Comments on: 7 Things You Should Know About The Kentucky Derby

By: Nishantha

Nishantha — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:57:09 +0000

It,s nice to hear these 7 things. I am not interesting in Horse races. But after reading these seven things, I have an idea to come there with a horse from London.
………………
Nishantha

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:48:46 +0000

What?! No mention of the hats and Derby Pie?!
Great article anyway. I’ve watched the Kentucky Derby since I was eleven years old (on TV, of course) and it played a big part in the fact that I’m now an Animal Science/Agricultural Business major planning on becoming a manager in the Thoroughbred breeding industry.
I had the pleasure of visiting Coolmore Stud in Ireland a couple months ago. They’re the world’s largest Thoroughbred breeder. I saw many of their barns and horses, and let me tell you, I’d be happy to live like that.
Yes, there’s a dark side to the industry; Eight Belles was an unfortunate example of that (as was George Washington, and Barbaro, and Pine Island). But there are also plenty of horses starving to death (almost every week I see a new report of horses found starving and dying), being injured in their paddocks, and dying from things like colic that these horses won’t worry about. Many of the horsemen who work at the tracks treat these horses like they’re gold. They don’t bat an eye at spending the night walking a colicky horse or putting protective bandages on to make sure that the chance of injury is low.
I love horse racing. I would like to see some changes made, but that’s why I’m doing it professionally.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:08:19 +0000

I’ve worked the Derby three years now (as a one of those door holders/bracelet-checkers), and each year it gets more and more fun checking out the outrageous hats people try and pull off. :)

If any of you might be attending — tip those little people! Most of them are doing it for fundraising purposes anyway and don’t get a dime (Actually, some of the school groups have to give up their tips too, but I think that’s a little unfair).

By: caleb

caleb — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:05:46 +0000

Well Mr Williams did say he was sorry now, so everyone relax….maybe now he will change his mind about horse racing.

By: go west

go west — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:55:00 +0000

Laura says: “I’d compare horse racing to an Olympic champion running while an especially lightweight leprechaun hits them with a pencil.”

What a great mental image. Thanks for the laugh.

I am a native Kentuckian (now a West Coast transplant), and I would have to agree with others that Derby Pie is an essential part of Derby culture. I really want to like mint juleps, but I just can’t stomach bourbon.

Happy Derby!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:48:27 +0000

Just my two cents:

Read an article a while back on Barbaro, and on thoroughbred racing in general. Those horses aren’t bred to do anything but run. Anatomically, they aren’t shaped like normal horses, with thinner legs and more muscle. When choosing whether a horse will become a racehorse or just a breeding horse, they evaluate the horse’s personality. If it has that fire and wants to race, then it’s a racehorse.

And like many said, a lot of thoroughbreds, racers or not, get very well treated. It’s a shame that most of the time you only get to hear about the sad cases, where an animal is neglected. But, such is the case with all of the unfortunate dogs and cats that are mistreated every year. Mistreatment of horses is definitely the exception, not the rule.

By: wow

wow — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:39:55 +0000

Wow, article started out splendid,……reading comments…boy, if you are not a horse racing fan, you shouldn’t be leaving comments on the blog it ruins it for me and I am sure everyone else who is waiting for this splendid day!! If you have ever bred and raised these glorious animals you will know that this is “their” passion, to run, run like the wind…., and every tradition that surrounds this “holiday” is a tribute to these awesome animals!! Anyone who begs to differ should not be on this post! – gobabygo!

By: Jean

Jean — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:17:49 +0000

Wow Mr. Williams. If you want to talk about cruel treatment of horses, lets talk about the discontinuation of horse slaughter, which has resulted in many horses being starved because folks don’t have a means to sell or give away horses they can no longer care form, especially this past year when hay was scarce.

Those Thoroughbreds are very well cared for well. I have visited a couple of Thoroughbred farms, and felt like I needed to go buy new shoes to be allowed to walk in their barns so I didn’t get anything dirty. They are bred for and love to run. Having been around babies and ones in training, there is more challenge in training them to slow down enough to walk and trot than to run. Those metal “things” in their mouths are to help keep them safe and to slow them down. It sits behind their teeth and they usually don’t even know its their until that little “fly” on their back pulls on it and says “Whoa” or “turn here so you are safe”.

By the way, I am posting so late because I just spent four hours at a vet clinic making sure my horse (not a Thoroughbred) was receiving the proper care and possible surgery to keep her alive. We take her out to places and make her walk, trot and canter and let someone (a genius if they like her the best, and an idiot if they don’t) pick her out of a crowd. She LOVES to go to shows – gets excited when she gets a bath and her whiskers trimmed because she knows she gets to go somewhere to show off. Yes, she has a job to do to “earn her keep”, but the biggest part of that is suggling up to my daughter every time she comes near.

I CRACKED UP at the post referring to constantly checking to make sure Woodford Reserve is still better than Makers Mark. Thanks for the quality control!!!

Enjoy this event for what it is – an awesome opportunity for folks to watch some of the best athletes around compete.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:58:53 +0000

goodness they can’t take this. I’m not from the “Golden Triangle” so anytime you get to see Kentucky in a positive light is a good thing. I think the article could have been better, it just doesn’t talk about the festivities leading up to the race or that other races are going on throughout the day. Thanks for the article, go Colonel John!

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 03 May 2008 03:56:38 +0000

The derby is Kentucky’s time to shine. We haven’t had a very good basketball team in awhile so thank goodness they can’t take this. I’m not from the “Golden Triangle” so anytime you get to see Kentucky in a positive light is a good thing. I think the article could have been better, it just doesn’t talk about the festivities leading up to the race or that other races are going on throughout the day. Thanks for the article, go Colonel John!