New York Times Presents: Broken Horses

[Squeaky]

9 pm Friday on FX https://x.com/kathrynpapp/status/178220 ... 07854?s=46

[Eohippus]

This is going to be a hard watch, but I plan on watching it. Nothing honestly sounds new to me, but I am intrigued by the Sun Times reporting that the doc doesn’t rely on sensationalism (there’s a reason I am unimpressed with “documentaries” as of late).

I don’t see it affecting the industry that much, but it might change attitudes, as any dolphin trainer how people view them after Blacfish came out

[Tessablue]

This is going to be a hard watch, but I plan on watching it. Nothing honestly sounds new to me, but I am intrigued by the Sun Times reporting that the doc doesn’t rely on sensationalism (there’s a reason I am unimpressed with “documentaries” as of late).

I don’t see it affecting the industry that much, but it might change attitudes, as any dolphin trainer how people view them after Blacfish came out

Don't even get me started on Blackfish. It is utterly despised by the aquarium/ marine veterinary world, and even the people who were interviewed for it were outraged by the final product and claimed that their statements were heavily edited. SeaWorld and orca husbandry are not popular within the aquarium community, but Blackfish did a lot of damage to genuine conservation efforts, and nobody involved seemed to particularly care.

So I hope this isn't the equivalent of Blackfish! I would really love a balanced look at the issue, but I'm frankly too much of a chicken to watch. Have barely been able to tolerate live racing since the Test and King's Bishop last year, but if anyone finds a summary afterwards, I would really appreciate reading it. Tracks and racing vets have finally started to accept that zero or near-zero breakdowns is a feasible goal, they are finally starting to make moves towards achieving that goal, and I would love to see it reflected in this work.

(and not to drag drama from other threads into here, but it it's interesting to read that Baffert is a central figure in the documentary- lends credence to the notion that racing brands have been damaged by him. I wonder if it will delve into Havnameltdown's necropsy at all.)

[Katewerk]

'tis the season.

Business Insider just published an article on sexual abuse in the world of AKC dog shows, because Westminster.

[Squeaky]

'tis the season.

Business Insider just published an article on sexual abuse in the world of AKC dog shows, because Westminster.

Do you have the link- interested to read since I have been in that world a bit too, Thanks!

[Katewerk]

'tis the season.

Business Insider just published an article on sexual abuse in the world of AKC dog shows, because Westminster.

Do you have the link- interested to read since I have been in that world a bit too, Thanks!

Some of it's pretty ugly.

https://www.businessinsider.com/america ... 024-4?op=1

[MissNMecke]

'tis the season.

Business Insider just published an article on sexual abuse in the world of AKC dog shows, because Westminster.

......ummmm, of the handlers or of the dogs? Because those are two very different levels of ewww.......

[Squeaky]

Does anyone know why the FBI and 5 Stones has not followed up on their investigations into doping? It was a good start but we need more of these unannounced raids like the one at Parx and wiretaps to catch more of the “ thugs and drugs”. It can’t be a one and done.

[Squeaky]

And I still can’t for the life of me understand how Havnameltdown could have major bone cysts/ bone bruising in every ankle, roundworms ( virtually unheard of in adult horses, foals and young horses should have been dewormed way before to get rid of them), severe ulcers etc with out anyone knowing about it. Where are his vet and the regulatory vets? Why was he allowed to run when the vets noted unsoundness during pre-race exams? I know this is ancient history, but watching this dredged up the bad memories and frustration again for me. Vets are supposed to diagnosed and make treatment decisions, not act as order takers for cheating trainers. It seems Baffert’s lack of veterinary knowledge is appalling. The whole vet-trainer culture has got to change. End of rant.

[Curtis]

Does anyone know why the FBI and 5 Stones has not followed up on their investigations into doping? It was a good start but we need more of these unannounced raids like the one at Parx and wiretaps to catch more of the “ thugs and drugs”. It can’t be a one and done.

Did anyone ever think the FBI cared about equine welfare? For those hard of hearing in the back, that was rhetorical.

[Curtis]

And I still can’t for the life of me understand how Havnameltdown could have major bone cysts/ bone bruising in every ankle, roundworms ( virtually unheard of in adult horses, foals and young horses should have been dewormed way before to get rid of them), severe ulcers etc with out anyone knowing about it. Where are his vet and the regulatory vets? Why was he allowed to run when the vets noted unsoundness during pre-race exams? I know this is ancient history, but watching this dredged up the bad memories and frustration again for me. Vets are supposed to diagnosed and make treatment decisions, not act as order takers for cheating trainers. It seems Baffert’s lack of veterinary knowledge is appalling. The whole vet-trainer culture has got to change. End of rant.

The only thing about the necropsy that surprised me was the roundworms. That’s neglect pure and simple. The rest, by his trainer’s definition, means he wasn’t a “Good one”.

[brunanas]

will it be released anywhere other than FX and Hulu? none of them are available here

[Tessablue]

Didn't watch it, but I've seen a decent number of people saying that it was better and more balanced than they expected, which is good. It's an emotional issue, but one which has to be tackled in a fact-based way. Also pleasantly surprised to hear that Havnameltdown's necropsy was discussed directly; I don't think it was ever publicly released or mentioned in the racing media, but better late than never. Did the documentary mention that he received betamethasone a month before the Preakness (per https://paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/ ... amethasone)? It all just paints such an awful picture.

Does anyone know why the FBI and 5 Stones has not followed up on their investigations into doping? It was a good start but we need more of these unannounced raids like the one at Parx and wiretaps to catch more of the “ thugs and drugs”. It can’t be a one and done.

The FBI works very very slowly, but I suspect they are still investigating. The Servis and Navarro indictments mentioned "other persons know and unknown" who were part of the doping scheme across the country. Can't hold my breath, but fingers crossed that there are more consequences some day.

As for 5 Stones, that was the Jockey Club investigation, right? I recall reading somewhere that they dropped it because American Pharoah won the TC and they didn't want to torpedo it, but I'd have to look for the source on that.

And I still can’t for the life of me understand how Havnameltdown could have major bone cysts/ bone bruising in every ankle, roundworms ( virtually unheard of in adult horses, foals and young horses should have been dewormed way before to get rid of them), severe ulcers etc with out anyone knowing about it. Where are his vet and the regulatory vets? Why was he allowed to run when the vets noted unsoundness during pre-race exams? I know this is ancient history, but watching this dredged up the bad memories and frustration again for me. Vets are supposed to diagnosed and make treatment decisions, not act as order takers for cheating trainers. It seems Baffert’s lack of veterinary knowledge is appalling. The whole vet-trainer culture has got to change. End of rant.

Agreed, and I really wonder if private vets in general need to be phased out, but it's not a world I'm particularly keyed into. I know you've worked with backstretch vets- do you think it would be feasible to mandate that all veterinary work goes through track-regulated vets, or would that end up as more of the same?

[sweettalk]

will it be released anywhere other than FX and Hulu? none of them are available here

any chance you have Disney+? they have a lot of what Hulu does in countries that don't have Hulu, maybe it's there?

[brunanas]

will it be released anywhere other than FX and Hulu? none of them are available here

any chance you have Disney+? they have a lot of what Hulu does in countries that don't have Hulu, maybe it's there?

i do and have Star+ too which streams from ESPN and Fox so i'm hoping they'll make it available. it's not there nor Disney atm though. a website said Apple TV so i might try to just get a free trial to check if it's there!