Where to start with all of this? I've only just read the thread, having been busy watching the race yesterday and then taking my daughter out this morning to take part in her first ever gymkhana race lesson. To give an idea of my experience, I have worked in the racing industry, ridden in a race and have owned a racehorse myself in the past, but am more of a participant in cross country and hunting these days. I spent the evening before the Grand National at the Lambourn Injured Jockey's Centre, in the company of racing people, discussing racing. (And hunting! The 2 are very closely linked, hence the name National Hunt Racing.) The weekend before my current horse was on the course (although not in a race) at Ascot Races. I spent 2 National meetings working in security at Aintree (the year before and the year after the 'race that never was,') - for those who disbelieve the statements made by an earlier poster about animal rights activists and their thoughts, I can tell you I was asked to search bags for some very specific and very unpleasant items - the tip off being aggressive action by animal rights saboteurs.
I would say there are a lot of very eloquent people giving a very good account of their opinions on both sides of the argument here, and a lot of absolute rubbish being spouted too. I am going to put my hand up and say I enjoy watching racing. I'm not going to justify it. I feel sad when injuries and deaths occur, both to horse and to rider, although I always feel sadder for human deaths and injuries. But something primitive in my brain means I continue to enjoy it. I think many people will also experience the same thrill and not be able to explain it away, the thrill of speed, of danger, of risk. Beyond that, I am not going to defend racing here.
I've decided to post as there are a few things that haven't been mentioned here, or if they have, they haven't been elaborated on fully. Firstly, racehorses are enormously complicated animals to look after once they have left racing. In particular geldings are not worth much, and a mare with a poor record is also fairly worthless. They are often past the point where they are easy to train, their muscles have been developed differently to how a riding horse would be developed, they are looked after in large yards, often to a strict regime (although strict should not be interpreted as cruel,) and they need enormous amounts of physical and mental readjustment and retraining in order to make them useful as riding horses. You can buy ex-racehorses for peanuts, and many people are naive and do not realise the amount of effort they will have to put in just to make it a 'normal' horse.
The racing industry has recognised this and has in recent years put into place ex-racehorse competitions, covering showing, jumping and dressage, in order to showcase exactly how well a racehorse can be retrained. These classes are now very fashionable and contested to a very high standard, showing that ex-racehorses for the most part are perfectly capable of becoming extremely useful animals in a second career. They are an attempt to encourage ex-racer owners to strive for high standards and to become knowledgable about the horse they have brought. Sadly many people buy 'a cheap horse' and are unaware of how to maintain it, and this is where the neglect creeps in. These owners are generally well-meaning but relatively ignorant. (I say relatively, as this kind of owner assumes that their non-racehorse knowledge will cover racehorses too.)
For anyone who is interested, here is the Retraining of Racehorses official site. A friend of mine takes on some very poor cases and has had a lot of success too.
The next issue that has been touched on but not gone into in depth is that the National HAS had lots of changes made in the name of safety. Yet it really doesn't seem to have made much difference to the number of horses falling. Even so, most of the fastest speeds have been recorded in recent years, suggesting that the safety improvements on the course are actually leading to faster speeds and higher risk. A similar thing happened in eventing. After 5 riders died in as many months in 1999, British Eventing brought in safety measures which have led to suggestions that people are now competing beyond their ability, lulled into a false sense of security by safety measures that don't actually compensate for the increased risks taken by the participants.
As for the wealth involved in racing, I would argue that a day at the races is much more financially possible than a day at a football match for most people. I would agree that there are a lot of very, VERY rich people in racing, but there are a lot of very ordinary people involved too. I think it is a much more accessible spectator sport than many other sports out there.
There is nothing I will be able to say, or even want to be able to say, to people who do not like the National that will encourage them to look on it favourably. I am happy with the idea that different people have different views on things and a sensible approach is to allow people their views. I just wanted to shed a bit of light on things that have been skimmed over or missed out from the story of racehorses. I'm sure I could waffle on for hours on the subject, but I think I've typed enough for now!
PS I just want to say to Montysma1 - let me know when you are out and about so I can live up to your expectations. I consider myself a reasonable human being, but if you believe everyone who has ever had anything to do with a horse to be a fuckwit, I would hate to disappoint you!