As the daughter of two people who adored horses but did not own them, I loved horses growing up and I knew about Man O' War, War Admiral, Seabiscuit (before the movie), and Tom Fool.
I knew what the Triple Crown was and each year I followed the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont. I read books that were romantic sports fantasies about racing, the nobility of the horse, and the will to win.
Yet eventually, the numbers caught up with me. First, I worked for a man who went to the races, knew nothing about horses, belittled the jockeys as athletes, and didn't particularly like horses. Horse racing was no different to him than gambling in Vegas. Living at home and not paying rent (he was in this 30s at the time), he could easily drop a few hundred.
The other numbers would be how many horses a stable needed to race each year and turn a profit? And if the prime racing years are 3 to 5 years of age, and horses live into their 20s, what happens to the has-beens and never were? I already knew what happened to the greyhounds that didn't make the grade at the track in Tijuana. If rescue organizations couldn't save and finds homes for all of the dogs raced in Mexico and the U.S., why would one think we could save all the horses who had been bred to race and never ran; ran but didn't place; placed but couldn't bring stud fees; or raced and were no longer wanted?
There was also that questionable decision to race Majestic Prince who had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 1969. He was initially withdrawn due to injury and then despite the objections of his trainer, Johnny Longden, he was re-entered. He never raced again although he finished second.
He retired to a stud farm.
A recent New York Times article noted that in the past five years, 3,035 racing horses have died at racing facilities. This isn't limited to thoroughbreds, but also includes standardbreds and quarter horses.
The statistics, part of a hearing about "Breeding, Drugs and Breakdowns: The State of Thoroughbred Racine and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse" given before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, are not complete. An Associated Press report noted the figures they used were drawn from open records inquiries sent to organizations governing the sport in 29 states.
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