Larry Jones “Eight Belles” Trainer Defends Horse Fatality Statistics
Written by Vegetarian Star on June 29th, 2010 in Animal Issues, Research + Science.
Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones is defending statistics found in a study on thoroughbred fatalities at North American tracks, stating the injuries are what is to be expected in athletic situations and will happen, regardless of the racing track surface.
A year long study released by the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit in Lexington, Kentucky shows there were 2.14 deaths on dirt tracks per 1,000 starts, while both synthetic and turf tracks each had 1.78 fatalities.
“What so many people don’t want to understand is that a lot of our injuries are from them being athletes in general,” Jones told Reuters.
“If we had swimming races for horses, somehow a certain number of them would be getting hurt. Look at how many humans get hurt at track and field and that’s a no-contact sport.”
Jones had been the target of animal rights activists several years ago after his horse Eight Belles collapsed on the track on national television. Just two years earlier, another Kentucky Derby champion, Barbaro, was injured on the track and had to be euthanized.
But Jones insists opponents of horse racing simply didn’t “know what they were talking about” if they weren’t involved with the “sport.”
“I don’t mean anything cruel to them but it would be like me trying to tell NASCAR what do do because I’ve watched a car race or two, you know?”
Photo: Jared Campbell/Creative Commons
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June 30th, 2010 at 12:30 am
Yeah it’s just like any other athlete’s injuries….Oh except, other athletes have the choice to race or swim, they can have their own homes and family life and no one euthanizes them once they can’t compete anymore.
But otherwise, it’s the same. lol