The Big Lie

If horseracing is a sport, then that word must be redefined, for the competitive racing of horses resembles no other accepted sport on the planet:

In what other sport are the bodies of adolescent athletes pounded into the ground – without remorse?

In what other sport are the athletes kept tightly confined and socially isolated for over 23 hours a day?

In what other sport are the athletes condemned to a life as (literal) chattel?

In what other sport are the athletes drugged and doped without consent?

In what other sport are the athletes whipped – beaten – for motivation?

In what other sport are the athletes routinely dying on the field of play – and after, having the rest of the day’s festivities continue?

In what other sport are most of the athletes brutally and violently destroyed once their careers have come to an end?

Horseracing a sport? If not for the gravity involved, it would be absurd. No, horseracing is but exploitation of a weaker species for among the most shameful of reasons – $2 bets. To those who sustain this sordid business, we say: Slake those gambling urges with decidedly inanimate slots and scratch-offs; leave the horses out of it. To those who trade in equines in the pursuit of cash and fleeting glory, we say: Find a commodity that doesn’t bleed; take up a hobby that can’t cry out in pain.

Enough.

– Patrick Battuello