But I don’t know when the bad news has ever been this bad. That observation is prompted by a story today in the “New York Times,” headed, “With New Casino, Funds For Tracks.”

When I saw the heading, I thought it would be more bad news for California, since the industry here is seriously threatened by the increases in purses in states with subsidies from slot-machine gambling. Since Southern California tracks compete with those in New York for the best horses, increases in purses there is bad news for tracks here.

But as I read on, the story took a turn in an even more threatening direction, reporting on a trend that carries the real possibility of the end of horse racing as we know it.

As you’ll see when you read the story, some of those Eastern tracks that have fattened purses with slot-machine money are in danger of losing it, and some that had hoped for that money aren’t going to get it.

Just about every state is in deep financial trouble, none as deep as California. One of the places states are already looking for financial help is subsidies for racetracks. With fewer and fewer people interested in horse racing, subsidies for tracks and breeders would generate very little support among the general public, if the general public knew about them.

(Teacher layoffs or help for Thoroughbred tracks, owners and breeders? Not a tough choice.)

California’s Thoroughbred industry is fortunate to have significant support in the state’s Legislature, but I doubt that that support runs so deep that it could withstand a serious attack. The industry’s main argument — in fact, probably its only argument — in favor of those subsidies is that it provides thousands and thousands of jobs.

With no slot machines in California, the state’s tracks don’t get significant subsidies (in fact, I can’t think of any), but the state could reimpose a tax on handle, which used to amount to millions of dollars and whose removal was a major victory for the state’s industry.

Most vulnerable, probably, is the state’s incentive awards fund, which might be hard to defend if somebody in the Legislature (or a governor) decided to go after those millions — especially since it would be pretty hard to prove that it’s doing much good.

Taking away slot-machine subsidies very well would kill thousands of jobs, but that’s what the “Times” story tells us is happening in those Eastern states. Desperation is the enemy of wisdom.

I guess that if Eastern tracks go under, it will free up some horses to come to California, though they wouldn’t be top-of-the-line. If New Mexico and Louisiana cut tracks out of slot subsidies, that would help more.

Gee, maybe we can find some good news here, after all, if we look hard enough.

It’s time we put to use technology, currently available, to identify the source of virtually all catastrophic breakdowns—the bone.

I would like to see the CHRB initiate a pilot program using the latest technology to scan horses after entry and prior to racing for bone structural soundness. If a horse shows a bone micro fracture level above a healthy standard, the horse is scratched and placed on a vets list until he scans normal.

Additionally, let’s order all track vets to disclose to the stewards any bone or soft tissue injury that could potentially compromise any horse’s ability to complete a race sound of limb if entered.

Let’s see how many in a controlled study along with vet disclosure experience a catastrophic breakdown in a race over a period of time.

You know I do this once in a while, but what I just read about Burna Dette should not surprise anyone. As you already know, there are owners and trainers who knowingly do this sort of thing: get rid of horses that are totally useless by putting them where they can rid themselves of a problem as fast as possible. In this case, it was more than obvious that they knew that she had a major problem and were hoping that she would at least finish the race on all four; as we know, she did not.

It is truly sad that we do not have enough eyes to see what was happening before this tragic event. When she was entered, someone in the racing office should have noticed the circumstances involving this horse (everything that you laid out so well), should have rung a bell. Her entry should have been voided and the track vet should have looked into the reasons for her being there and dropped so suddenly and no works.

How asleep at the wheel does the racing industry have to be? If we cannot see this kind of thing, how can we expect the public to keep accepting us on these terms?

On a day that symbolizes all that is America we find a story of a sport, so relevant to our history, on life support in California because of a Governor and legislature totally unconcerned over its demise.

Horse racing in America is “mom” and “apple pie.” And like any endangered species, if we lose it, we lose a part of American culture that helped define us as a nation.

Repeal the “Indian Gaming” stranglehold in California and allow a great sporting tradition to compete on a level playing field.

Suffice to say that Stronach and his bunch should be slapped with a fine and suspended for conduct detrimental to racing.

Santa Anita, being the place I received my first racing license in 1969, is a treasure. I would hate to see it go under, but perhaps it is time to think about letting it go and refusing to issue any racing dates to current management.

Los Al has always expressed interest in a major Thoroughbred meet; the TOC looked on the verge of being ready to take over Santa Anita before the courts put Stronach back in charge. It certainly wouldn’t be easy, not the stabling and training facilities we now have, but in the big picture might be worth considering if there are no legal obstacles to deal with. There probably are, there always is, but with his attitude towards the good of racing we might have to be making these moves in a few years anyway.

It’s not, in my opinion, worth putting up with this petulant stand he is taking. At a time we should all be pulling together, he is trying to put the final nail in.

While obviously a pretty shrewd businessman, he did after all buy a bunch of tracks, run up huge debt, get it reduced to a minimal amount and regain control of the properties that make a profit. So.....how can he not see that the real problem is regaining the owners and by doing that we have to get more money in their pockets first, not his. If we can build up the owner ranks, we will have fuller fields generating bigger handles and a more exciting venue for the public which will then put more money in his pockets. Geez.

The 2nd place prize: 4 box seat tickets to Santa Anita, $100, valet parking, and lots of goodies from the Santa Anita gift shop (including their 75th anniversary book, which is a terrific read down through the decades). A special thank you goes out to Lisa’s husband Rudi, who did all the running around to get the gifts and parking pass, and who I hope didn’t have to cut short his tennis weekend to hand the gifts to me.

The contest was a lot of fun, satisfied my competitive nature, and had the added bonus of really super prizes. I’m looking forward to entering the contest again this year.

Thanks again so much.

[Editor’s Note: You’re welcome, Sue! Congratulations again. We will announce our 2010 contest within the next few weeks. Stay tuned for details! — Lisa]

With that being the case I was stunned when I became personally involved with 6 horses who have been turned out in the last 9 months. The first, a filly that I bred, was given to me last June, dead lame with no diagnosis after x-rays and she was claimed to be body sore, and she did indeed walk like a horse that hurt all over. I took her to a friend’s farm and confined her to a 12 by 24 stall and paddock. Within 2 weeks fever lines appeared on both fronts and when we pulled the shoes she could hardly walk. This lasted for a total of 3 months.

Over the next few months I took 4 more out for a client. The same thing happened to 3 of them.

Last November I was given another, a 2-year-old filly that had also been diagnosed as sore behind. She was the worst case. Stumbled when she walked with one foot much worse than the other. So bad in fact that you could put pressure on the sole with your thumb and it would give. I took her up to Davis and had x-rays taken expecting to find interior damage but the only findings were she had extremely thin soles. This is a dark brown filly with dark feet, no white on the legs and one would assume from looking at the outside which has a good healthy looking thick wall that she had healthy feet and yet her soles had become paper thin.

The only one that didn’t have the foot problems after going to the farm had been stabled at Pleasanton. Since then I have been talking to a few farm managers when I go in and out and they say they have had many similar experiences and a lot of them abscess shortly after arriving. Personally, I don't think it’s a coincidence that of the 6 I took to my friends, the 5 that came from GGF had horrible foot issues and the Pleasanton horse had no foot problems.

I am pretty confident that if all the horses had been x-rayed, they would have had the same findings, thin soles. I’ve had horses all my life and having a horse get tender after the shoes are pulled is not a rarity but this is totally different. Deep fever lines, thin soft soles and crippled for over 3 months before they start to improve.

I’m not educated enough to know what could be causing this, perhaps the surface has too much give and that softens the foot or perhaps a lack of concussion is responsible for the thin soles, maybe they need a little concussion to toughen them up. All I do know, after 23 years of training, is a horse will darn sure get sore behind when they are trying to get off the front end and as sore as these horses I observed were, there is no doubt in my mind that their hind end problems were most likely caused by their feet. One can only wonder as time passes how many more issues will come to light.

I do think as the battle wages on that the studies being done on the effects of the surface should be extended to following the injured horses for a period of time, say 3 months, to see if any unusual problems present after being turned out.

I had a spirited debate with the vet at Davis who was involved in the studies that show less concussion with the surface. I couldn’t get her to understand that while the long bones might be a little more protected on it, the no slide mechanics of the surface is tearing everything else up. The horse is running, the foot hits and plants with no slide or give and the body propels at 30 plus miles an hour while the foot is stuck in the track. No wonder we have all these terrible new issues. One only had to be at GGF last Sunday where 4 horses broke down between morning training and the 4th race. There was actually a fifth one but he wasn’t hauled off, he got back to the barn before they found he had fractured his hind sesamoids.

Since we seem to be stuck with these tracks, we had better figure out how to fix them quickly. Shoot, they might be better if we just put dirt on top, good drainage so they wouldn’t need the sand and a forgiving bottom. Too bad it wouldn’t work but maybe the engineers can figure out how to put dirt on top of something like the synthetic but that wouldn’t allow the dirt to filter through, that would allow a drain system to stay in place. That might be the perfect track. Hopefully they are already working on it.

Anyway, as the winner of the Don Engel Freshman Sire Contest I wanted to thank all those that made it possible. Thanks to Lisa from TIA, those from Del Mar, and to Don for starting the contest in the first place. Don, two out of the last three years isn’t too bad for an old retired Quarter Horse breeder, huh?

I definitely will plan to go to Del Mar this coming summer. I haven’t been there since I managed
San Luis Rey Downs. Actually, I just sold my last QH mare and she was a granddaughter of
Storm Cat.