Horse owners won't risk their investment

Wayne Masters uninformed rant (May 7) about the Kentucky Derby demands a reply.

To say that a 3-year-old Thoroughbred is not ready to race that distance is absurd. Organized racing has been in existence for hundreds of years, and 3-year-olds have been running these distances during that time with a microscopically small percentage of catastrophic breakdowns. Moreover, equine medicine has advanced to the degree that many lives that would once have been lost can now be saved.

There are legitimate concerns in racing that need to be addressed – breeding for soundness, medication use and the condition of track surfaces being of primary importance. A panel will be commissioned by The Jockey Club, the governing body of the Thoroughbred industry, to address these concerns.

As for the strenuous training Masters claims the horses are put through, the training regimen consists of varying degrees of walks, jogs, gallops and periodic timed workouts. The time between races is usually well-spaced to give them time to rejuvenate. The regimen cannot be too strenuous or the horse would have nothing left for the race.

Masters says the cause was greed. What nonsense. Purse money is a pittance compared to the long-term value of the horse. The people who own these horses love them and take great care of them. They know they not only lost an animal they cared about, but they also lost a huge investment. It is precisely because of that investment that owners/trainers don't run a horse that isn't ready for its given task. That is a sure way to ruin that investment.

JERALD C. MARTIN

Rantoul