Despite severe cold temperatures forecasted for Saturday, the annual exotic animal racing held by the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots will proceed as usual. The general manager of the Fair Grounds, Cathy Beeding, said the conditions are nothing new to the experienced racers and do not pose a safety threat.
Each year, the Exotic Animal Races draw Tulane University students who enjoy dressing up for the unique occasion, which features horses, zebras, ostriches and camels.
Following the cold snap of this past week, New Orleans will see a low of 26 degrees and a high of 38 degrees on the day of the races. “The animals are pretty used to running in colder weather. In fact, the horses like it,” Beeding said
Despite being an annual spectacle for some Tulane students, the event also draws controversy over the ethicality of the races.
As the home of winter racing in the southeast for 154 years, Fair Grounds has dealt with extreme weather conditions before. According to Beeding, both a team of stewards and an on-site weather station are committed to the safety of both the animals and riders, keeping a constant eye on weather developments.
“If they have any concerns around safety, then they’ll call it,” Beeding said.
“These zebras are actually crossed … so they’ve got a little bit of that domestic mule in them, as opposed to just being pure Serengeti, born and raised zebras,” Beeding said. “They’re born and bred here in the United States … so I’m sure they’re pretty acclimated to cold weather.”
When they aren’t racing, most of the animals set to compete on Saturday live in Kansas, a state with much cooler temperatures than New Orleans.
Beeding said in her experiences of the races, the animals “seem to be immune to any kind of other issues. They’re just full of personality … I don’t know if you’ve ever been too close to a camel, but if they don’t want to move, they won’t move,” Beeding said.