What price?

We watched the Derby yesterday with friends. Our hostess is the daughter of race horse insurance brokers from Kentucky. She's devoted to racing. My husband and I, on the other hand, are more devoted to horses. In our little pool, my husband drew Big Brown. I very nearly wept when that gallant mare went down after passing the tape! We once owned a thorougbred who had been off the track for a long time and was a perfect family horse. His poor legs were symmetrically scarred the length of the cannon bones on all sides from "pin firing." Like the "Regap"greyhounds, these creatures bear witness to nothing so much as human focus on a bottom line regardless of the cost. The horses and dogs are perfectly trained, well-mannered, and therefore make perfect pets--if they survive.