Race horses must remain in top physical condition
Published Thursday August 28th, 2008
But do people think of horse racing as a sport?
Bob is out running before the morning dew has cleared. He goes four miles most days. Sometimes his ankles act up and he can't make it out, or sometimes he can't run because it's too close to race day. But Bob's Birthday, Jimmy Smith's racehorse, is a top athlete.
"You've gotta have good athletes," said Smith, an 80-year-old trainer based out of the Fredericton Raceway. You've gotta be in top physical condition." But horses, as athletes, are often sold short. They train almost everyday, they're drug tested, they get sport-related injuries, and they face serious dangers on the track.
Todd Trites is the number one harness racing driver in the Maritimes.
"The horses are amazing equine athletes. I'd compare them to anything." Trites said very few people are able to push themselves as hard as horses.
"Maybe marathon runners, you could put them in the same league." But he's noticed many people don't put horse racing in the same league as hockey or basketball.
"I think it's kind of old school. But I think because there's gambling involved in it, it might not be considered a sport. A lot of people, when they think of their top 10 sports, horse racing wouldn't make it on to many people's lists."
Profiles on baseball players, editorials on football teams and detailed run downs of high school hockey games are common sights in the sports pages. But a mention of horse racing is a rare find. Scores are published in the newspapers on race days. However, mentions of an up and coming horse, or breakdowns of what drivers are racing the best are almost non-exsitent in the Maritimes.
Kris McDavid is a former sports writer with the Aquinian, St. Thomas University's newspaper. He's a sports nut who knows all about hockey, basketball, football and even Formula One, but has little interest in harness racing. He thinks it's a sport more for die-hard fans than Joe public.
"I just think sports like baseball, football, hockey, basketball, tend to appeal more to the masses than say horse racing would," he says. " With the sport of horse racing you're either a horse person or you're not. And there are a lot of horse people, but they don't make up the majority." Trites disagrees. He thinks horse racing should have a place in the hearts of average sportsfans.
"It's got everything that sports have, right? It's got competition, action, speed, danger. It's action-packed. For two minutes it's amazing, the things that take place in a race."
Doris McMinniman, an 80-year-old harness-racing fan, agrees with Trites.
"(The track's future) seemed very doubtful last summer, but the crowds have been better this summer," she says. "You used to always see the same faces, but now you see a lot of new faces."
McMinniman figures she's only missed four races in the 57 years she's been going to the Fredericton Raceway. She says that now, more than ever, young people are taking an interest in the races. But at the same time, she recognizes there are a few problems. For one thing, drivers don't often get the credit they deserve.
"Them drivers, that's a dangerous job. You take seven or eight horses in a race and then four horses coming behind you," she says. "You've gotta make a decision what to do, you've gotta make it quick. No, I think a lot of people don't really understand horse racing." McDavid acknowledges that horses are top athletes, but said harness racing drivers are in the same league as Formula One or NASCAR racers.
"The doubt is always up in the air," says McDavid. "Auto-racers - are they athletes or not athletes? Jockeys are they athletes or not athletes? (Horse and auto-racing) are sports. But I think they cater to a certain demographic and they do it very well. And I think they'll always be around." Trites agrees that horse racing is here to stay. But he said there's more athleticism and danger in racing than most people would think. He said it takes a lot of strength and endurance to hold the reins of an animal who doesn't always go where you want. He said one slip up can be disastrous.
"It comes down to physics. You're going 30 miles an hour and they weigh 1,000 pounds. I went down in Fredericton not to long ago, and had a guy right behind me go over top of me. We drive inches apart with animals that are unpredictable." Trites figures he's crashed 15 to 20 times. He's broken is vertebrae and had lots of sprains. For every crash he says he's had 1,000 close calls.
Smith also knows the danger and athleticism of horse racing. He has broken his leg and his ankle, and he says he retired to work behind the scenes for a reason.
"If something happens, then you have to hope and pray you keep (the horse) on its feet and you don't hit the dust.
"I don't race anymore. Because I'm on the old side and if I get hurt I take a long time to heal up." The excitement, the atmosphere and the athleticism are big draws. But people like McDavid still aren't interested. Trites said if they get to the track once, they will be back again.
"I think if people get out, and they go to the races, and they get to see the horses up close...it's kind of like field of drams. Build it and they will come."
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