Dark Days for Horseracing

The April 28, 2010 NY Times gives some spotlight to the upcoming Kentucky Derby, but the news is not good. The Kentucky horse breeding and horse racing industry has become a microcosm of American economic failure: the assumption that the same things will always be successful and that more and more and more money should be put into it. The article reports that horse breeders overestimated the demand for top racehorses and are now stuck with selling horses and horse farms that nobody wants because the investment is too expensive and potential yield not worth it. This is perfect for a state that assumes time only exists so people can wear watches and stick calendars on their kitchen walls. Kentucky has done nothing in over a quarter century that is remotely progressive or anticipates a future where maybe everything will not be exactly the way it has always been. The Triple Crown teeters on obsolescence: the Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore that hosts the Preakness is going bankrupt and the Belmont may get cancelled due to lack of funds. And nobody outside the Bluegrass could give a shit either way. Happy Derby!