The Jockey Club, the leading sanctioning body in what’s left of the sport of horse racing in the U.S., sent out a clear message Wednesday to anybody thinking of naming their horse after Hitler: Don’t name your horse after Hitler.
The two-year-old colt Austrian Painter made his racing debut Monday with a win in the third race at Horseshoe Indianapolis Racecourse. Obligatory: He covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.97, and paid $9.00. Afterward, the Jockey Club received objections about the victorious newcomer, but these weren’t the standard post-race protests about a jockey’s obstructing or dangerous ride or a horse’s drug abuse. No, these complaints were about the horse’s name. Because, as reported by ESPN in its Austrian Painter story, “Hitler was born in Austria and was an artist.”
In the state of California, the handles and starts are down over 55% in the last 26 years with an average of -3.4% YOY. The industry also kills an average of 1.5 horses per week for the last 6 years, just at the tracks in California alone.
I’m intentionally leaving out the 2019 fatalities, as that year would push the average above 2.25 horses dead per week, and was a bit of an outlier.
Basically, the industry is dying, and the tracks are more valuable as developable land.
#KillRacingNotHorses
Damn… really?
Thank you for explaining, in any case.