The ultimate in “thrill of victory” and the agony of defeat. I watched the Kentucky Derby live as I’ve done pretty much every year that I can remember being alive. Favorite Big Brown won the race, the first horse to pull off a win from the 20th position since the 1950s.
Sadly, Eight Belles who finished second pulled up just past the finish line, apparently having broken both front ankles. She was immediately euthanized.
The emotional whirlwind of being excited for the Big Brown team to seeing Eight Belles on the ground, then seeing the the equine ambulances pull up was quite extreme.
The time lapse from “usually that’s some type of heart problem or aneurism to hearing the reports that the filly had broken both of her front ankles and was immediately euthanized was brief. A very jarring and tragic outcome. I’ve loved animals all my life and find horses among the most beautiful, the experience really tugs at my heart. Horse racing at times can be both very beautiful and very brutal.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Angie, without horse racing it could be argued that Eight Belles would never have been born to begin with. But I understand your frustration and find myself mostly sharing in your viewpoint at the moment.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:29 pm
you put that perfectly.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Chex said that pretty well. In addition, we have to remember that quarterhorses are very specialized creatures. They are specially bred with nothing but speed in mind and part of the physiology that makes them so damned fast also makes them vulnerable to these types of injuries. Added maturity might help, but as long as they race quarterhorses, this will continue to happen.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:01 am
I have to correct my previous post. Actually there is a law against animal cruelty, but it seems no one has the courage to apply it in this case. Even without a killed horse the beating of the poor animals is more than cruel.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
dave - I might be off on this and I am sorry if I am, but I have always been a big racing fan as well and my understanding is that roughly 1 in 400 starts results in an injury
how sad these tragedies are ……
May 4th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
thanks for those numbers.
A quick google search revealed some a handful of different numbers depending on the source, but all seemed consistent with yours.
maybe this tragedy is what it takes to force reform in the sport. From what i've read, a move to synthetic tracks, drug reform, and more responsible breeding/training could do wonders.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I've ridden all my life and have always condemed flat racing. It is nothing more than animal cruelty and abuse and NOTHING will convince me otherwise. Turf and running at such an early age is only half the problem. Breeding is done for speed and nothing else is taken into consideration except winning and money.
Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones' comments in The New York Times seemed smug and it made me sick to read them. And don't feel sorry for the owners - they have their insurance policy. Feel sorry for the beautiful animal who was trained to run herself to death - that they want to run that fast is just baloney. Horses have a true sense of self preservation and riders and trainers can take that away from them.
I haven't watched a Triple Crown since Ruffian was put down after a STAKES race - not even the Triple Crown. An ego and money race to see what horse is best. I hold this industry with nothing but contempt and disgust.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I've been soul-searching ever since the race. I find rationalizations for the sport itself, and then tear those rationalizations apart. As much as I love animals and support their welfare, in our current sociocultural paradigm they are someone else's property to do with as they will. It doesn't make it right, but there it is. As far as the training too much too soon and too hard, heeck, people do about the same thing to girl gymnasts, and they are HUMAN CHILDREN.
If you think about it, a tremendous amount of animal suffering goes on every day. Eight Belles had a quick end, at least; anyone who has ever looked into abattoir management knows that is not the case for a lot of production animals. But yet we benefit from the process every day (unless you are a radical vegan or something). Is the “need” we have for entertainment any less reason to use the animals that our culture deems as property? Is it right for someone to keep a dog that they neglect and let be slightly malnourished and fleabitten? What if that dog was the only decent companionship that the 11-year old abused boy in the house can get? Then does it become more acceptable? I am not pretending to know all the answers, I am just trying to think about the right questions.
I think that the reason we are all so upset is that this was the demise of a beautiful glorious animal who was performing and entertaining us. I think the key is pushing for changes within the rules of the sport that would reduce injury. But I don't think that we should vilify the sport, even though my emotions tell me to rant away.