Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, If not my apologies.
Triumph, and Then Tears, at the Derby
By BILL FINLEY
Published: May 4, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After running the race of her life, the filly Eight Belles finished second behind Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, then collapsed after the finish line and had to be euthanized.
Sports of The Times: Race Illustrates Brutal Side of Sport (May 4, 2008)
Essay: So Young, So Strong, So Fast and Oh So Very Sad (May 4, 2008) According to the veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage, Eight Belles, the only filly in the field, broke her front ankles when pulling up after finishing four and three-quarters lengths behind Big Brown.
“There was no way to save her,” said her trainer, Larry Jones. “She couldn’t stand. There was no way to even think about trying to save her.”
Jones was visibly shaken as he spoke to reporters at his barn on the Churchill Downs backstretch after the race. A veteran horseman who won Friday’s Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell, he had difficulty handling what happened to Eight Belles.
“These things are our family,” Jones said. “We put everything into them that we have, and they give us everything they have. They put their lives on the line, and she was glad to do it.”
Eight Belles was also entered in the previous day’s Oaks, but the owner Rick Porter had so much confidence in her that he decided instead to take on the male horses in the Kentucky Derby. It was a daunting task. Only three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby in its 134-year history, and none since Winning Colors in 1988.
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When will this stop? I have no problem with horse raceing. But this is happening why to often. 2-3 yr olds breaking front legs, ankles. etc. no execuse for it.