Whats Wrong With Polytrack?!

Barbaro was the kind of horse who was no less an athlete and deserved no less respect than Pele, Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, or any human athlete. He was supposed to be a shoo-in for the Triple Crown, the three most prestigious races in horse racing, and it is one of the most prestigious awards in all of sports. Barbaro won the first of these three races, the Kentucky Derby by one of the largest margins in race history. He entered the second race, The Preakness, with even money odds. It looked as if the most recent Triple Crown winner Secretariat would have to make room for a new hero-horse.
Shockingly and sadly, Barbaro shattered his right hind leg in the beginning of the Preakness, instantly ending his career, and seriously jeopardizing his life.
The only positive note than can come out of that, is that Barbaro will probably survive, a victory far greater than winning the Triple Crown.
After watching its poster-horse instantly end his career, it would seem obvious that track owners should convert more tracks to Polytrack, a synthetic "fake" dirt that is safer for the horses. However, track owners and National Thoroughbred Racing Association officials continue to widely reject the use of Polytrack, because they fear that because it is a faster surface, age old records would be shattered, and the new records would be insignificant.
To think that this could save the lives of many horses in the future, yet that horse racing purists have looked the other way, raises serious questions about the ethics of a sport that is already underfire.
While Polytrack would not eliminate racing injuries, it would bring the number of injuries down a great deal. At one particular California racetrack, after eight months of racing on Polytrack, only three horses had to be euthanized because of racing injuries, compared to eight horses in a single month at that same track before Polytrack was installed.
If the "safer" alternative still kills three horses, animal rights groups have enough of a case against horse racing, yet the purists aloofly push away the complaints, balking that the use of Polytrack would jeopardize the integrity of the existing records. This implies the big shots at the NTRA care more about the safety of arbitrary records than they do about the safety of the horses. They don't want past records broken, so they keep the horses from breaking them by making the sport unsafe.
Personally, I feel disgusted with myself that I have respected horse racing as a sport this long.
The day Barbaro injured his leg was a tragic day for racing and should not be the basis of jokes or headline-puns. And if I seem to be ranting from my soapbox, then forgive me for caring about living things.
After weighing all the circumstances, I still for the life of me can't figure out why track owners are against Polytrack.
Equally shocking, is how so many members of the community have rallied behind the injured Barbaro, yet nobody is willing to acknowledge that horse racing is an extremely dangerous and unethical sport.
Also disturbing, is how a horse breaking its leg is only front page news because Barbaro was the Paris Hilton of the racing world. It is not a rare occurrence for horses to have to be put down. In addition, if it is reported in the media, which it often isn't, it is relegated to the bottom corner of the inside of the back page.
My heart goes out to Barbaro's wonderful vet staff. You are as much heroes as emergency room doctors. My hat is off to you Barbaro; I wish you a speedy effective recovery.
It really makes one think, if I may steel a line from Bob Dylan, how many deaths, will it take till we know, that too many horses have died?

Note: This was written for the June 2006 Issue of The Oarsman.