Responding to pressure from PETA over the deaths of three thoroughbreds, HBO has cancelled the series on horse racing, “Luck.”
It’s too bad for the cast and crew, as shooting had begun on a second season meaning at least another eight months of work. Production staffers reportedly just learned about the cancellation around 4:30 PDT from journalists.
But any blame should be put squarely on the producers for the cancellation. If they were serious about animal welfare, they shouldn’t have used old, out-of-shape horses in the race sequences. And they should have had more attentive oversight from the group hired by SAG and producers to make sure that indeed “no animals were harmed” during the production.
Inspite of the participation of some heralded names in show biz (Dustin Hoffman, David Milch, Michael Mann), mixed in with racing notables like Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, “Luck” never seemed to live up to its hype.
It was a mixed first season with a brooding story of racing degenerates and shadowy corporate characters blended with the real life drama of Indian gaming and slot machine placements in racetracks.
“Luck” had none of the uplift of “Secretariat,” nor the heart of “Sea Biscuit.” Instead, it was a nasty, gritty depiction of the race world. It wanted to be “The Sopranos” with horses.
Maybe it was too real.
Ironically, a recent episode featured a horse breaking down. In fact, the real life story of unsound horses racing when they shouldn’t, was a subtheme in the series.
In the end, that’s what ends up sinking the whole enterprise.
Art and real life were too close.
When real horses end up dying in the filming of fake races, that’s just too ironic for words.
As much as I nor anybody wants to see horses die you’re missing the big picture. How many people lost their jobs by shutting this show down? You never mention the human element, What’s more important in your eyes humans or animals?
I understand your point and I mention how difficult it is for the staff and crew. However, humans will have to take care of humans.
There’s no one speaking for the animals. The humans have their unions and unemployment. The animals? Nothing.
Whatever your motivations, you are absolutely WRONG on one thing: Barbaro did not die on the track. He did not even fall down. When injured, he stood calmly while help came. His leg had completely healed and he was 2 weeks away from being discharged from the hospital and sent to live his life out in a pasture when laminitis set in. (Look it up.) Perfectly sound horses who are not racehorses can get laminitis. THAT’s where your care about horses should go–donate some money to fight that disease instead of fighting mock battles. The third horse on “Luck” flipped and fell over. He was not abused or uncared for. It was a simple accident that can happen. PETA would like to have horses used for nothing. They should just stand around in a field and be admired, never touched because God forbid that a human be responsible for something that nature causes. Maybe horses shouldn’t even exist? Hey, why not take your battle to the state of Missouri, which is going to slaughter horses? Where’s PETA on that? While I love and support animal rights causes and applaud the steps being taken to provide greater protection and aftercare for racehorses, this kind of assumption that everything is black and white is the kind of thinking that has caused so much misery between humans. Use some critical judgment and get your facts straight. Anyone who right off the bat says that Barbaro died on the track has ZERO credibility.
Yes, I know, they kept Barbaro alive, but mostly because Barbaro had value as a stud. The owners loved him, sure, but his death began at the track.
A lesser horse would have been put to death much sooner.
You raise an interesting point, but it’s not a “gotcha” that sinks my credibility. Sorry.
The point again? The producers’ care for the horses was lax and if they wanted to improve it, they could have. But they didn’t. Ergo, they didn’t really care all that much.
The H in HBO did not stand for humane–until they cancelled the show.
“His death began at the track.”
Wow. To have been prohibited from experiencing some of the most thrilling races ever run–including Barbaro’s Ky. Derby triumph, the Affirmed-Alydar rivalry, not to mention a horse named Secretariat–proves that your only agenda is to ban all horse racing.
I have been going to the races for 50 years. Breakdowns do happen, and they are horrible, but they are not an everyday occurrence. The industry–thanks in large part to the public’s empathy and love of Barbaro–has moved lightyears ahead of where they were in terms of research on breakdowns, Thoroughbred aftercare, etc. Have they done enough? Of course not. To lambast the entire sport because of what happened with one TV show is absurd. I, too, want to know who these horses were that were in the “Luck” stable, and I’m sure this will all come out. But this is the kind of generalization that assumes all priests abuse children and all people of one ethnic class hold one view, and all of Wall Street consists of crooks. Tempting, at times, to paint a situation with that kind of all-encompassing broadbrush, but that implies an easy way out.
Oh, and should we mourn the fact that Zenyatta has just produced a colt who will one day, hopefully, be a competitive racehorse? How about her rival Rachel Alexandra? She, too, has a newborn. Imagine the excitement of these 2 competing against each other in 2015? In your world, they would just stand in a field somewhere or, worse, never have been born. Again, battle the people who deliberately inflict cruelty on horses like the owners of slaughterhouses who, of course, are also in it for the money. Or people who let their horses starve. I believe that if you can’t afford to completely care for a horse, you shouldn’t own one, but this is a free country. Sometimes that’s an unfortunate thing.
There was no call to ban horse racing. The “Luck” issue was limited to “Luck” and the show’s failure to take care of the horses.
Horse racing is a totally different topic and there are reasons for much needed reform in that area. There are glorious horses like all the champions you mentioned. But there are also broken down claimers that end up abandoned. Many of them have champion bloodlines. There’s more of these type of horses than racing fans care to admit. I’ve followed racing too and the “sport” has degenerated. In that sense, “Luck” was a true depiction of horse life that did the industry know favors. It was art imitating life a bit too closely. And when horses break down from fake show bizraces, even you must admit that is just unacceptable.