The Elephant
in the Room
© 2009 Roxanne Rogers
"An important and
obvious topic, which everyone present is aware of,
but which isn't discussed, as such discussion is considered to
be
uncomfortable."
-www.phrases.org.uk
I have decided to address a
most serious issue within Arabian racing
but first I want to introduce myself to those of you who don't
know me.
I grew up with Arabs in the 60's and 70's when my Dad (Allan Rogers)
was still showing. He bailed (1972) when the Saddlebred revolution
and
all the related politics took over and went back to his first
love:
Thoroughbred racehorses. My first love was the Arabs though, so
I
managed to talk him into keeping a handful of the gems that we
had
purchased from Mrs. Williamson. *Harpia, *Esterka,*Arwistawa and
*Gaypolka made the small nucleus we worked from as a secondary
program
to the Thoroughbreds. At first I did not like the Thoroughbreds
seeing
them as usurpers but as I matured my appreciation for them grew
as
they have taught me what a true equine athlete looks like. Dad
wanted
to sell out of the Arabs in the late 70's when it was clear what
kind
of "Bernie Madoff" Ponzi scheme, type bubble they were
floating in. I
dug in my heels so I was told I had to do something with them,
not
just breed them and feed them. At that time, around 1982, racing
was
seeing a big resurgence and since we were already doing that with
the
Thoroughbreds I decided to become a trainer. Although we were
involved
with racing it was more from a farm perspective, where we stood
stallions, bred for the yearling sales and raced the odd one of
our
own. I was about 21 when I read about Hawkeye Hill racing school
in
the Bloodhorse classifieds with the picture of Lafitt Pincay Jr
endorsing it. I applied for a student loan and was given a grant
since
the school had such a good reputation and the course was short
but
promised 100% employment. I had also put in a year at university
in
Calgary and had a good GPA so I guess it helped.
Racing school was very intense and I was the only Canadian, of
course.
I did learn a lot though. Although I had ridden my entire life
and a
lot of that at shows in various disciplines, I had no clue how
to
properly gallop racehorses. Whenever I would go to the track to
watch
morning workouts there were so many different styles it was hard
to
make heads or tails out of what was going on. Miss. Sawyer was
our
gallop teacher and she really knew her stuff - no waterskiing
allowed.
We had a Churchill downs trainer coaching us on that end of the
detail
but he was reticent and would not impart his knowledge to the
"wankers" so I made sure he knew I was serious and was
able to get a
lot of information from him since I stayed "after class"
while he was
working on his own horses. I learned how to bandage properly,
look at
horses with a different eye, and so many other things that you
need to
know as a trainer. So, consequently, my first track license ever
was
at Churchill downs as a groom. I didn't stick around long enough
to
gallop there but I did ride LeRoy, the terrorist, at the school
and
was one of only two to do so but that's another story.
When I got home I landed a job as manager for Robert Hartley at
his
Thoroughbred stable and started the yearlings and conditioned
them for
the track along with the older horses. He became my angel investor
so
to speak and helped me and my parents get into our own farm which
I
dubbed Kaszmir Stud and Racing Stables after the great Polish
Arab
racehorse. So finally I had a "stable" base and was
close enough to
Trout Springs to train there from the farm. I was training, finally
able to get some Arabs to the track and was doing just fine until
I
decided to get married in 1988 and have a baby in 1990. The baby
is
19, I am divorced and twice moved and Mom passed away over a year
ago.
Now I am looking after my business partner/father or as he likes
to
think, he is looking after me. I was diagnosed with MS eight years
ago
and that has been a big battle but I think I am still winning.
When it
first hit me though, I felt like there would be no more racetrack
for
me so I sold out completely in 2000 and I was so exhausted I didn't
miss the horses for three full years but that was the first time
in my
life I was completely away from them. Even then I still kept a
pony
for riding, my old mare Arieadne and her colt by Djelfor, who
I later
sold, and some interesting partbreds which I just loved to look
at.
After I moved back to Alberta I was closer to Ina Lohmann and
Kim
Tucker, both bad influences on me and, of course, once you are
bitten
by the racing bug its for life. I would love to get racing going
in
Alberta again but all the racing folk have either gone South,
like my
old buddy Ken Danyluk or just quit. I have been talking to the
powers
that be and we are a go for the tracks and are a lot closer to
becoming a recognized racing breed if we can get about 40 head
together. I cannot generate interest up here though, so Colorado
and
Texas are looking better all the time. Texas needs to get the
slot
machines though. Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing would be
dead in
the water up here without them.
I am a strong believer in racing Arabians for all the obvious
reasons
(see my article, "Ten Reasons
for Racing Arabians" at
roxannerogers.com). However I see some serious problems with the
sport
in general. For example all the old punters are dying off and
not
being replaced with young people. I am not sure how to address
that
problem but one way might be to distribute more free information.
For
instance, in England all the program/racing form material is free
and,
guess what-everyone and his dog bets in that country. It seems
to me,
we need to lift the veils of mystery a bit and just get people
through
the gates. That's a problem that affects all the racing breeds
though.
More specifically and one of the main reasons I had so little
problem
dropping out when I did, is the amount of barefaced cheating that
I
see with the Arabs. This "elephant in the room", is
really criminal
and hurts the breed deeply. We all know It is possible to play
with
the genealogy due to loopholes in the registry and as long as
we leave
these loopholes in place there will be enough dishonest people
to take
advantage. It seems the science has caught up in Europe so we
must
start to look seriously at closing these holes. It is extremely
discouraging to run against Anglos and Quarter Horse crosses and
we
all know who these culprits most likely are but feel powerless
to do
anything. Some of us shrug our shoulders and say "If you
can't beat
them join them" but others of us insist on struggling along
with our
purebreds hoping for the day when the problem will go away. It
won't
magically disappear-we have to create a noise and make demands.
It
shouldn't matter whether a suspect is owned by a Sheik or an upstart
the testing must come and the time is ripe for it before we lose
the
genetics we have so zealously guarded over time. I am very discouraged
for the trainers and owners when I hear them repeatedly say, "Well
at
least we won the purebred race" when they run second or third.
I know
this is highly controversial and I thank Bobbi for giving me a
platform. These are strictly my opinions and I have not consulted
with
the magazine before so if this goes to print its only my neck
on the
block-I want that point to be perfectly clear.
Personally I cannot understand why anyone would do this except
for
money and ego which are strong motivators for many. However where
is
the satisfaction in winning when you are cheating? The reason
I gave a
synopsis of my background is twofold. First I was raised that
you
don't stay in business unless you are honest and honesty is the
only
policy, etc. Second I want people to know, I have been knocking
around
in this industry for just about as long or longer as anyone so
I've
earned my opinions and I know I am not alone with this one. As
long as
Arabs are slower than Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds we will
have
this problem and Arabs are, by design, always going to be slower
therefore as long as there are loopholes dishonest people will
cheat.
We must find a way to root them out and eliminate them or Arab
racing
is doomed for sure.
Tanglewood
Breeders of Polish and French Arabian Horses and Thoroughbred
Racehorses
RR1
New Noway, Alberta
Canada T0B 3L0
Tel (780) 352-6413
roxannerogers13@gmail.com
This document © 2009 Roxanne
Rogers, all rights reserved.
