Barbaro and the Mighty Buck

It’s easy to look at a racehorse and see grace, dignity and athleticism. But those traits are in short supply when it comes to the horseracing industry.

The devastating injury at the Preakness to Kentucky Derby winner and race favorite Barbaro cast new light on a world that has always been, at bottom, seedy.

While Triple Crown venues feature wealthy horse-owners and dandy wannabes dressed in tuxedos and fancy hats, the racing world is really just another facet of the gaming industry. Indeed, there are few places in America more disgusting and depressing than an OTB (off track betting) outlet. Welcome to the daily business of racing.

On most nights, horse tracks and their betting outlets serve as grubby, low-rent destinations for degenerate gamblers, desperate down-and-outers and fraternity brothers on slumming road trips. And on any given week across the nation, thousands of horses race, many of whom are neither loved nor cared for the way Barbaro seems to be.

Horses are a business. They don't freely decide to join with human companions to win glory against others. Sure, they live to run, but they don't live to push themselves to the limits of their endurance or structural integrity. And as racehorses are selectively bred for greater speed and strength, breakdowns like the one Barbaro suffered are becoming commonplace.

As such, horseracing is yet another disgusting example of people using animals to try to make a buck. I would never stop anyone from racing horses. I would simply state that horseracing is a disgusting, disgraceful enterprise that should be shunned.

I have no respect for the wealthy egomaniacs who push their little corporate jets and Bentleys and horsies around the world to prop up their social status, nor do I have any interest in joining the swilling, drunken hoards stuffing themselves into centerfields to pretend to care about nationally televised races while they try to hook up or throw up. I can hang with that crowd on any given Spring weekend in Daytona or Cancun.

A pig wearing Christian Dior is still a pig. And while I’m happy to say a prayer for Barbaro, I refuse to see horseracing and breeding as anything but using animals for greed and status. There is nothing dignified or noble about it.