FanHouse Barbaro

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

The Kentucky Derby is upon us, and the folks at Xpressbet.com (the legal, licensed, no-fee way to play the races when you can't make it to the track!) were kind enough to lend us the expertise of Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News writer and winner of the 2006 Eclipse Award for his work on Barbaro. Dick's got 25 years experience covering horses so, naturally, I begged him for gambling advice Wilson and I picked his brain about Saturday's festivities, the history of horse racing and the state of steroids. Which conveniently segues into the topic of Alex Rodriguez, followed by Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning and Josh Smith. Listen after the jump.

The racehorse Native Dancer, who won the Preakness and Belmont in 1953, was so successful after being put out to stud that thousands of thoroughbreds share him as a common ancestor. But since two of those thoroughbreds were Barbaro and Eight Belles, some horse racing observers are wondering whether Native Dancer is passing down a genetic predisposition to break down.

Jon Weinbach writes in the Wall Street Journal:

Both Barbaro and Eight Belles were descendants of Native Dancer, a 1950s thoroughbred whose racing career was cut short by leg injuries. This bloodline has an excellent track record of producing champions but has been cited by breeders and equine experts for producing fragile horses. "The breed is getting weaker because we're breeding all the same relatives," says Kinney Hounshell, a bloodstock agent in Lexington. "Nobody is thinking about the ultimate price we're going to pay."

Genetics is complex science, and it would be far too simplistic to pin the injuries of Barbaro and Eight Belles on genes inherited from Native Dancer. There is no question, however, that breeders have a financial incentive to favor horses who can win races at a young age over horses who can have long and healthy lives. And for all the talk of reforming horse racing, I'm not sure anything can be done about that.

A lot of the Saints' success last year came from a massive overhaul of new blood and true competition; if you weren't Drew Brees, your job was up for grabs. The offense did well enough, and returned enough players, that the Saints were allowed to focus the majority of their free agent money on defense. All of last year's starters are back, as well, meaning competition has again been inspired. With training camp over and two preseason games left, there's still lots of room for movement.

Jason David - Rehashing Fred Thomas' 2006 troubles is just beating Barbaro, so I'll just say that Jason David, despite arriving in Indianapolis in the middle of the depth chart, didn't have much standing in the way of a starting job. So far, David has transitioned from the Cover 2 well. He excelled in camp and had a great game against the Bengals last Saturday. He has, officially, taken Thomas' spot in the starting lineup, meaning he'll be lining up against former teammate Marvin Harrison in the season opener.

Brian Simmons - As far as middle linebackers go, Mark Simoneau had trouble getting to and bringing down the ballcarrier last year, which is pretty much what a middle linebacker is counted on to do. So the Saints brought in former Bengal Brian Simmons, a frequent 100+-tackle guy. But Simmons has dealt with nagging injuries and didn't catch onto the playbook as quickly as some anticipated. In the meantime, the addition has lit a fire under Simoneau, whose had one of the best offseasons on the team. He's still the starter, and he's earned it so far, but Simmons will at least be a one- or two-down 'backer, if he doesn't supplant Simoneau entirely.

The Wall Street Journal takes time off from breathlessly covering the market fluctuations today by taking note of an interesting, and divisive, horse race in Washington. The Omak Suicide Race is a 70-year-old horseback downhill sprint that simultaneously celebrates the participants' heritages as "horse-warriors" and infuriates animal right activists for the high amount of danger for the animals involved:

At a time when states are banning cockfights and testing cosmetics on animals is considered politically incorrect, the Suicide Race is a surprising holdout. It is one of a handful of tourist attractions around the world that draw crowds to watch animals fighting each other or facing extreme danger.

The Omak Suicide Race manages to hold on because of tradition and also the economic boost it delivers for the city. The fact that the Colville Tribes claim the horse race as a link to their Indian heritage adds an extra dimension to the debate.

Animal-rights groups have been pushing for an end to the race for about 25 years, during which at least 21 horses, including Chavez, have died. Three horses died in the 2004 race. Riders are sometimes injured in collisions, but no riders have died in decades.

The race does bring in lots of money ($6 million+) for the community, so tradition and spirituality aren't the only reasons fans of the race are bent on keeping the plummet alive. But money and tradition have been the impetuses for the continuation of many negative (understatement alert!) things before; slavery and Jim Crow come to mind, among others. So how do you feel, AOL commenters: should the Omak Suicide Race be put out to pasture? Or should PETA and PAWS and other similarly acronymed organizations stay out of the local folks' -- especially Native Americans' -- business?

Television ratings for NBC's broadcast of the Kentucky Derby were up 12 percent from last year and tied for the highest for the Run for the Roses since 1992. I can explain why in one word: Barbaro.

Although I tuned in to the Kentucky Derby wanting to see anything but a treacly tribute to the deceased 2006 winner, I realize that I'm in the minority. Barbaro captured the attention of millions of fans, and those are the people who tuned into this year's Derby, hoping they'd see features about Barbaro and hoping another horse would inspire them like he did.

Inspiring fans by killing off your most popular athlete isn't a model I encourage the management of other sports to follow, but it certainly worked for horse racing.

Previously at FanHouse:
Street Sense Wins Kentucky Derby
Barbaro Tribute Set for Kentucky Derby
Brother of Barbaro Born

Get your handkerchiefs ready, because May 5th is going to be an emotional day at Churchill Downs. A tribute to Barbaro is all set to go, including a video replay of Barbaro's Derby win last year, and a tribute from local schoolchildren, who are apparently all finished with frivolous subjects like "math" and "science."

There will also be the presentation of a $25,000 donation to the Barbaro Memorial Fund, which funds scholarships for bright and learned horses equine health and safety research. Maybe one day, with more time and money being spent on research, someone can finally answer the troubling question, "is it bad for the health of young horses to be forced to run in these horse races?" If only Barbaro was alive to help answer.

Also for sale at the events with be blue livestrong-style rubber bracelets for $2, each imprinted with the message, "Riding with Barbaro." These will be fantastic for people who are looking for a little inspiration in their own life ... who can then just look down at their wrist and think about a magnificent horse who fell down.