Many people have come down this week with a nasty case of Derby Fever. A few, though, remain immune.

        Mike Penland of Rayburn Gap, Ga., didn't even remember that the prestigious race is today.

        But then, he has other things on his mind.

        He said in a telephone interview that he'll spend today in Sparta, Ky., looking to score his 10th win at the Grand National Cross Country ATV competition.

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        He'll race with the other Kawasaki Team Green racers, William Yokley of Tompkinsville, Ky., and Heidi Landon of Ashford, Conn., in the event.

        Alesha Chinn of Highland Heights has other plans, too.

        She said she's heading to a baby shower and then out to eat. She said the race simply has never caught her interest.

        And what about Don Streutkerof Villa Hills?

        “I don't know. I may watch (the Derby) on TV, I may not,” said Mr. Streutker,explaining that it depends on what else he has to do.

        “I won't go to the Derby because it's way too crowded, and it's way too far for a two-minute race.”

        Others say they have developed an anti-Derby philosophy from something beyond disinterest.
       

"It's about the money'
               “Horse racing is sad,” said Katie Rudnick of Wilder. “These horses have to run so hard just for people's enjoyment.”

        Amy Rhodes concurs. Ms. Rhodes said she opposes any kind of horse racing. She is a cruelty caseworker for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, based in Norfolk, Va.

        “Horses are used, abused and thrown away,” Ms. Rhodes said. One study, Ms. Rhodes said, showed that 71 registered thoroughbreds were sent to the slaughterhouse in 1998 for various reasons.

        She also referred to the opening weekend meet at Emerald Downs in Washington state.

        Three thoroughbreds, Enduring Knight, a 4-year-old filly; Hug the Moon, a 4-year-old gelding; and Vivid Memories, a 3-year-old gelding, had to be euthanized. The first horsehad a heart attack, the second broke a shoulder and the third broke its leg.

        Ms. Rhodes said that many horses suffer severe injuries and even fatalities when, once they're slightly hurt, trainers drug them with pain-reducing drugs, risking more extreme injury to run a slightly injured horse.

        “This kind of thing says it all. It's about the money the horses bring in. They are nothing more than an expendable commodity,” Ms. Rhodes said.

        John Asher, vice president for racing communications at Churchill Downs, disagrees.

        “Those folks haven't been to the backside of many racetracks,” Mr. Asher said in a phone interview.

        “There's a deep bond between the horse and the trainer in any horse race, but especially in the Kentucky Derby.”
       

"It shook all of us up'
               Mr. Asher agreed that some people don't care for the horses the way they should but said the majority of horse owners and trainers do.

        “When Exceller was put down, it shook all of us up,” he said.

        Exceller was a horse that earned $1.7 million and was inducted into the National Racing Museum Hall of Fame.

        After its racing days, Mr. Asher said, the horse stood at stud for several years and then was sold to at least two different owners. The horse ended up slaughtered in 1999.

        That resulted in renewed efforts to protect the horses, Mr. Asher said.

        He said groups such as the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and ReRun try to get retired horses off the track and into new homes.

        “I know (PETA) is well-intentioned, but ... they're misinformed and off-base. I respectfully disagree,” he said.

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