Does anyone know why the filly Eight Belles broke her bones in the Kentucky Derby?

Question

This poor horse ran on broken bones to win 2nd place in the Kentucky derby and then was killed by injection for her trouble. I have read a number of stories about her being euthanized, but I can't find anything that tells how her bones came to be broken in the first place. I am really disturbed by this poor filly's fate and would appreciate knowing how she came to be injured. Thanks.

andrea r

Answer 1

It has happened before TOWN POLICY DID THE SAME

BUT HE WAS 9YRS OLD

The answer lies with EIGHT BELLES

AND THE GIRL THAT TOOK HER NAME THAT DOES NOT EVEN LIKE HORSE RACING SHOULD BE

EUTHANIZED !!  she has no right in taking a horses name   that loved to race, and just died !!shame on her

Answer 2

Fillies should NEVER run against males, ( Rememebr Ruffian running against Foolish Pleasure the Derby winner in a match race she broke down too and was put down.) STUPID !

The horse tried too hard ( Its in their heart a champion doesn't know the word quit )  and probably the surface was wet then dried out, the anlkles and legs of a thororughbred carry a tremendous amount of strain. We had a mare that broke down in a stakes race it is a terrible feeling but at least she was running against females.

Answer 3

her ankles just blew out (shattered from too much exertion

Answer 4

the bones broke due to unneeded stress and mis-use. evolution never accounted for being forced to run as fast as possible with a human on the horse. its a perversion of reality

Answer 5

jockey said he heard a pop as he went under the finish line.

i really don't believe it. he is paid to win or come in the money. he gets 10% of the purse or fifty dollars. So its either 40 thousand or 50 bucks. we know what he got paid.

She was running fine she was going to pass big brown by, but it is like she stopped. now the jockey said he tried to pull her up but the damage was already done. their ankles are really no bigger than yours, but they weigh about a 1/2ton.

they run flat out because they are naturally bred to do that.

It happens all the time. you also have to realize that 20 horses had already ran over that surface, so its not as smooth as you like to think it is. think more like you running down a gravel road in your bare feet. with pot holes all over.

Answer 6

A girl here at work said because the horse was too young. Could be.

Answer 7

I watched something on you tube about it and it said that since these horses have such long thin legs to run faster with.  bad footing can lead to broken ankles which happens sometimes.  i dont think it ankles where broken until at the end of the race when it was running to cool down.  Check out you tube they have footage.

Answer 8

I watched her trainer gallop her during Derby week. When he asked to to come out of the gallop, she didn't pay attention. He had to patiently ask her again and again. I think that the jockey's youth and inexperience worked against him aboard Eight Belles. He asked her to go way beyond what was needed in the stretch, then possibly in frustration, pulled her up before she was ready. Which could have caused her to twist her feet. She obviously didn't switch to a slower gait easily if her trainer couldn't even get her to do it during a morning run.

Answer 9

As much as I hate to think that the owners and trainers of these horses would risk a horse for the glory of a big race and chance for a big payoff, I know that some do. Having 9 lifetime starts, 5 wins as a 2-year-old, and 4 consecutive wins before this race, Eight Belles was the most experienced horse in this years Kentucky Derby. I can't help but think that for a 3-rear-old Eight Belles was a bit over-raced coming in to the Derby and that maybe some precautionary imaging, x-rays, bones scans, etc., should have been done to assure that there was no hidden problems and that her legs are fit before entering her in this grueling race. There may have been a hidden problem. I don't know. But absent anything like that, my next best guess is that she was pulled up too agressively.

Answer 10

They are still looking at it, according to the Vets, they have not seen a horse break both bones at the same time, and they are very puzzeled by what happened.  

The two thoughts they have till they finish a autopsy is that she suffered a heart attack and broke bones falling, or that one was bad and she broke the other one in the fall.   She was almost out to the outrider (The horse that stands by to help horses and picks up them after they finish) so she was not going fast at the time.