Does anyone think the jockey should be held accountable for the fatal injuries sustained by Belles Eight?

Question

I feel like maybe he pushed her too hard and that was a primary factor in breaking both ankles.

Answer 1

The only people who are pushing for Gabriel to be held accountable are people who don't know anything about horse racing.  Gabriel did everything he could for that horse.  He did not push her too hard.  She was well within herself when she crossed the finish line in 2nd place.  She was moving very easily after the 10 furlong race.  And to a horse owner, she looked very happy... she was galloping strong with her ears pricked up.  And she broke down as Gabriel was trying to get her to slow down, not while he was pushing her to go forward.  It just doesn't even make any sense to say that Gabriel caused Eight Belles' injury.

Answer 2

No !  That would be like saying Sterling Marlin was responsible and should be accountable for Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s  Death.

I believe she took a bad step before the end of the race but the only way for the jockey to know is if he feels something awkward. It's a tough sport when you see two horses run into each other in the AM just working out and they both have to be put down. That is tough to swallow ; however it is part of the game ! Anyone in the business understands !  People say it is such a cruel sport but we would not even have horses around anymore if it were not for the sport !

Answer 3

NO, NO, and NO !!!! That jockey did nothing wrong. He rode the race he was instructed to ride, and did as he was told to do. NO, the real problem is that Eight Belles, like all young Thoroughbreds was JUST TOO YOUNG TO BE RACING OR WORKING AT SUCH AN AGE. HER BONES couldn't take the stress of all that pounding, and they just shattered !!! That was NOT the jockey's fault- it was the fault of the system which produced the filly and demanded that she run herself into the ground. The jockey was only an intermediary.

Think about it logically for a few minutes. This filly had run all her previous races against other fillies, and every other track she ran on had a Polytrack surface. Churchill Downs, on the other hand, is a DIRT TRACK- a much harder, firmer racing surface. Eight Belles was also racing against colts for the first time in her life- and that, combined with the unfamiliar racing surface, and the enormous pressures which all young race horses face, were what REALLY LED to the filly's catastophic breakdown and death. Get real here, folks- the jockey is not to blame for this filly's death, any more than her trainer is. NO, the fault for this lies with the system of racing and breeding in itself. The simple truth is that ALL young Thoroughbreds are just TOO YOUNG to be racing and doing hard work- and the sport of racing itself is in DIRE NEED of a complete overhaul from the ground up. These horses ARE BABIES !!!!! THEY ARE NOT MATURE ANIMALS- and their bones are still soft and growing, and can only take a certain amount of stress before they shatter beyond repair, the way this filly's legs did. Added to this is that it's been known for at least the last 20 or so years that there are certain families within the Thoroughbred breed which have a long history of producing horses that have only a limited number of races in them before they break down catastrophically and die- and it's my belief that Eight Belles probably came from one of those families of horses. The GENE pool is SHRINKING, folks- and these horses are becoming more and more and more INBRED and overbred- and we are just starting to see some really catastrophic results from this. There are going to be more of these horrendous accidents in the future- A LOT MORE. The situation won't change until there is an accident which is so bad that no one can ignore it- and then and only then will the powers that be which run the sport FINALLY wake up and smell the coffee. It may very well take the equivalent of a 9/11 style racing accident, in which one or more PEOPLE, not just horses, DIE, on one of this country's premier tracks, such as Belmont or Churchill Downs, to make people aware of just how bad a situation the sport of racing is in right now.

A 3 year old race horse is equivalent in its development and bone structure to a 9 year old human child. If we as people would not ask a 9 year old kid to run a mile and a quarter around a dirt track with weights in excess of 126 pounds strapped to his or her body, then why in the h**l are we doing it to a horse, might I ask??? Horses CAN'T SAY NO, and they are not in position to argue with us- they do as they are told, whether they like it or not. As much as I dislike and can't stand groups like PETA and HSUS, in this case, they are RIGHT- something has to be done about the sport of racing, and SOON, or we are going to see a LOT more animals die senseless, TOTALLY PREVENTABLE deaths so we can be entertained for a few minutes. It's gotten to the point where I am almost afraid to try to watch races like the Derby any more, because I don't want to see the inevitable breakdowns and carnage that always seem to plague such races these days, and I love racing. I also don't like to recommend that young kids or families with young children watch races, because young kids have no business seeing such tragedies. It's the kind of stuff that gives children nighmares. It gives a lot of ADULTS nightmares too- it's just that we don't want to admit to it. We'd rather blame everyone and everything else but ourselves when something like this happens, instead of addressing the real cause of the problem. Sad, isn't it?

Eight Belles should never have been on that track on Saturday, I don't care what anyone says about it. She was too young, and her bones were just not going to be able to stand up to the stress of another race. I heard people saying how tall she was prior to the race- well, that may have contributed to her breakdown too, because it sounds like she was overgrown. Sometimes young horses can grow too quickly when they are overfed and over ridden, the way she undoubtedly was during training. I have actually known and worked with a few horses which were like this- they had to be given medications to slow their growth somewhat, or they would have ended up permanently lame before they were 3 years old.

Don't get me wrong here- I love racing too, and I want to see the sport continue, but NOT LIKE THIS. What happened on Saturday WASN'T sport- it was a sickening, heartbreaking tragedy.

Enough said.

Answer 4

Is there any EVIDENCE that the jockey "pushed her too hard?

Is there any EVIDENCE that he knowingly took ANY action to injure her?

Answers to both are "NO"

The real answer here is that PETA executives and attorneys should be held responsible for reprehensible and unfounded allegations whose sole intent is to intimidate.

Answer 5

Nope! Sorry but it is their job to push the horses hard! This is just a tragic part of any horse race.

Ignore PETA they are fanatics!!

Answer 6

Why?  Did we hold Barbarao's jockey responsible last year?  How about the year Charismatic broke down crossing the finish line at the Belmont?  Was his jockey made the scapegoat?  Holding this jockey responsible is utterly unfair.  He was doing his job and he was riding her no harder than any other jockey would have.  She looked fine when she crossed the finish line.  This was just a tragic accident that, unfortunately, seems to be happening a lot lately.  If you want to blame anyone blame the breeders of today's race horses.  These horses are just not as tough as they once were and we should all be wondering why?

Answer 7

No.  That horse was going 45mph.  Think about being in a car and going that fast.  If you blow a tire, is there much you can do?  You can only slow down, then stop.  

It is a sick comparison, but it really makes sense.

If there was someone to blame, it would be the breeders who have altered these horses genes so much that they have become fraile and subject to injuries like this.

Very similar to the Firestone or Bridgestone tire problem about 10 years ago.  SUVs were flipping over because of the poor tires.

Answer 8

No, it wasn't the jockey's fault.  Anyone who thinks that is an idiot.  The stupid PETA people jumped all over that, and will never let it go.

Answer 9

*Eight Belles

and no, i dont think it was the jockey's fault.

At first i did, but then i was re-watching the race, and listening to what he said, and he said after they crossed the finish line, everything was okay, when he pulled her up, she started running funny. then she just collapsed. but if you also look at the track, it looks like she twisted her ankles while running, not when the jockey did anything.

i feel so bad that she was put down. =[

Answer 10

*Eight Bells*

And, no, jocks are hardly ever responsible.....things happen. It sucks and sometimes it's inhumane, but no it's not the jock....usually.

Answer 11

No it was a freak accident and these things happen.  It had nothing to do with her being a philly or running too hard.  She was a race horse and was breed to run hard.

Answer 12

Why don't you just say you're a PETA supporter that wants to spread lies and point fingers at innocent people for supposed "animal abuses"?

PETA is another group that consists of liberal leftist extremists.....  They splash "red paint" symbolizing blood on people that wear leather or fur clothing.....  They hold "die-ins" and practice civil disobedience when protesting stuff like "dead cockroaches", "circus animal behavior" or "bird habitats" are threatened.....

I feel sorry for the horse, but considering they cannot be easily "repaired" or fitted with prostetics like humans when broken limbs occur, freak accidents such as this and the one that occurred to Barbero are unfortunate, but PETA always has to point fingers and blame others when accidents do happen and the trainers/jockeys don't hurt their animals on purpose.

The world would be a better place if PETA and Greenpeace just concentrates on preserving the wildlife of the world and not wasting their time on issues that don't have to do with animal abuse.