we will take horses across the country in trailers with showers and stalls to compete against each other for a few days. Beyond the issue of horses again, I'm greatly bothered by this use of energy and more capitalism 101 that says anything that makes money is good. I know folks love their horses but if we have to go across the world to get the oil to shuttle the horses around while fighting wars to defend oil rights we are in one big mess and bad karma will no doubt come of it.
Comment by Devan Malore — June 16, 2009 @ 11:09 pm