Death At The Derby - Update: With Video
Filly Eight Belles Breaks Down After 2nd-Place Derby Finish
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The filly Eight Belles finished second behind favorite Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, then collapsed with two broken front ankles and was euthanized after crossing the wire.
The field of 20 horses was galloping out around the first turn at Churchill Downs when Eight Belles suddenly went down on both front legs and jockey Gabriel Saez slid off.
“When we passed the wire I stood up,” said Saez, a first-time Derby rider. “She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That’s when she went down.”
An equine ambulance reached her near the second turn and tended to the filly.
“There was no possible way to save her,” on-call veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage said. “She broke both front ankles. That’s a bad injury.”
Trainer Larry Jones and owner Rick Porter decided to run Eight Belles against the boys in America’s greatest race despite her never having done so before. She brought in solid credentials with a four-race winning streak and then ran gallantly.
The dark gray filly also was entered in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks for fillies. Jones, however, won that race with Proud Spell and set himself up to pull off the double.
Eight Belles was the first filly since 1999 to run in the Derby; the last to win was Winning Colors in 1988. She didn’t press 2-1 favorite Big Brown down the stretch, and he drew away to a 4 3/4-length victory.
Still, Eight Belles was a sentimental pick by 157,770 fans, second- largest crowd in Derby history. She even had the support of Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. Eight Belles repaid their faith by returning $10.60 and $6.40.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux and Big Brown galloped by Eight Belles in her waning moments.
“This horse showed you his heart and Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today,” he said. “I’m deeply sympathetic to that team for their loss.”
At first, Jones didn’t realize anything was wrong until he began walking back to the stable area and saw Saez aboard another horse.
“There was no way to save her,” a visibly upset Jones said. “She couldn’t stand.”
Bramlage said the fracture in Eight Belles’ left front ankle opened the skin, allowing contamination to set in. At least one of her sesamoid bones was broken, too.
“She didn’t have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was immediately euthanized,” he said. “In my years in racing, I have never seen this happen at the end of the race or during the race.”
Eight Belles appeared to be galloping out normally around the first turn and was headed into the start of the backstretch when she dropped without warning. The crowd was busy high-fiving and celebrating and because of the distance from the grandstand, many didn’t realize tragedy had struck.
“Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief that everyone came around the track cleanly and then all of a sudden it happened,” Bramlage said.
“Horses really tire. They are taking a lot of load on their skeleton because their muscles are fatigued. The difficult thing to explain with her is it’s so far after the wire, and she was easing down like you’d like to see a horse slow down by that point. I don’t have an explanation for it.”
(AP)
If you missed the Kentucky Derby Race today we have it on video.
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May 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 pmHow sad.
Pitty such fine animals are run far to hard, way to young.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:58 pmArticle - “Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief that everyone came around the track cleanly and then…”
What a tragedy.
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
For the Horse, People will now try to stop this, like they are trying to stop Bull fighting. This Comes with the Sport. I realy dont know if I have an oppinion? It is like people Crying over players to stop playing football because they might get hurt?
May 3rd, 2008 at 5:11 pmThese horses are so specifically bred and their bloodlines are so thin that they are literally on the edge even if they aren’t raced. This doesn’t surprise anyone in the horse racing industry, the animals are engineered for speed, not longevity.
May 3rd, 2008 at 5:22 pmWhat a tragedy. I’m old enough to remember when another great filly by the name of Ruffian, running a match race against the best colt that year by the name of Foolish Pleasure, snapped the sesamoid bones and had to be euthanized. Her accident was shown on live TV just like today only it was more pitiful because Ruffian was seen limping around on the track, then later euthanized. As a teenager, I never forgot that horrible site, much like I won’t today’s spectacle.
Part of the sport I guess but I absolutely hate that it happened.
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:30 pmi’ve been feeling bad all evening since i watched the race on tv
i never saw them interviewing the jockey, i think he’s really upset about it; im sure the riders and horses develop strong bonds
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 pmYou’re right on. Because of the big bucks involved in racing, horses are raced way too young. Their bones haven’t even finished closing or growing. She ran her heart out.
May 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pmYeah thats a shame. some shithead Saudi Arabian probably lost alot of money today on this one. I do feel sorry for the horse and believe they start them out way too young.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pmI found myself accostumed to the hurt “humans” inflict on eachother.
What I can’t stand is what these “humans” do to animals.
I owned and bred Arabian purebreds. I had one mare that had been racing when she was only 2.5 years old by its breeder. Came from the Russian Tersk-stables.
There is a lot of shit going on between breeders and owners who only have dollar-signs in their eyes.
I could NOT click on that video, I can’t handle too see such footage, sorry……..
May 4th, 2008 at 3:25 amMy ex’s family was into thoroughbred racing and breeding, first as a hobby with tax advantages and then as a means of income. Even the $2,000 claiming horses were treated like kings and queens by them and most owners. Some of their horses had all the ability in the world but were completely lacking in competitive desire. I knew something was wrong with her shortly after she came out of the turn for the homestretch. I saw her head turn and figured something was wrong. It is quit possibly that one of the she sustained an injury at this point and compounded it with her will to win.
I see that all the PETA influenced media is only focusing on the fact that she had to be put down, but I see it as her courage and will to win overwelmed her physiology. While the story is a tragic one, it is one of heroic sacrifice to win.
May 4th, 2008 at 4:41 am