SI.com: Sorting out the facts in the Eight Belles tragedy
From Tim Layden - SI.com
For journalists, Kentucky Derby chaos begins in earnest when the race ends. We watch the race from some less-than-ideal location (we are given sensational viewing spots on the balcony at the front of the press box, but it is nearly impossible to report quickly after the race from that perch, because of the crush of humanity between the sixth-floor balcony and racetrack-level winner's circle). Then we scramble to find quick and genuine reaction, before time dulls emotions.
I have viewed past Derbies on a tiny television in a small room off the entrance tunnel, on a slightly larger TV in the tunnel itself, on a big screen in the paddock. Last Saturday, I watched from a trackside railing across from the sixteenth pole, 100 yards short of the finish line, as Big Brown exploded at the head of the stretch. When he passed in front of me, the storyline was clear and singular: Super Horse. How quickly that changed.
I ducked under the outside rail and onto the track and began snagging quick comments. Winning trainer Rick Dutrow ran past and embraced friends en route to the televised trophy presentation on the infield. Another writer stopped me and said, "There's a horse down on the backside."
The next five minutes are a blur. I see veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage being interviewed by NBC's Kenny Rice. I don't know it then, but he's delivering the news that Eight Belles has been humanely destroyed. I hear this moments later from another source. Then I'm standing on the infield with four other writers, Pat Forde of ESPN.com, Steve Haskin of the Blood-Horse and Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford of the Lousiville Courier-Journal. Everybody looks a step off. When the Derby ends, you throw yourself into report-the-race mode. Now the story is unclear. Super Horse. Dead Horse. Two stories, intruding on each other.
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Alarm Bells over Eight Belles: Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation
Wayne Pacelle in A Humane Nation writes:
It's happened again. A horse breaks down in one of the signature events of horse racing, precisely at the time that average Americans briefly turn their gaze to the spectacle and become fans or followers for a day. Their interest in horse racing is as fleeting as one or two mad dashes of horses in a Triple Crown race. But now, rather than remembering the pomp and circumstance and getting a positive dose of the sport, they remember the names of the poor creatures who break down on national television.
For those only mildly interested in horse racing, it certainly appears that something is wrong with the sport. First Barbaro. Now Eight Belles, a 3-year-old filly. And for those immersed in the sport—the breeders, trainers, owners, veterinarians, and the fans—there's been a history of denial, but now perhaps a grudging acknowledgment of the problems with horse racing.
PETA: "Eight Belles" Should Sound the End of Racetrack Betting
PETA:
ust after crossing the finish line in the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008, a young filly named Eight Belles collapsed when both of her front ankles snapped. She was euthanized in the dirt where she lay, the latest victim of the dirty business of thoroughbred racing.
Eight Belles' death is yet another reminder that these horses are raced when they are so young that their bones have not properly formed, and they are often raced on surfaces that are too hard for their bones—like the hard track at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles' jockey whipped her mercilessly as she came down the final stretch. This is no great surprise, since trainers, owners, and jockeys are all driven by the desire to make money, leaving the horses to suffer terribly.
PETA is calling on the racing industry to suspend the jockey and trainer, to bar the owner from racing at the track, and, at the very least, to stop using young horses who are so susceptible to these types of horrific injuries. We're also demanding that the industry stop racing horses on hard tracks and switch to softer, synthetic surfaces, which would spare horses' bones and joints, in addition to calling for a permanent ban on the use of whips. Help PETA call for an end to cruelty masquerading as sport by using the form below to take action today.
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Newsday: Eight Belles' death leads some to seek changes
"It was a sad scene, but what can I say? ... It's a part of the sport," said Robinson, 57, of Queens Village, as he sat watching the races in Belmont Park yesterday. He has been betting on horses for more than 40 years.
To him, the filly's catastrophic injury, which led to her being euthanized on the track, was the result of a strategic blunder by her handlers and not an inherent flaw in the sport.
"I don't think they should've started the filly with 19 colts in the race," Robinson said. "It takes a lot out of the fillies to run with the boys."
Eight Belles' fatal fractures - coming after a second-place finish to Big Brown in a field crowded with male horses, who are often bigger and faster than fillies - cast a pall through the crowd of more than 157,000 at Churchill Downs and millions more who watched on television screens. It also prompted some to call for more research and reform to prevent these injuries.
"When something like this happens, it's terrible for the image of the industry," said Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa. Richardson oversaw three major surgical procedures for Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who was euthanized months after fracturing his hind right leg in the 2006 Preakness.
"It should provide more impetus for the industry to find out how to prevent these types of injury. But it's never going to be perfect. These are horses that are working at their physiological limit," he said.
While Eight Belles' injuries were exceptional in their timing and severity, several experts said, fatal injuries in racehorses are not that rare. No nationwide statistics are available on thoroughbred breakdowns, but a 1992 Kentucky survey found 1.4 fatalities occurred for every 1,000 starts.
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