The Big Brown Express
May 3rd, 2008 | Published in News and Features | 63 Comments
Big Brown wins, with Eight Belles second and Denis of Cork third. Due to severe injury, Eight Belles was euthanized on the track.
Big Brown dominates, but Eight Belles breaks down
Hard toward the finish, with giant strides propelling the plain but powerful Big Brown to victory in the Kentucky Derby by 43¼4 lengths, the moment should have belonged entirely to the winner and his jockey, Kent Desormeaux, who was capturing the race for the third time.
But now their names will be linked always to the filly, Eight Belles, who was runner-up to Big Brown, then lost her life after collapsing with two broken ankles while slowing down once the race had ended.
[[AUDIO: Eight Belles Trainer Larry Jones; note: expletive deleted at 01:36.]]
[[VIDEO: Big, Big Day at the Downs]]
[[VIDEO: Dutrow predicts Big Brown’s win during Derby week]]
Eight Belles was euthanized on the track near the seven-eighths pole, on the far side of the turn near the start of the backstretch where she fell with her rider, Gabriel Saez.
The filly suffered compound fractures, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
“There was absolutely nothing you could do,” Bramlage said.
Saez said that after the wire, after he stood up in the irons as jockeys do when they begin to ask their horse to slow down beyond the finish, “she started galloping funny and I tried to pull her up, but she went down.”
As this 134th Kentucky Derby went into the books a story of triumph and tragedy run before the second-largest Derby crowd ever — 157,770 — Desormeaux said he was “deeply sympathetic” with the filly’s owner, Rick Porter, and trainer, Larry Jones.
It could not have been lost on anyone at Churchill Downs that of the 19 others in this Derby who tried to outrun, outgame and outdo the very fast Big Brown, the only one close to him at the finish was the filly.
Third-placed Denis of Cork was 31¼2 lengths behind the filly; fourth-placed Tale of Ekati was 23¼4 lengths behind Denis of Cork; it was three-fourths of a length back to Recapturetheglory in fifth.
Big Brown accomplished his winning race in 2:01.82. As the 2-1 favorite, he returned mutuels of $6.80, $5 and $4.80. He is owned by IEAH Stables and Paul P. Pompa Jr., and he was named for Pompa’s business connections with UPS.
“Big Brown showed up,” declared his trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., with a hint of I-told-you-so in his voice after the race.
From the time of Big Brown’s arrival at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, Dutrow had been crowing pridefully about the fast son of Boundary and how nothing in this race could beat him.
His confidence was so great that he and the owners chose post position No. 20, the far outside, when they had four other choices with the 16th pick in the selection process.
From that difficult No. 20 post that had seen only one winner in Derby history (Clyde Van Dusen, 1929), Big Brown settled about his business when the field broke, cruising across the track to gain fourth in the first quarter-mile.
Bob Black Jack led the way and would lead the field through the first three-quarters of a mile. Cowboy Cal stalked the leader and Recapturetheglory raced in third.
For Big Brown, the trip was uneventful and beautifully executed. Desormeaux said Big Brown just slid over into fourth position going past the stands for the first time, comfortably in cruising speed, never having to extend himself in order to gain position.
Two horses passed him, leaving Big Brown in sixth position going down the backstretch. Trainer Dutrow said he got a bit nervous watching this event unfold. Desormeaux said he didn’t even know how much horse he had in the tank, down the backstretch, because Big Brown was just cruising on his own, “just galloping, floppy-eared.”
“That’s how we were going and he added power to the stride when I needed it,” Desormeaux said, “and when I needed him, I showed him the stick, and whoosh, he put me in a new position and I pulled him back and made him wait in his position.”
Desormeaux said he made two key moves: the first going into the far turn, then another near the three-sixteenths pole. Unlike the average horse who usually has only one big move to give in a race, Big Brown leaped forward when Desormeaux asked, settled back into a cruise around the middle part of the far turn, then throttled forward when the jockey asked again.
As the colts leaned into the turn to try to get position for the run through the stretch, Big Brown moved to the front, Recapturetheglory shoved his head in front of Cowboy Cal and the filly moved up closer, right behind those three in fourth position.
The race was over for all but Big Brown and Eight Belles. The filly just kept pushing ahead until she was second behind Big Brown at the top of the stretch.
Big Brown surged ahead, widening his margin. Denis of Cork, who had come from 20th in the first three-quarters of a mile, shot into the picture in the final furlong, gaining third at the finish.
Of Denis of Cork, jockey Calvin Borel said, “He ran a huge race. We saved every inch of ground we could just to get there. … The colt ran his heart out, and I can’t take nothing away from him.”
This was the first Derby won by Big Brown’s ownership and the first by his trainer, Dutrow. The colt’s mastery of his competition was the hope for a better racing season ahead despite the loss of the only one of his group, the filly, who could get close to him on this day.
Big Brown walked off the track at Churchill Downs undefeated, owner of the $1,451,800 winner’s share of the $2,211,800 Derby purse, and the first in 93 years to win the race in only his fourth career start. He accomplished this despite a history of cracks in his feet that Dutrow said were stabilized some time ago and are no longer an issue.
Despite all this, despite the fact that Big Brown so obviously is freaky good and talented, Dutrow did not appear as confident about the next leg coming up in two weeks, the Preakness Stakes, as he had about the Derby.
“I’ve got to say that his next race coming up is out of my hands,” Dutrow said, “because it’s coming back in two weeks. I’m not going to have a chance to train him. I’m just going to kind of play around with him.
“But the timing is not good for me. … There’s going to be some new horses. I don’t know what post he’s going to get, that kind of stuff. I don’t think I’m going to feel as confident, because I really love training a horse for a race. I can’t do it now. My
hands are tied.”Before it’s over, Dutrow might be taking a cue from Desormeaux. The jockey had done his job on the horse, won his third Derby, and now he was summing up the essence of Big Brown.
“Talent-wise, he’s the best horse I’ve ever ridden,” Desormeaux said.The complete order of finish:
1. Big Brown
2. Eight Belles
3. Denis of Cork
4. Tale of Ekati
5. Recapturetheglory
6. Colonel John
7. Anak Nakal
8. Pyro
9. Cowboy Cal
10. Z Fortune
11. Smooth Air
12. Visionaire
13. Court Vision
14. Z Humor
15. Cool Coal Man
16. Bob Black Jack
17. Gayego
18. Big Truck
19. Adriano
20. Monba
May 3rd, 2008at 8:41 pm(#)
Even as I marvel at the hugeness of the winner, his stamina and untapped capacity; I wept on my couch in Portland, OR, wept for this filly, sweet girl who fell in the full flush of her amazing fire; the vision of her jockey departing the loss within moments, god knows what he feels; and a third finisher utterly forgotten in the swash of the Big Story.
May 4th, 2008at 1:33 am(#)
My husband is a former Iditarod champ. The race has to suffer the actions of PETA, and their perceived crueltly to animals. I hate to imagine what they will so now. At least, it will take their attention from the Iditarod.
May 4th, 2008at 2:01 am(#)
hmmmmm dog food!!
May 4th, 2008at 2:26 am(#)
Time to make the glue…
May 4th, 2008at 2:35 am(#)
IT’S SAD TO SEE A BEAUTIFUL HORSE RUN A GREAT RACE AND FINISH SECOND ONLY TO BREAK BOTH HER ANKLES AND HAVE TO BE PUT TO DEATH. GOD REST HER SOUL AND BE WITH THE TRAINER AND OWNER OF THAT BEAUTIFUL HORSE. THEY NEED TO ONLY RACE 14 HORSES BECAUSE WHEN YOU RACE 20 IT GETS TOO DANGEROUS OF THEM RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER. AS FOR THE PERSON THAT SAID GREAT DOG FOOD, YOU ARE A VERY SICK PERSON AND I CAN ONLY PRAY THAT IF YOU HAVE A PET THAT SOMETHING BAD DOESN’T SUDDENLY HAPPEN TO IT. YOUR NOTHING BUT BAD KARMA AND I JUST PRAY YOU GET SOME SERIOUS MENTAL HELP!!!
SINCERELY
PETE G.
May 4th, 2008at 2:47 am(#)
Time to be compassionate! She gave her life! Eight Belles. Brilliant horse. Big Brown. Triple Crown. Yeah!
May 4th, 2008at 2:59 am(#)
so what - THIS horse wasnt good for racing anymore so it had to be put down? the couple hundred bucks it wouldve cost to cast the break couldnt be spent since the horse didnt have the potential to race again? you can say what you want but THAT is the truth.. if it was a beloved pet, the money wouldve been spent - but since the poor horse was nothing but a money maker - it just wasnt worth it - had to be put down. S-A-D! These people that own horses - and do NOTHING to make them happy - have NO BUSINESS owning any animal.. but unfortunately horses r allowed to be mistreated, and raced - so why cant we have cock fights, pitbull fights, etc? its also doing a harm to an animal.. just like a horse race where the owner ONLY cares about the cash they will make, not the animal.
May 4th, 2008at 3:02 am(#)
At least this horse died performing its intended natural function: making money for some rich and/or desperately unrich humans. Yay arbitrary anuimal racing.
May 4th, 2008at 3:43 am(#)
Gerrit said it best. I can’t believe they killed it, WTF?!
May 4th, 2008at 4:01 am(#)
Hey, nunya… try to do a little research into the whys and hows of this before making yourself look like such a moron. If you think it would cost a couple hundred dollars to cast this horse and then BAM! good as new, you’re an idiot.
You clearly no nothing about this type of thing but instead want to jump to conclusions and make this into some kind of cruelty to animals bullshit or into a situation where it’s only about the money.
Do yourself a favor and read this story ALL the way through, especially the part about laminitis. Maybe then you’ll think twice before posting and make yourself look so stupid. You also must have not listened to the audio clip of the distraught trainer.
http://www.slate.com/id/2142159/
May 4th, 2008at 4:02 am(#)
*know
May 4th, 2008at 4:05 am(#)
astounding ignorance from the last 3 commenters. you obviously know nothing about horses, or you do and are just sniveling, hateful turds. shame on both of you for polluting the memory of a great animal. as for your idiotic insinuations about horse racing, do you recall everything that was done for barbaro, even when the horse was beyond making money? i think you do, and you don’t care, because you’re malicious buffoons. long live eight belles.
May 4th, 2008at 4:07 am(#)
i said both because gerrit the moron had nothing to add except a moronic acronym. but he is an idiot, too.
May 4th, 2008at 4:08 am(#)
sorry, g, i meant the 3 commenters who preceded you. you seem to know what you’re talking about.
May 4th, 2008at 4:15 am(#)
A horse is not like a human, or most other animals. A broken leg or something like that is a death sentence for a horse in many situations. Two broken ankles, such as Eight Belles had, is even worse. Horses sleep standing up; they do pretty much everything else standing up. You can’t put a horse in a cast and let it lay down for six weeks to heal. Just think of Barbaro two years ago…he broke his leg, and after something like six months of fighting, finally had to be euthanized. I can assure you that if it was a matter of spending a couple hundred bucks and putting a cast or splint on it and letting it heal, it would be done. I can also assure you that these horses probably live a life better than just about any other. Finally, the racing is not cruel, it is what they do. It is in their blood. My Border Collie was born to herd, and if I had land and sheep, she would ten times rather herd them up then lay on the couch with me or chew a bone. It is no different for Eight Belles. She went out doing the one thing she was meant to do, and I feel quite confident it was the thing she would have wanted to do over any other. As for the person with the dog food comment; please, show some decency.
May 4th, 2008at 4:28 am(#)
The reality is that Horses almost never survive catastrophic injuries to their legs. In the wild, it is an automatic death sentence. In racing or ranching also terminal. Look at Barbaro. As hard as the Doctors tried, and as much money as was spent; the horse still died. Horses are unique. Once born, they only lie down again if sick or dieing. They stand on their legs for their entire lives. Eight Belles shattered BOTH front ankles making it impossible to save her life. “The couple hundred bucks it wouldve cost to cast the break” to quote nunya, would likely run into hundreds of thousands of dollars spent and the outcome never in doubt; she still would have died, but after months of pain and agony. Why would you “Animal Lovers” put a poor terrified and fatally injured horse through this? Study the Horse before you make foolish and unrealistic judgements about them and the people who care for them.
animal thru this?
May 4th, 2008at 4:49 am(#)
They shoot horses because a horse with broken legs is in pain and can’t stand. It has to be put down. Get a life.
May 4th, 2008at 5:44 am(#)
This is why the “sport” is now trashed.
You are taking these majestic creatures and challending them to unreachable goals.
Shame on you all.
Bar - Spooked early. Later dead.
This creature - Pushed to limits. Later dead.
Shame on all of you who promote this vicious sport.
Have ANY of you actually ever seen a horse in the paddocks? Fragile and gentile creatures. But you put some crazy jockey and trainer behind them: Commodities only.
THIS is why the “sport” has to end. NOW.
Freaking vultures!
Shame on you all!!
- Alex Wolf
New York City
May 4th, 2008at 6:03 am(#)
gimme a freaking break! Its a frigging horse, people. Its not your neighbours kid, or your grandmother or something. Its a horse!!!!
Stop your tears, and all this crap. this horse isn’t going to cure cancer, win the Noble Prize for science, or be the next President of the United States.
well maybe, PETA thinks animals have a higher place in society than a human being.
What I don’t like about horse racing is the age of these animals, and the frequency of racing on young legs. They clearly aren’t mature enough to be racing as often as they do and this spectacle only shows why I believe they shouldn’t be raced this way.
May 4th, 2008at 6:07 am(#)
Saw Belles get previewed around two hours before Post on ESPN with one of her handlers.(riding her)
This guy looked like he weighed around 200 lbs.? I was wondering what the Hell is this tub of guts is doing, riding her around the track…he should be in a gym?
Belles, she was an awefully pretty horse…it’s pretty sad, but that’s horse racing folks.
May 4th, 2008at 6:22 am(#)
Thanks for that article G, just mailed it to myself for future ref.
May 4th, 2008at 6:31 am(#)
This is just one incident. Horses die by the thousands on racetracks worldwide every year!
This is a very cruel “sport”
May 4th, 2008at 6:35 am(#)
*Alex…
What do you think these animals are? It’s in their genes to run and be raced…..and don’t think those horses don’t realise they are racing against the others in the pack.
Those horses I’d bet, even know where their end line of running is also, when the pull-up.
It’s idiots like you that would herd them into a petting zoo for the kiddies, I suppose?
May 4th, 2008at 7:18 am(#)
Look folks, there was far more cruelty in trying to keep Barbaro alive than there was in what happened at Churchill Downs yesterday. Unlike a lot of the posters, I live in the heart of the Bluegrass and every day I drive past the farms where most of these horses were born. We have a little different perspective here.
No one cries “foul” when a boxer drops dead in the ring. No one wants to end the game of basketball when high school player falls on the court. No one suggests that we outlaw NASCAR when a driver doesn’t survive a crash. Every athlete is subjected to a certain risk and equine athletes are no different. And because of the significant investments of time, money, and, yes, love that these beautiful animals represent, no one takes the dangers of this sport lightly.
Fixing this horse was not an option. Her life was over when she fell. Her injuries could not be fixed and they would have resulted in her eventual death. She was not a “commodity”, as some uninformed individual from the concrete jungle has suggested. She was someone’s hopes and dreams. What was done yesterday was done out of the utmost sense of compassion it was done with a very heavy heart, I assure you.
May 4th, 2008at 7:31 am(#)
This just proves how deserving the human race to suffer from various illness’s and wasteful meaningless wars. Instead of cherishing life we exploit for entertainment and profit. Those that would defend that kind of abuse to animals only show your closed-mindedness and self centeredness. why push yourself to the physical limits and risk injury and death when you can do it to an animal. Cowards.
May 4th, 2008at 7:39 am(#)
Oh my God. Gary is telling us that we deserve to be in Iraq because we race horses. Can you say “non sequitur”, Gary? Did Grandma die because we race horses, too? Wow, you’re right, we’re really evil. Maybe our soldiers are dying because we race horses. Maybe you should picket some soldier’s funerals with signs that say just that!
May 4th, 2008at 7:57 am(#)
It is a known fact in the horse business: Let fillies run with fillies. No one puts fillies in the Derby against colts without understanding the fact they make break their horse down. I looked at her legs in the post parade on tv. I told my mother her legs were as thin as toothpicks. I said I didn’t think her legs would hold up to the KY DERBY. Look at the video. Her legs were thin as could be.Compare her legs with the legs on the colts. They entered her in the KY OAKS the previous Friday. They pulled her OUT of that race against fillies so another horse in the stable could run and win. They put her in the derby instead. MONEY and GREED took the life of the filly with a great big heart on her. They lost millions in racing as well as a career as a broodmare. There are plenty of filly races out there to make her career. NO ….they had to run her in the derby against the colts. I am sorry. I think the owner and trainer are responsible for the death of this filly. Her legs didn’t even look fully developed yet. She ran on heart alone. A wasted prodigy talent …..Let them live with it now. MONEY AND GREED> THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL!!!!
May 4th, 2008at 8:11 am(#)
When are they going to start euthanizing humans who get hurt badly in sports?
May 4th, 2008at 8:14 am(#)
Trey, well put. The analogy to your border collie puts this in perspective.
Even my cats are mousers. It’s not the part I like best about them; however, I know it is the challenge they are born to in their spirit - the hunt. They don’t kill or eat them. They capture them and proudly deposit the poor traumatized creature on the bed for me and my husband. (We try to save the poor things and release them outside.) We do not kill our cats afterward. Mostly they sleep, the other thing cats do best.
And, why do handicapped people run marathons? Why don’t they stay home in bed where they are safe?
And as for this:
“Less1leg says:
May 4th, 2008at 6:03 am(#)
gimme a freaking break! Its a frigging horse, people. Its not your neighbours kid, or your grandmother or something. Its a horse!!!!
Stop your tears, and all this crap. this horse isn’t going to cure cancer, win the Noble Prize for science, or be the next President of the United States.”
With this standard for the right to live, I’d wager that most of us should be put down immediately. I can only hope that I will run my race in life with half the spirit of Eight Belles. I know she has her wings now!
May 4th, 2008at 8:15 am(#)
Gary’s a knob….*next
May 4th, 2008at 8:19 am(#)
claspur< agrees with Jill…the horse did look a bit frail.
refer to an earlier post from me…Belles was thin in the legs
May 4th, 2008at 9:04 am(#)
They race these horses at too young of an age, before they bones are fully developed. It should not be allowed. It’s animal cruelty. The oweners/investors are too interested in their pocketbooks.
May 4th, 2008at 9:23 am(#)
If the USA bets on Hillary, we will get the same payoff as those who bet on Governor Kathleen Blanco and Katie Couric and Eight Belles. Men are just more adept than women. The penis trumps the mestrual cycle in a harsh evolutionary struggle. Mother Nature has no mercy.
May 4th, 2008at 9:52 am(#)
The Wall St. Journal had an article Friday about the lineage of most , (maybe 60%) horses racing now coming from one stallion, Exotic Dancer. This horse has bred many winners, but there seems to be a weakness in the legs- other horses names were listed, but Barbados stood out. I would be interested to hear the lineage of Eight Belles; I suspect she too was a product of Exotic Dancer.
If you can point to greed, it comes from siring- and all the money that can be made ($300,000 per insemination) drives owners to get several wins and retire the horses for this purpose. This is the area that is open to criticism.
It is unfortunate to lose any horse this way-after Barbados- I didn’t want to watch a race again… I agree with the others- horses bred to run- just can not wait to run, and they are competitive- they want to win-that drive is what pushes them beyond what they can do.
As others said, it was the most humane to get her out of her pain as soon as possible.
May 4th, 2008at 10:09 am(#)
Poor Eight Bells.
I think it was right that they spared her all that suffering.
I do have to question the sport itself. Two horses in two years have been mortally wounded in the Triple Crown. Are we pushing those delicate, beautiful legs too far too fast? If two NASCAR drivers died on the track in one year, we’d be questioning that too.
I also have to question whether or not she belonged in that race.
As for the ridiculous comment about women, let me remind you that it was Elizabeth I’s England that wiped out the Armada.
It was Thatcher that saved England from socialist ruin.
It was Curie who gave us what we needed to produce atomic weapons.
Women, when given the same opportunities, are equally capable as men intellectually. Most colleges have slightly more women than men today for a reason. There’s no affirmative action for women in college. We’re just simply more focused now.
May 4th, 2008at 12:00 pm(#)
From a Bluegrass native who works in the industry:
Dr. Bramlage is a world class expert on racing injuries. Second guessing this highly respected and learned veterinarian is absurd. His job is to also relieve the horse of its pain and lack of future life. Horses MUST stand up to survive, their internal organs cannot function laying down for any extended length of time. Two broken ankles in the front legs meant it would be impossible for her to survive the operation, recuperation and rehabilitation.
Mares have a second career as a broodmare, and can live with certain injuries as long as they can stand and move around well enough, but her injuries were too severe and double the norm (where ONLY one leg is injured, remember the recuperation Barbaro so bravely failed to survive?)
That being said, it’s my opinion fillies and mares should never race again colts. The Thoroughbred has an amazing amount of heart and courage, and determination, it will keep running until it physically cannot. Most mares do not have the muscle to race against colts that have, but fillies and mares have an equal amount of heart and desire to run with whatever sex they are running.
Most trainers do not run fillies against colts (size and muscle mass being the first obvious reasons), though this is not a criticism of Eight Belle’s trainer. There is no one suffering more this morning than her trainer and owners who chose to run her in the Derby.
It’s the horse’s inherent nature to want to get along and fulfill that which we ask: pulling a water truck to put out a fire, or milk cart in the old days, and now, to run as fast as it can or jump as high as it can.
There are limits to that which the horse can perform, and we must be diligient and realistic about these limits and adjust these limits to prevent these horrific ends to the life of a creature we have embraced as much as the dog and cat. We don’t eat horse meat (not in this country that is), dog or cat. We honor these species by being their caretaker, not consumer.
May 4th, 2008at 12:10 pm(#)
I bet most of these PETA types and ‘animal lovers’ don’t give a damn bout how hard some people work themselves.
Seriously, it’s a horse, it couldn’t have survived. Not that I expect irrational idiots like those crying here to understand that.
May 4th, 2008at 12:32 pm(#)
I don’t care much about the Kentucky derby but I did live in Kentucky for awhile very near many horse farms and the animals are beautiful. Why anyone would take joy in one of these horses being injured and euthanized reallys speaks to their immaturity or mean spiritiness. Nunya is just a moron. I clicked on her name and get her site and all one has to look at who she likes and you can discount anything she has to say. This horse obviously doesn’t have the breeding value of a male but I am sure she would have had a value in the millions for breeding. Lastly, their are many reasons why we don’t euthanize people like horses. Humans can spend their lives in a bed or a wheelchair and horses can’t. Human’s can understand the need to keep their weight off an injured extremity, animals can’t.
May 4th, 2008at 12:44 pm(#)
The owners think it’s a ego thing for running a filly in the derby .Watch the excessive use of the jockey’s stick .When you keep whipping a horse in the shoulders ,it changes the position of the neck which causes a shift in the weight above the leg. Something has to give and in this case it did!
May 4th, 2008at 1:23 pm(#)
to historian…
Not a very good historian are you?
2 NASCAR drivers did die in the same year…at the same track. Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty May 12 and July 7 2000. But of course you PETA types didnt know, and didnt care, didnt protest. Why? Because its only a human life.
If the horse had a choice to live penned up for you to pet and gawk at..vs live in the wild nd starve in the winter for lack of food and be hunted by natural predators in the summer…vs being pampered and raced and teated like royalty for doing what they naturally do…gee I wonder which they would choose.
When you watch these horses, you can see the jockeys holding them back. The animals were born to run and its what they want to do. Is it cruel to help bring an animal to its fullest potential?
May 4th, 2008at 1:44 pm(#)
“Horses die by the thousands on racetracks worldwide every year!”
Proof or you’re full of it. I love how people make up their own statistics, then try to pass them off as fact.
And by “people”, I mean morons. And by “morons”, I mean PETA.
May 4th, 2008at 2:00 pm(#)
I concur with Alex Wolf, 100%.
Last year, Barbaro; yesterday, Eight Belles…
Come 2009, 2010, another one might very well go down in one of The Triple Crown races.
Greyhounds have a similar plight.
No, I’m not a PETA phanatic, merely another mammal that is capable of feelings.
Why does such a barbaric sport, involving animals high on the evolutionary scale, exist? For Mans’ entertainment? For the financial gain? Status, Gratification? Huh…someone please enlighten me WHY!!!
You want entertainment? Stick Michael Vick & O.J. in an “Octagon”. Give ‘em clubs. Put it on Pay-Per-View, charge $100 and donate a % of the proceeds to their family, the rest going to those groups that are sentient to the needs of animals, below humans.
These are, comparatively speaking, dumb animals. At our mercy. No way should we subject them to these conditions.
We are such wonderful, the word escapes me, synonymous with “keeper” or “watcher”, of these splendid beasts. That’s overt sarcasm, case I failed to make my point.
Closing, I’m not overly sensitive. But just don’t think what occurred yesterday was fair. And yes, they did the right thing by “Putting-the-Animal-Down”. Never-the-less, it was heart-wrenching.
May 4th, 2008at 2:04 pm(#)
Did they harvest her eggs?
I wonder.
May 4th, 2008at 2:06 pm(#)
I have been around and owned horses for over 20 years. I don’t hate all horse sports, just 2: steeple chasing and racing.
I love horses, but don’t worship them or want to put them all in “kiddie pet parks” as one poster sarcastically suggested. Horses are beautiful creatures yes, but they do also serve a purpose.
I dislike horse racing strictly because horses are raced at too early an age — plain and simple. I don’t care if it’s in their genes. A horse doesn’t magically “mature” at 2 years of age; many times not even at 4! Their bones are still growing and their growth plates haven’t closed yet. Therefore, serious damage is done to their ligaments and bones. Hence the reason horses are only raced for a very short period of time. Their legs break down very quickly. This is why you have so many injuries and fatalities.
Now, if you wanted to start racing horses at the age of, say, 6, or when X-rays reveal that growth plates have closed, I probably wouldn’t have a problem with racing. If the horse has the so-called “genes” to race, he/she will still have those “genes” and will be more fit to race and may even last longer — what a concept!
But no, we are all in too much of a hurry to make our millions to W A I T!
So, you reap what you sow, and another beautiful animal, full of promise and potential is put down because we, as humans, are to impatient to wait a couple more years.
May 4th, 2008at 2:07 pm(#)
people are unbelievable!!!
This horse died a needless death, in excruciating pain for SICK people’s pleasure to see things go FAST!
The sweet, majestic creature will go down in history like a car at nascar that hit a wall.
I feel nothing but contempt for you fools who enjoy these barbaric forms of ‘entertainment’.
That being said, I’m not a fan of PETA…but can understand the need to take animals out of these forms of labor.
The same people who watch these events poo-poo cock-fighting, maybe even dog fighting…but you can watch a horse break both ankles, write a few blurbs about it…then go on to describe the mighty victor, Big Brown.
You all should be ashamed.
May 4th, 2008at 2:13 pm(#)
This is copy of a post I placed on nbcsports.com:
I first heard of Big Brown on Saturday morning while driving in my car and listening to sports talk radio. I’m a 47 year old guy who tunes in to horse racing at best three times each year. I can’t even call myself a casual fan. Secretariat caught my attention back in 1973 when I was a young 13 year old fan of all sports. Affirmed did it again in 1978. I only pay attention to the Triple Crown races—and only watch the Belmont if there’s a chance for a horse to sweep horse racing’s three big events. I’m not part of the PETA crowd calling for an end to horse racing. I just happened to turn the Derby on as the horses were approaching the starting gate.
As the post-race events unfolded, I was truly shocked at the disregard shown for a dead horse on the track. Like, “doesn’t this matter?” Isn’t this more important than everything these people are talking about?
Minutes after the race ended, Bob Costas introduces David Novak, CEO for YUM Brands: A positively giddy Novak said, “Well Bob, what a great day for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the world. On behalf of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver and A&W, YUM Brands is the proud sponsor of the greatest event in the world. Thank you very much.” A woman, who may have been Novak’s wife stood behind him and was equally giddy.
A great day? The second place competitor is dead on the track. Costas knows this. Novak knows this. The woman behind Novak knows this.
All smiles.
Bob Evans, President of Churchill Downs, first thanked all the sponsors YUM Brands and VISA. Evans continued, “this is the second largest attendance in Derby history and we’re really excited about that. A beautiful day.” The President of Churchill Downs spends his time thanking sponsors and praising the attendance. Money was clearly the only thing on his mind at that moment. Dead horse laying on the track? From his comments and smile plastered on his face, who’d have known?
Evans introduced Steve Beshear, Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky “what a race we showed ‘em today!” Then he paused for a moment waiting for a loud applause. He was just overcome with joy as he played politician in front of the cameras. No mention of Eight Belles.
Mike Iavarone, co-owner of Big Brown, at least expressed his condolences to Eight Belles owners. Then compared winning to bringing a child into the world, “right up there with the birth of my children, this is a dead heat.” Dead heat? Unfortunate choice of words from the one person who seemed to have the dead horse on his mind.
NBC’s Mike Battaglia then interviewed Eight Belle’s trainer, Richard Dutrow, and jockey Kent Desormeaux. Neither offered a single comment about Eight Belle. But Desormeaux did find the composure to offer a goofy comparison of himself with Tom Cruise in Top Gun. Battaglia came back to Dutrow and Desormeaux two and three times. You might have thought that eventually they’d say something about the dead horse on the track.
Nothing. But Desormeaux did thank UPS the third time that Battaglia put the microphone in front of him!
Amazing.
In his closing remarks Tom Hammonds ever-so-briefly mentioned the “ill-fated” Eight Belles. Ill-fated? Ill-fated is a heavy favorite losing the race because of an unfortunate set of circumstances following him/her around the track.
Eight Belles wasn’t ill-fated. Eight Belles was dead.
Moments after a glorious race in which she finished second, Eight Belles lay dead on the track. But YUM Brands CEO, Churchill Downs’ President, Kentucky’s Governor, the winner’s trainer and the winner’s jockey only had glory and money on their minds.
I learned a lot about horse racing today.
I started this “NBC Staff Should be FIRED” string yesterday. At that moment, I was disturbed by NBC’s coverage and still am. Upon further review, I realized that horse racing in 2008 isn’t about the Secretariats or the Affirmeds.
It’s all about the money. The horses used to be the stars. Now they are the disposable commodities.
May 4th, 2008at 2:15 pm(#)
So after reading so many of these posts and listening to horse lovers say “it’s in their blood” to race (around a track??? I think not) So what’s the difference between this NFL guy Vick having dogs fight - “it’s in their blood” and get arrested? Let’s arrest and hold the owner, trainer, and jockey responsible for this tragedy. Hooray, let’s run this horse until it collapses and KILL IT! What a moronic sport. Hold these people responsible for killing a horse. It’s NOTHING LESS than that. Pushing the animal FAR past it’s limits on those tiny legs. THAT is cruelty, horse owners!!! I love horses and have ridden them all my life and yes, ride them fast sometimes but give me a break - telling everyone that they were “born to race” around a stupid track is a bunch of crap!!! Ride them! Enjoy them! but don’t KILL THEM because YOU are desperate for some $$$. Again, I say that if there are any law enforcement officers out there - you might want to think of pressing charges of “horseslaughter” to these greedy people who killed this beautiful horse! Send them to jail!!!!
May 4th, 2008at 2:21 pm(#)
I agree - They are pushed far past their limits and the people in charge of the derby, the owners, etc. should be held accountable for this death. Sad day for all
May 4th, 2008at 3:50 pm(#)
This just proves that males are superior to females in EVERYTHING! Man dominates the women. Physically AND mentally.
Man also rules the world of the dumb animals. They race because we recognize that they love to run. So, we command them to race and they obey.
The weak fall by the wayside. Those who break bones are put down and purchased by PETA to feed their beloved pets.
It’s really the fault of PETA and those emotionally-weak women that this is even making the news.
Know Itall
Yourtown, USA
May 4th, 2008at 3:59 pm(#)
Eight Bells was a truely spirited horse who like to run. Since she collapse with two broken ankles she probably would have beaten Big Brown if she was perfectly healthy. These animals get the best of care and training. She was 17 hands, thin leg and was senior runner at the Derby. Genetics had a lot to do with it. If you don’t think these trainers/owners do not care about their horses just listen to Big Brown’s trainer who is worried how the big colt will do in the next leg of the Triple Crown. He likes to train at least 40 days between races.
I just think she was a wonderful filly and will be missed. I personally do not like a field of 20 for the reace but she was never bumped or hit the fence or other things that could have happened with such a big group.
We have breed horses for many years (not race horces) and things do happen and you lose them when you have done everything to insure the happiness and safety.
She will be missed and my heartfelt sympathies to the trainer/owner for the loss.
May 4th, 2008at 4:04 pm(#)
The amount of misinformation being posted here is really sad. I would have hoped that more people would care about checking their “facts” before posting. Eight Bell’s end was tragic and horrible, leaving me, and I’m sure many many others feeling sick over it.
I was also really bothered by the TV coverage showing many giddy over Big Brown’s wonderful win. It WAS a wonderful win, but ruined by the loss of Eight Bells. I have to wonder, however, how many of those celebrating even knew of Eight Bells at that point. Keep in mind, WE saw it almost immediately with TV coverage, but those folks there in person weren’t watching TV and may not have seen or heard yet that she had gone down, let alone been euthanized. If they were in a position to see her go down, they couldn’t have seen that she didn’t get back up since she was almost immediately surrounded by the ambulances. So while it really bothered me and seemed grossly inappropriate, one has to remember that they weren’t seeing the TV coverage there and unfortunately in person that way it can often take far longer for the word to spread and folks to realize what has happened than for those of us miles away at home with TV.
Even so — come on folks, do you feel no shame for spewing grossly incorrect statements on the web only because you are relatively anonymous as a poster, or are you like this in person also? Please, if you don’t KNOW something for sure, go study up or ASK rather than making grossly incorrect statements as if they were factual. I don’t even know where to start, so, in no particular order….
All horses lay down at times, and almost all sleep laying down for about 3 or 4 hours at night. They’ll lay down to sun themselves dozing for an hour or so on a cool day too. Many people don’t realize this because we’re usually long asleep by the middle of the night or early morning when horses sleep. They often will doze standing up, but most sleep laying down.
That said, they cannot stay or be forced to stay laying down for extended periods without risking some life threating problems — not to mention that millions of years of evolution as a prey animal make horses extremely leery of staying down and they’ll fight like mad to get up rather than be forced to stay down. This is the same problem encountered with trying to put them in a sling to keep weight off a damaged limb — often they’ll fight the sling, the weight of the animal itself makes it very difficult to avoid serious skin wounds under the weight bearing parts of a sling, and so on.
Eight bells had COMPOUND fractures of her ankles. In other words, the bones were displaced and unable to hold weight — apparently badly enough that even splinted they didn’t think she would be able to stand.
Next, horses lower legs look so thin because they’ve got NO muscles below their knees and hocks — only bone, tendon and ligament. A horse’s knee is anatomically equivalent to our wrists, and a hock to our heel.
Horses aren’t fully mature until they’re about six years old. Even so, the growth plates in the knees and hocks are virtually always closed (finished growing entirely and fully developed) by 2 years old. Virtually no one does any speed work or jumping until the knees are “closed.” There aren’t any sanctioned thoroughbred races in any major country that can be entered with a horse young enough that their knees aren’t long closed. Growth plates close from the ground up — in other words, those in the lower leg first, then up to knees and hocks, then on higher etc., with the spinal growth plates being last. Roughly 98% of all height is gained by the time the thoroughbred is just turning two years old.
As others have mentioned or implied, fillies and mares (females) that are decent racehorses have a LOT of value for their offspring — if there had been any way to save Eight Bells, totally aside from the emotional aspect, there was huge financial incentive. Its just impossible with injuries like hers. Also note that horses often don’t come out of anesthesia very well — they tend to thrash and fight to stand before they’re steady enough and especially if they have a cast on, its awfully easy for them to seriously injure themselves sometimes to the point of having to be euthanized. They have to use fiberglass casts because the older plaster casts were so heavy it almost ensured more broken bones coming out of anesthesia. That’s why you saw Barbaro waking from anesthesia with floats around him and him in a pool to minimize the instinct to fight to stand and slow his leg movements too (water resistance) but with water which is much less scary to the horse than any type of restraint.
Horses DO have running flat out and racing quite literally “in their blood.” They evolved over the ages for speed — it quite literally meant their survival from predators. Someone mentioned how gentle and quite horses are in paddocks — they’ve clearly never seen horses when first turned out or even pasture horses. Horses, virtually all of them, have explosive speed and they LOVE to run and race each other. Sure, they’re quite and graze a good bit of the time, but if you watch them regularly, you’ll see them take off for a good race or game of chase with their buddies daily also. Like any other animal, the younger they are, the more they play and for horses, play includes a LOT of running. Anyone who discounts a horse’s nature this way usually winds up badly hurt when something startles a horse and the quite gentle animal turns into an instantaneous dynamo with almost no warning. They don’t mean to hurt anyone this way, but if you don’t know enough to realize this can happen and where you need to be and how to avoid accidentally getting bumped, clipped or stepped on by a 1200 lb animal….. Its all part of what makes these magnificent animals so beautiful and awe inspiring to us.
As to “inseminations” and “harvesting her eggs.” Thoroughbreds aren’t allowed to use artificial insemination, its “live cover” only. Foals (babies) can’t be registered otherwise. Egg harvesting in any species requires at least one normal cycle with some hormonal manipulation to get more eggs than a normal cycle produces — unless you are just meaning egg FLUSHING, in which case, you still have to be exact with the timing to catch a viable egg in the uterus. Almost certainly not possible with Eight Bells. Relatively worthless too, since only a live foal from the mom herself could be registered as a thoroughbred and raced. Which makes losing Eight Bells that much more of a tragedy, since there can’t ever be offspring from her and she was obviously an incredible athlete.
As to mother nature making men superior to women, you’d best check your biology. While most men have greater upper body strength, its quite well known that women are biologically/physiologically superior. Women on average have greater stamina and endurance, ability to withstand temperature extremes or other hardships, critical organs have a thicker protective fat covering making them less likely to be injured, longer average lifespans, less in-utero death and more females born alive, etc., etc., etc.
Back on the issue of racehorse ages — strangely enough, back in the early 1900’s and before it seems that thoroughbreds were raced MORE as two and three year olds than now, and often continued racing for many years. Its unfortunate that the financial incentives now make it crazy for top horses to NOT retire after a successful three year old year, because there is so much money to be made in breeding top stallions and any moderately successful mare. I’ve always wondered how much that makes it seems that today’s horses are more fragile and prone to breakdown compared to those from decades ago — or if its in how we train them, or what. Its NOT that we’re racing them so much faster these days — most of the world records are from decades ago rather than being set recently. Not to mention that in the past horses were typically raced over longer distances, more frequently, and for more years too…. Complex issue. Regardless, its a tragedy, a horrible thing, when a tremendous athlete of any species is lost as we lost Eight Bells yesterday.
May 4th, 2008at 4:09 pm(#)
You guys have a strange sport on your hands.
May 4th, 2008at 5:32 pm(#)
The difference between man and animal is that man can think for himself and make decisions in his own best or worst interests; whereas, our animals depend on the compassionate care and love that we can give them. In this case, after looking at various photos of Eight Belles, she looked so much smaller in bone structure, including her very tiny legs. Her owners abandoned their responsibilities to care for her safety and pushed Eight Belles beyond her limits. Yes, man can think and reason, but they have not improved themselves at all since the beginning of time.
May 4th, 2008at 9:35 pm(#)
I left some ideas and suggetsions on one of the other boards somewhere in here.
This does happen all the time but that doesn’t mean its right. It is time for changes in policies and procedures.
May 4th, 2008at 9:40 pm(#)
[…] Complete story and video click here […]
May 4th, 2008at 11:17 pm(#)
RE: Bloodlines and possible connections to injuries
You can go to pedigreeonline.com and read the pedigrees of Eight Belles and Big Brown, they are very close in breeding. It has been noted on several yahoo groups and I did hear a comment where I can’t remember but the leg issue may very well be a genetic trait related to Native Dancer and Northern Dancer and their offspring. You can look them all up in the all breed data base.
What we may have here is another “Impressive”. You can look him up there too pedigreeonline.com. He was the main carrier to bring havioc to the horse industry in the late 1970’s and 1980’s, with dead horses everywhere. It took quite a while to dig this dirty little secret out and establish testing and implement new breeding policies. Once it broke policies and procedures changed in breeding barns everywhere.
Its time for the TB owners, breeders and trainers to come out and admit there may be a problem and do something to fix it.
One thing I am sure of is that had this filly been xrayed and ultra sounded the am of the race, they would not have been allowed to race her. I firmly believe she had a pre exisiting condition that would have shown up in these tests. It might have been as simple as a muscle or bone bruise or even a hairline fracture but there was something there. She did have head bobbing which was prob mistaken for excitement. It is a known “health is in danger” signal.
We need to make changes now. No more 2 yr old racing, no more fillies in against colts, no match races, require xrays and ultrasound am of the day of the race, and no more close breeding of horses related to Native Dancer and Northern Dancer. A test to determine genetic weaknesses has to be developed. We did it for Impressive bred horses we can do it here too.
Don’t take my word for it check out Impressive and the bloodlines yourself. pedigreeonline.com
Time to change folks….
May 4th, 2008at 11:25 pm(#)
Hey - You go Reality says….!!! If the people posting were remotely horse people/animal people they would know the whys and hows that went into the immediate decision to euth this horse and they would know TB’s are live cover. Harvesting her eggs….
One thing everyone does have to do….don’t complain unless you can add a positive solution to the complaint. Be a part of the solution. I posted some of my wants from the industry. I have more….The sport is not going to go away so we have to do things to make it safer.
May 5th, 2008at 4:49 pm(#)
Eight Bells pedigree, quite surprisingly, doesn’t seem to be in pedigreeonline — double check the foaling dates of the ones that are there and you’ll see that they’re all too old to be her, unless someone goofed on foaling dates.
Big Brown is more LINE bred than most thoroughbreds — but if you look into standardbred racehorses, they generally have far more line breeding or even inbreeding than Tb’s do. So do greyhounds. Technically, while the line is a little fuzzy depending on what group or definition you use, its inbreeding if its in the first generation, or parent/child or first cousins — further out than that is linebreeding. Big Brown’s closest cross is 3×3. Frankly I’m actually rather intrigued and glad to see a pedigree like his in the Tb world — his win would tend to support closer linebreeding than most Tb folks have been willing to consider.
I used to also think that it would be good to stop 2 year old races until I looked into it more. Darned if I can recall for certain now if it was only tendons, or only ligaments, or both, but there is some scientific evidence that they must be stressed while still developing in order to be thicker and stronger. That NOT doing any speed work while those structures are still in the development stage winds up with thinner, weaker, more prone to damage throughout life tendons and/or ligaments. In other words, if the 2 year olds don’t do some serious speed work, we’ll almost certainly see more catastrophic breakdowns when they’re raced. Doesn’t mean the speed has to be in a race, but they’ve got to do some serious speed one way or the other.
Bone is a little different, because we KNOW that mature bone will slowly remodel to accommodate stress — IF and only if its exposed to the exact same kind of stress you want it to be able to withstand. In other words, a ton of walking or trotting or even cantering will NOT cause the bone to remodel in the right directions to withstand racing speeds. Only some periodic work at racing speeds will cause that bone to remodel and strengthen to successfully withstand racing.
Impressive bloodlines are a problem primarily in the quarter horse industry, not throughout the horse industry. He had a single mutation that caused him and his offspring to have very large bulky muscling, which everyone in the show world thought was great. So him and subsequently his offspring did very very well in shows, beating horses that didn’t have the mutation in halter classes. Problem was that the mutation wasn’t recognized for quite some time, until there were many decendents — and then it was some time before a test could be successfully developed for it. Caveot, Wiki tends to have a LOT of errors, sometimes major ones, but decent place to start for info maybe if some here are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperkalemic_periodic_paralysis
It would be awfully nice if a test for possible breakdown on the racetrack could be developed, but I’d be amazed if that happened anytime soon. MAYBE they can find some proteins or some indicator of damage before the damage can be found with examinations…. maybe. There are some folks who have been trying to find something along those lines. Its almost certainly not going to be a mutation anything like the impressive situation, however. Lord knows there is financial incentive to discover an indicator — if it were a simple single or even a few genetic mutations, I suspect it would have been discovered already.
Whether there might be some inherent weakness in various common ancestors has been debated for ages — but these sorts of things happen so infrequently that its awfully unlikely to be anything that is anywhere near as simple as a single mutation — and those are hard enough to discover. Consider that Northern Dancer and Native Dancer are now typically back quite a few generations in our pedigrees — and so successful that they’re in probably the majority of our current day thoroughbreds. That almost certainly wouldn’t have occurred if there were any major genetic flaw that affected health and racing/athletic ability.
Consider also that when catastrophic breakdowns occur, often its either a tendon or ligament that gave way first. Then without the proper support on the leg, the bone winds up breaking…. and if the horse is galloping or worse, still at speed, suddenly most of the stress and weight is on the one good leg — and probably in odd ways as the horse tries to keep off the broken leg. Which winds up snapping the other leg. Its a horrible thing. Bad enough when its one hind leg, but a front leg is disastrous because there is more weight carried on the front legs, and with the way a horse moves and even gets up from laying down, there’s more stress on those front legs than the rear — when galloping or racing, the force on each front leg as it hits the ground and then when its the only one still on the ground is tremendous. 1000+ lbs of horse at tremendous speed pounding on each leg. They’ve got figures for people, jogging its something like 10 times your weight effectively on each knee — take even that and thats what horses are made to handle while running, even if just around a pasture!
I haven’t read anything about how they think Eight Bells leg first gave way yet, other than that it was one, and then as she shifted/moved trying to stay off it, the other gave…. I’m not even sure if they can ever figure out what the cause was, since once a compound fracture occurs often intact tendons or ligaments wind up torn too — so it may be a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” type of problem.
I wish there had been some way to save the ability to have offspring from her, but we’re not there yet and the Tb registry rules are extremely conservative to boot. Horrible enough to lose her, blasted shame there won’t ever be descendants from such a fine athletic mare. I suppose if there was something in her genetic makeup that made her prone to such a breakdown then its a good thing — but I doubt thats the case, and if so, then its a great loss to the breed.
May 5th, 2008at 8:13 pm(#)
Oops, my bad!! Apologies, Eight BELLES certainly is in pedonline. I’d left the second “e” out accidentally. Sorry about that.
She’s not inbred tho, only a 3 by 5 single linebreeding to Mr. Prospector, which is fairly far back and pretty commonly seen.
May 6th, 2008at 2:50 pm(#)
I know Dr. Bramalage and his history. He is one of the best equine practitioners known world wide and questioning a decision made by him is foolish.
I work with thoroughbreds everyday and I see the way these horses are treated. These horses are managed and taken care of better than people in third world countries. So maybe everyone should stop picking on the Horse racing industry and worry about other things.
It also has been brought to my attention all of the mistreated horses on the news. I blame this on the horse slaughter laws, because horses can no longer be slaughtered you see more and more horses on the news that are mistreated. There are more horses running loose in Eastern Kentucky than people know about. The reasson for this is the horse market is so low right now (because of the horse slaughter laws) people are just turning them loose and not selling or having them humanily euthanized.
Eight Belles was a great fillie and my respect goes to her, she put her heart and soul into that race. Though, I am glad they euthanized her because the pain she would have went through during recovery. To me that is mistreating an animal!
May 7th, 2008at 1:41 am(#)
I agree with Tom #6 and his assessment of the post-tragedy comments by the owners of IHEA stables and the IQ-of-his-shoe size trainer, Rick Dutrow. Look at these guys on their website (owners of Big Brown). I cannot stand to look or listen to Dutrow whose brain is not neurologically intact due to chemicals. What an idiot. Could he possibly take an introspective look at himself and that he might be sitting down on the track with Big Brown on his side with a fractured leg at the Preakness? Oh, I forgot, he doesn’t think–just opens his cocky mouth. Would he bring grass to UPENN like the Jacksons did for Barbaro? Does he remotely compare to classy Michel Matz?
I cried for this filly, and followed the story on Barbaro with the rest of the nation. Too many people have just had enough. Seen enough. I tried to get engaged trying to watch the big races but these corporations are all about money. Go back and sleep in the Barn 1, Mr. Dutrow, and ponder the possibilities. How will YOU feel and what words of wisdom will come out of your genious mouth if Big Brown ends up dead on the track?
May 22nd, 2008at 6:38 pm(#)
It is astounding to see so many different viewpoints and so many people making judgements on something they know so little about. Horse racing is a sport. It has existed for centuries and today’s thoroughbreds have care that would blow most people away if they only knew the truth about the veterinary care and the daily massages and baths that these animals get, not to mention the unequalled nutrition in the three meals a day these horses get. They are far better fed than most americans. I specifically want to address the statement that these animals are only for profit and nothing else; yes, the people that are in this business are in it to make a profit, like ANY other business, but to say that we do not care about these horses could not be further from the truth. I know hundreds of people who have dedicated their lives to this industry and believe me I don’t know a single individual who doesn’t love their horses; from the jockeys and trainers to the grooms who take care of these animals each and every day of the year without exception to the owners and the fans; we love our horses. Our hearts ache when they are injured and we cry just like anyone who has ever loved any animal when they die. They fill our souls with inspiration when they try so hard to win and that is what they do naturally. That is WHY we love them. If they were all turned out in a big huge field they would still run and still compete with each other. Come to think of it they are not so different from us. I would just hope those of you who have posted some really terrible things would do just a little bit of research before you make such ridiculous statements and assumptions about what we think and feel.
August 3rd, 2008at 2:29 pm(#)
Hello. I think you are eactly thinking like Sukrat. I really loved the post.