Count me among the many who are tired of listening to those who want to abolish horse racing because of the tragedy that happened at the Kentucky Derby.
For those who don't know, the filly Eight Belles -- in a freak accident -- had to be euthanized when she broke both her front ankles after finishing second in the race. She had already began to slow down when she fell to the dirt. Moments later, she was gone.
Not long after the incident, the blame was wide-spread by some -- from blaming the jockey for not noticing this was about to happen to saying the trainer probably injected Eight Belles with steroids to saying the entire racing industry should be held accountable for what some deem as a barbaric sport.
I will admit I'm not the biggest horse racing fan on the planet. I'll watch the Triple Crown races and I've been to Saratoga a couple of times in my life, but that's about it. And although I'm sure there could be some changes made to try and protect these horses, the fact of the matter is an incident like this is just a part of the sport.
There are dangers in all sports. And don't give me the line about how these horses are mistreated. These horses are bred for racing and -- in just about every case -- are treated better than most humans because of the handome returns they can yield.
What happened last weekend at Churchill Downs was a tragic accident, but to compare horse racing to dog fighting -- which some have said -- is just absurd.
The sport deserves better.