Horse deaths during filming doom 'Luck'

LOS ANGELES -- Horse racing has long withstood the deaths of its skittish, injury-prone thoroughbreds. Hollywood proved it lacks the stomach for it.

HBO abruptly canceled its racetrack drama series "Luck" this past week after three horses used in the production were injured and euthanized during 10 months of filming in the last two years.

The abrupt fall of "Luck," which will end its single-season run next Sunday, reveals the chasm between the racing and entertainment industries.

At the track, a horse puts its life on the line so gamblers can bet, with the industry and fans accepting the danger to animals and jockeys.

With movies and TV, which offer the on-screen vow that "no animals were harmed" in the making of make-believe, consumers have scant tolerance for harm to any creature great or small.

"More people are pet owners than ever before . . . and care more about them," said Karen Rosas, senior vice president of the American Humane Association's TV and film unit that monitors animal safety for more than 2,000 productions annually.

During the past five years, the unit encountered only one horse death outside of "Luck," on the 2007 movie "3:10 to Yuma," Rosas said. Losing three horses on a single project was "unprecedented," she added.

The racing world stands in sharp contrast in both the measure of loss and reaction to it. Two horses died in Britain's Grand National steeplechase meet last year, and four the year before, but the April event will proceed as it has since the 1830s. The 2008 Kentucky Derby euthanasia of a filly, Eight Belles, clouded but didn't derail the event that marks its 137th running in May.

In U.S. racing, there's about one horse fatality per 500 starts, according to Dr. Rick Arthur, medical director of the California Horse Racing Board.

"Luck," which starred Dustin Hoffman, filmed some 2,500 racing sequences, most a few slow, staged furlongs, Arthur said.

Two thoroughbreds were put down after suffering fractures while running. The third was euthanized for a head injury suffered when the horse slipped and toppled backward, an accident experts said isn't uncommon for the fragile, high-strung animals.

Thoroughbred experts and those in racing say their acceptance of mortality in racing stems from an understanding of the animals powering the sport.

"You don't force a racehorse to race. They love running," said Larry Bramlage of Lexington, Ky., a nationally prominent equine veterinarian.

Richard Mandella -- a Hall of Fame trainer at California's Santa Anita Park -- said "a love affair" exists between the people and horses in racing.

But even hard work and "extreme efforts" can't protect the animals, he said.

"As far as accidents happening . . . I don't care if they're in a prairie or anywhere, that can happen," Mandella said.