Am I the only one who noticed?

Question

Just as Eight Belles was trailing Big Brown by about 3 lengths as they were coming down the home stretch, she was clearly favoring her right front hoof. You could see her almost prancing it, she was in some kind of pain already. She may have picked something up in her shoe from the track. I could plainly see this. Why couldn't they see it in the tape? Anybody else with an opinion? And NO, she could not have been saved at that point. Way too critical an injury. Bad enough with one break, two, instant euthanization. Very very sad for her. But at least she placed 2nd! Beautiful horse! My condolences go to the owners.

Answer 1

she was still running strong at the finish line...mystery injury...

Answer 2

yes i did see this, but like you said it was laready too late

such a shame, but as the vet that took care of Barbaro said, horses were not meant to race or hold up to that kind of rough endurance....

and the problem with todays horses that you are seeing on the track is that they have been bred for speed and not stamina - if the breeders would look at what they are doing,, they would end up with an aniaml that would stand a much higher chance at holding up

they also should hold off on putting them out on the track

Answer 3

I noticed something was amiss as well. Not sure what it was, but you can see the jockey easing off as to say "ok we're coming in 2nd no need to push it". But still Eight Belles continued to run hard. I thought for a second there that she was gonna catch Big Brown, but she started to run differently and ended the race in a gollop-type running mode. I'm not sure if she picked something up from the track, but there was a drastic change a that point. Kind of eerie now when you re-watch the footage. Its a sad ending, but she won the hearts of millions and raced like a true champion.

Answer 4

She was not hurt until after the race. She wasn't in any pain - when horses are in pain they pin their ears back. She seemed to be running a little strangely, but that would not explain both her ankles snapping simultaneously about half a mile later. If you saw the tapes of her actually collapsing (I was actually at Churchill Downs) she literally went from completely fine to flat on the ground. As I said, she got hurt after it ended.

Answer 5

I have not been able to review the tapes as I am away from home with a S L O W connection.

When I read the news I sort of figured it was something like this.

All you folks with good fast connections please watch this tape and look for the fillies head to bob up then down out of rhythm with her stride. Then you may see one shoulder drop a bit and a shortened stride. It will be quick so you will have to look sharp.