HBO's "Real Sports" Investigates Racehorses Sold for Slaughter Issues Tonight

"Real Sports" host Bryant Gumbel headlines HBO's sports newsmagazine format show at 10 p.m. EDT. On the schedule: an investigative segment on the fate of US racehorses in the hands of the slaughter-for-meat industry.

HBO has not disclosed many details about tonight's segment but the press release tells us that the segment is called "Hidden Horses" and describes it this way: "Few casual horse racing fans are aware that many former racing horses are slaughtered for profit. When a thoroughbred race horse reaches the end of its career or is simply no longer profitable on the track, it is often taken directly to auction and sold for meat. Because horse slaughter is no longer practiced in this country, these thoroughbreds are now being shipped by 'killer buyers' to slaughterhouses abroad, which are frequently less regulated and less humane than former U.S. slaughterhouses."

I'll be watching, how about you?

Water, water, everywhere? Not at Saratoga!

New environmental laws in New York state are mandating changes in the way that horses are bathed--at public facilities, anyway. Until recently, horses at racetracks were bathed and had their legs hosed for a good part of each morning. The resulting runoff made the backside of the flat track look like the land of 10,000 puddles.

And when a car went by, your designer shoes just might get splashed, to say nothing of your fabulous hat. (Mine would be splashed too if I wore designer shoes or fabulous hats. Maybe next year.)

The puddles were a nuisance but hoses and horses are synonymous at the racetrack and the same was true across the street at the harness track and probably down at the polo stables too.

The Saratogian has a story about how puddle-free the backstretch will become in the next few years, thanks to a new law in New York that requires limitations on agricultural runoff water. Twelve new washracks at the harness track and six new racks at the flat track will test a new surface called Flexi-Pave, which is a porous "paver" surface that acts like a big sponge and sends water down into a drainage bed beneath the surface instead of letting it puddle on the surface.

If the racks live up to their billing and the horsemen approve, more racks will be installed next year.

Flexi-Pave sounds like it is a distant cousin to Polytrack. The manufacturer grinds up old car tires and pounds the pulp into paving; it takes about eight tires to make a square foot of wash rack surface, or 768 tires for each 12x8 pad, if I did the math correctly.

So far, I haven't been able to find the new wash racks; everyone is creating puddles as per usual at most of the barns. I will take some photos and add them to this post as soon as I find them!

If trainers continue to be enamored with the "hot" new cold therapy products like Game Ready and the MacKinnon Ice Boot, Saratoga may become a hose-free zone and need some agricultural laws about dust control in a few years.

The Health of the Horse World: Sheikh Buys Saratoga Springs (NY) Landmark

Darley Stable, owned by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, has purchased the 106-acre landmark training farm known as Stonerside Stable, a stone's thrown from the stabling area of 150-year-old Saratoga Racecourse. In the opposite direction, the farm is near Saratoga's new "racino" gambling palace at the harness track. Stonerside literally straddles the two worlds of horseracing, past and (what some believe to be) future.

Stonerside, known as Greentree when it was owned by the fabled Whitney racing family, is an expanse of green along Nelson Avenue. The farm's old stables have been preserved and the farm is nestled among tall, old trees. A one-mile private training track dominates the property.

It's too early to tell what changes Darley might make to the property or if restrictions may be in place to prevent changes to the scenic spot. Or if they will change the name.

The commitment of a farm like Darley to the brief racing season at Saratoga is an indicator of the appeal of the town and its racing culture. As far as I know, Darley currently does not breed mares or raise any foals for New York's in-state breeding program but the planting of an internationl racing corporation's flag in the soil of a new state has to be seen as good news for the local economy and the future of summer racing at Saratoga.

Darley's homebred Bernardini won the Jim Dandy and Travers, two of Saratoga's richest stakes races, in 2006.

"We noticed that the horses seemed to thrive mentally and physically up there," said Jim Bell, Darley's president of American operations, in yesterday's Saratogian newspaper. "It's just a tremendous training facility. That was the driving force behind the purchase. Our investment has truly been for the horses."

Who wouldn't thrive at Stonerside? I have been fortunate to stroll its grounds many times in my Saratoga adventures. I have always called this place "Horse Heaven on Earth." If the essence of the farm could be bottled, it would be a top-selling supplement. And I'd buy some for myself.

To read an excellent article about Darley's acquisition of Stonerside, read Sunday's Saratogian summary of the transaction.

A note about Darley: Education plays an interesting role at Darley, which operates an innovative Thoroughbred industry education program called "Darley Flying Start."

Once accepted, a group of 20 or so adult students spend two years touring the world of racing--Australia, Kentucky, Newmarket (UK), Dubai, etc.--while completing formal courses and work-study internships in various areas of breeding, farm management and racing, with a large emphasis on horse health and management. Perhaps Stonerside in Saratoga will become a stop on this top-class educational circuit.

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