I was sad to read that Maryland’s first lady believes that horse racing is a “storied tradition” to be “honored.”

To many Marylanders, horse racing is a shameful industry that causes great harm to countless numbers of horses who are bred, broken, brutalized and then discarded. The facts are in. One only needs to scratch the surface. All the veneer comes off and the storied tradition becomes a distressing nightmare.

No Preakness festival can bring honor to animal abuse, which horse racing clearly is. There is nothing festive to celebrate, and I regret that so much time and effort is being spent to prop up a ruthless industry masquerading as sport and entertainment (D-Nice & Friends to headline Baltimore festival ahead of Preakness Stakes, March 13, 2025). I hope Marylanders will do the right thing and boycott this festival.

Ronda Cooperstein

Baltimore