How did Eight Belles break her ankles?

Question

I realize it's probably just speculation at this point, however I have zero experience with horses and was wondering if I could get some more information. What is pulling up? Is it possible she was pulled up too quickly and this caused her injury. I also read somewhere about the jockey taking her to the soft area of the track too quickly. I guess I'm just curious as to how this could happen after she ran the race of her life. Another thing I was wondering is how the horses are trained for the derby? Does training include running a mile and a quarter, or is the derby the first time they attempt that distance? As you can see I'm very naive about racing and was looking for some light to be shed on the subject. Thanks.

Answer 1

They will be doing a Autposy to figure out what happened.   The two theories is that she suffered a heart attack, stumbled, and broke both legs, or that she broke one, and before she could stop, the other one broke and she fell over.

It is VERY rare for a horse to break somehting after a race unless they had a heart issue.

Answer 2

I did not see the race, but I have seen the footage.

It appears that her right leg was affected first, which caused he left leg to buckle and she fell.

The fact that both of her front legs broke is what is bothering me.  Perhaps her heart did in fact have an issue. I am sure there will be a necropsy to find out what happened.

Answer 3

She must have developed hair-line fractures during the race or maybe even before and it must have greatly increased as she was racing until it turned it a compound fracture. About Big Brown spooking when Eight Belles went down...I find it interesting. I think since he's a horse for him to see another horse collapse must have made him very nervous. Kind of like if you see a person fall down you might panic and rush to help that person. But overall, I feel very sad about Eight Belles and may she rest in peace.

Answer 4

Here is a video of the incident: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/v...

Answer 5

It will be interesting to hear from some experts.

From what I saw, Big Brown spooked when it saw Eight Belles on the turf, as its jockey was turning it around to face back toward the grandstands.

I don't believe it happened at the same time as Eight Belles went down as that would have required rear-view mirrors for Big Brown to see back there.

I look forward to reading expert opinions, because the TV commentators had thought Eight Belles had a heart attack or aneurysm to go down that quickly, so it must be somewhat uncommon to go down on both front legs.

Answer 6

I have been a racing fan for a very long time. I was at a wedding so have not watched the race yet. Believe me the tape will be examined in great detail to try and determine when it happened and why. Everything is speculation right now and there could be more than one factor.

As for the distance. Usually horses are trained at shorter distance than the race. Depends on the trainer and the horse. Many horses will never run a mile in training for a longer race. It seems a little odd but training at shorter distance all out can improve a horses speed and stamina.