Another Horse racing tragedy? What happened?

Question

Sorry I'm lost here. Haven't watched much tv except the Yankee game earlier. Did another Barbaro tragedy happend?

Answer 1

Yes.  The horse who placed Second was injured and she was murdered rather than treated for her injuries.  Barbaro wasn't murdered right away.  He was treated for awhile, then his people gave up on him & he was put to death.  No-one has yet been prosecuted for his murder, nor is it likely to happen.  Same for Eight Belles -- Kentucky law allows the death penalty for horses, so no-one will go to prison or pay fines for her murder.  It's a sick state of affairs.  Picture a player in your Yankee game getting a lethal injection on the field if he became injured during an inning rather than being treated.

Answer 2

Eight Belles I will miss you. I knew you would win. I never got to meet you Eight Belles but, I pulled for you heart and soul to win!!! You did win Eight Belles and I am soooooo proud of you!!!  You rest in peace Eight Belles, a race your owner, jockey and fans can be soooooo proud of!!! Eight Belles know you were loved and will be sorely missed!!! I personally Eight Belles will never forget you. I will find comfort in knowing you know you WON a great race!!! ThankYou Eight Bells for your strive to be the best!! To the Drs. whom made the tough decission to put you at peace ThankYou, at least she didn't have to suffer very long. Eight Belles you left us a winner in soooooo many ways. God Bless Eight Belles.

Answer 3

Sort of, your probably going to get a lot of c**p hating on horse racing. But the filly didn't want to lose and refused to stop till she broke down. She was HUMANLY euthanized after she broke both front ankles. She still one second.

P.s her rider tried to pull her up,and that's when she fell

Answer 4

Eight Belles broke both front ankles.  Since it is an incredibly painful injury with virtually no chance of recovery, they chose to humanely euthanize her on the track instead of forcing her to suffer.

Rowena - if you were any more clueless I'd wonder how you managed to remember to breathe.

Answer 5

Yes, it did unfortunately. In the 134th Kentucky Derby, the only filly in the field of 20 named Eight Belles placed second but had to be euthanized shortly after. If she had won she would have made racing history by being the fourth filly ever to win the Derby. But I would have been happier if she had gotten last place but at least lived! See, she broke her two front ankles and the on track vet said that nothing could be done about it. So the decision to euthanize her was made immediately after and now she's dead. I can't believe it...if she had won first would someone have tried to save her? Maybe the owners didn't see any more value in her and did not want to spend the money on treatment so they euthanized her.

It's very sad and just gives an example of how cruel the world can be. All I can say is, RIP Eight Belles and keep running in Heaven!

Answer 6

Yes, only worse.

Answer 7

From Yahoo news report:

Big Brown wins, Eight Belles euthanized at Kentucky Derby

By RICHARD ROSENBLATT, AP Racing Writer

29 minutes ago



LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)—Big Brown backed up his trainer’s boasts with an explosive finishing kick and won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday—a day marred by the fatal breakdown of the filly Eight Belles.

The cheers for the winner’s decisive victory were cut short when Eight Belles, the runner-up, was euthanized on the track minutes after the race when she collapsed with two broken front ankles.

The unbeaten Big Brown took charge when the 20-horse field turned for home. Under the urging of jockey Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown cruised to a 4 3/4 -length victory to become the seventh unbeaten Derby winner with his fourth consecutive win. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.

Eight Belles was attempting to become the fourth filly to win the Derby. However, as the horses galloped out around the first turn, the filly fell to the ground and jockey Gabriel Saez jumped off.

An equine ambulance came onto the track, but the filly could not be saved, said Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby’s on-call veterinarian.

“When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That’s when she went down,” a distraught Saez said.

I find it so sad. The decision had to have been a very hard one indeed. Barbaro was a sad story as well. I would not try to second guess the decision.

Answer 8

yes.  The filly, Eight Belles, ran against the boys today in the Kentucky Derby.  She ran an amazing race and finished 2nd.  When she was pulling up (when they were stopping after the race was over) she fell down and broke both ankles and had to be euthanized on the track.  It was a horrible thing to happen.  She was an amazing horse and I miss her terribly.

Answer 9

Eight Belles was being run out after the race ( cooling down). She got second and about 7 minutes after she fell and took a condylar fracture to both of her fore legs. This is the same type of break that Barbaro had, except she had it on both legs.

(This is why, as a horse person, I do not support horse racing! Thoroughbreds are bred to run; they love it and they are built with small, fine bones. Horses aren't done growing until they are about six!!! They are racing them when they are two and three, and start training at one!! Also, most horses are born always on Jan 1. Even if a hrose was born May 10, it's official track b-day is Jan 1. So, a horse may be even younger. Those horses don't know better and run themselves to the graves. And there's no excuse that horses have to be young to run fast. I've worked with older thoroughbred that a re plenty fast enough.)

Nevertheless, it's a part of our history and culture, and you can't change it. I just don't support it..