October
OctoberWhy bother?
Speak to any jumps supporter and the rhetoric is generally the same – that the sport is required so horses that are no longer competitive on the flat avoid their ending on the knackery floor.
There are a couple of problems with this argument. One is that it only highlights owners’ inability to rehouse a retired flat horse. The other is that it does raise the question of what actually happens to these horses once they finish their jumps careers. Is it a solution, or a mere postponement?
On to the point of this letter — a horse called Zabeelionaire, who ran in a maiden hurdle at Casterton last Sunday. Not only is this horse still more than competitive on the flat (beaten 0.3 lengths in the $120,000 Banjo Paterson four runs earlier), but he is a stallion, and a Group 1-winning stallion at that, with a current flat rating of 92.
Statistically, jumps racing is more dangerous than flat racing, so what could the motivation be for sending a horse like Zabeelionaire over the obstacles for a measly $11,830 in potential prizemoney?
Carnegie (Vic)