Fighting cancer goes beyond “pink” events
Last Thursday the New York Racing Association held its annual Fabulous Fillies day, the flagship event of which is a luncheon to raise money for and awareness about breast cancer research. Disclosures: • The New York Association invited me to be their guest at the luncheon.
• I have in the past been vocally and publicly uneasy about such events, and the focus on women’s illness as a part of racetrack marketing.
• Last December, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After seven months of treatment, some of which will continue through the fall, I’m in great shape and expected to be just fine. I am incredibly fortunate.
Honoring Thoroughbred owner and breeder Sheila Rosenblum, who campaigned La Verdad to an Eclipse Award for Champion Female Sprinter in 2015, the luncheon was held in the At The Rail tent on the clubhouse turn and featured pink Champagne, a raffle, cupcakes with pink frosting, and a keynote address by Dr. Larry Norton, the deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center. He is also the scientific director of Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the recipient of the proceeds of the day through Play for P.I.N.K. (prevention, immediate diagnosis, new technology, knowledge).
Beyond the luncheon, all track customers were encouraged to wear pink to raise awareness of breast cancer and to donate at various areas throughout the track.
A NYRA spokesperson said that in addition to the direct donations to BCRF, NYRA provides the space and food for the event and covers the costs of all eventrelated items and promotions. This year, NYRA raised just under $6,400 for BCRF, and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association contributes an additional $5,000 annually.
Racetracks across the country hold similar events, augmented by pink starting gates, pink saddle towels, and pink jockey pants, and customers seem to embrace the concept; last week, track attendees, both men and women, did indeed turn out in their pink, and the luncheon was packed, with most of the nearly two dozen tables of 10 full.
The larger issue of associating breast cancer with pink — which goes way beyond the racetrack (“Pink in the Rink” events have featured pink Zambonis, and Major League Baseball teams have used pink bats on their breast cancer awareness days) — is a question for another day, as is the idea that in sports in general and horse racing in particular, women are celebrated most prominently because they are or have been sick.
Unlike some similar events, NYRA’s Fabulous Fillies day goes beyond symbolism. Dr. Norton’s speech included information on how BCRF donations are used and what the future might hold for breast cancer treatment and detection, and there’s no question that the event raised both money and awareness. At my table were other women who have had breast cancer, and the fellowship of sharing stories and comparing experiences is in and of itself valuable, as demonstrated by the legions of support communities at hospitals and places like Gilda’s Club in New York City.
But as we’ve seen all too clearly over the last few months, health care is more than fundraising and celebrating. Health care is political, and all the donation dollars in the world won’t help women if access to that care is reduced or eliminated.
I can’t help but wonder how many people who wear their pink to the track and drop a few dollars in a donation bucket, or who organize such events nationwide, also support politicians who have recently voted to strip funding from Planned Parenthood, which provides hundreds of thousands of affordable breast examinations annually. Or politicians who voted to make it harder for people with a pre-existing condition (like breast cancer) to get affordable coverage, or who voted to reduce Medicaid spending, increasing the challenges of early detection and treatment for poor women. Did they vote for people in favor of removing the Affordable Care Act requirement that all insurance plans cover mammograms? Did they vote for people who support eliminating the ban on lifetime coverage caps, which could make paying for breast cancer treatment unaffordable? Since the beginning of this year, when my cancer treatment began, my health care costs have exceeded $1 million, most of which, fortunately, has been covered by insurance.
Locally, Representative Elise Stefanik was one of the key House votes on the American Health Care Act, which would have reduced coverage in all of the ways
listed above. In racing jurisdictions across the country, people who hold and attend breast cancer awareness events vote at the local, state, and federal level for representatives that will deny many women access to the early detection and effective treatment that is so crucial to a favorable prognosis.
NYRA’s Fabulous Fillies day offered the opportunity for both men and women to dress up, to eat and drink well, to enjoy a day at the races, to learn a little bit, and to contribute to a good cause. Let’s hope that the people who so enthusiastically embraced that cause last week remember it when they get to the voting booth.