COLUMNISTS : Bloodline lust
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
Of all the post-race blather about the death of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby, the most insightful story and comment appeared the day before the race. And it should be read by anyone connected to thoroughbred racing—not to mention all the suddenly expert sportswriters and gum-flappers on radio and TV who wouldn’t know a blinker from a bit. The author and prophet was Jon Weinbach of the Wall Street Journal and the headline above his story on Derby Eve told the horror tale to come Racing’s Royal Bloodline Most racehorses today descend from a stallion named Native Dancer. Has the sport become too reliant on one set of genes ? The next day, Eight Belles seemed to answer that question. Sadly, yes. A descendant of, indeed, Native Dancer, the filly gamely finished second while competing against 19 colts in the world’s most famous horse race. She then collapsed not long after crossing the finish line. Having shattered both front ankles, she was put down on the track. All this on national TV. Naturally, shock, dismay, sadness, outrage and hysteria promptly ensued.
Turns out that Eight Belles was the progeny of Native Dancer on both the sire (daddy ) and dam (mama ) side. She had more Native Dancer in her blood than most of the 20 horses entered in the Derby—two grandsires and one granddam were Native Dancer descendents. But, as Weinbach points out, every starter in the race descended from Native Dancer. A real worry is that some were in-bred, having relatives through both parents. The blood’s gotten thinner than happy-hour gin.
That ain’t healthy.
To quote Weinbach: “Like hemophilia in the Russian royal family, Native Dancer’s line has a tragic flaw. Thanks in part to heavily muscled legs and a violent, herky-jerky running style, Native Dancer and his descendants have had trouble with their feet. Injuries have cut short the careers of several of his most famous kin, most notably Barbaro, a great-great-great-grandson who was injured during the Preakness Stakes and was later put to death.” Eight Belles’ sire, Unbridled’s Song, also a Native Dancer descendent, was the favorite in the 1996 Kentucky Derby, but his bad feet cost him. He finished fifth and didn’t run much after the Derby. He’s now considered a highly successful stallion.
But, heck, just about any horse with Native Dancer’s blood coursing through him is a success at stud. Of the last 13, now 14, winners of the Kentucky Derby, all have been descendants of Native Dancer.
To heck with tragically flawed bloodlines and thinning lineage, that kind of genetic magic doesn’t go unnoticed. Not with purses regularly topping $ 1 million for prestigious races and service fees to top stallions in the six figures. (Unbridled’s Song has a fee of $ 150, 000 and is the sire of more than 200 foals. )
“What no one expected,” writes Weinbach, “was the amount of money that has poured into racing over the past 15 years. There are few owners like [Alfred ] Vanderbilt today—wealthy horse enthusiasts who breed and race their own prospects. The most influential figures are billionaire sheiks from Dubai and large partnership groups who buy horses with ‘classic’ bloodlines or established track records. One 2-year-old colt sold in 2006 for $ 16 million. Last September, the average price for a 1-year-old horse at the Keeneland sale, one of racing’s biggest, was $ 101, 347, up 41 percent from 2002. Now that the upfront investment is so large, many top breeders prefer to lean on the most reliable pedigree combinations to make sure the horses earn some return on the track.” Before promptly going to stud in order to make the really big money for their owners—and continue the sport’s suicidal cycle.
The result is a kind of greedy bloodlust that has ruined too many horses like Eight Belles and cost the sport even more fans. (There aren’t many of us left. )
Time was, horses ran often enough and long enough to develop a fan base. Just like any other star athlete. You’ve heard of Seabiscuit ? He ran 89 times before retiring at 7. Citation, a Triple Crown winner in 1948, ran 45 times through age 6. Seattle Slew and Affirmed, the last two Triple Crown winners, ran as 4-year-olds. Affirmed and his storied rival, Alydar, dueled in 10 races. The champion Spectacular Bid won 9 straight races at 4, after capturing the Derby and Preakness the year before. When the incomparable Secretariat was retired to stud at 3, it was news. Back then, racehorses raced.
As for soundness and durability, it hasn’t been that long since the norm was for horses to run once or even twice a week. Even the better-grade of thoroughbred was expected on the track regularly. In 1 1982, Conquistador Cielo won the 1 / 2-mile Belmont Stakes just five days after he beat older horses in the Metropolitan Mile. Try that now, and they’d arrest his trainer for animal abuse. This year’s Derby champ, Big Brown, has run a grand total of four times. Fans don’t get to know these horses. And when they’re just starting to, as in the case of Smarty Jones, the stars are retired to a lucrative career at stud. Smarty was on the national scene for all of five weeks, Derby to Belmont. If the current pattern holds, and he holds up, Big Brown will be retired later this year—and largely forgotten the next. Cold, hard of it is, if not for bad news like the breakdowns of Eight Belles and Barbaro, horse racing wouldn’t make much news at all. Or much of a dent in the public’s consciousness. At times like these, I’m often asked why I’m a fan of thoroughbred racing, and I find myself increasingly reaching to the past for examples of its charm. But if anything comes from the death of Eight Belles besides the usual hysterics from the likes of PETA, it should be that the industry finally deals with its biggest problem. Just follow the blood money. —––––– • –––––—Kane Webb is a Perspective feature writer and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at kwebb@arkansasonline. com.
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