Spring Break
Tragedy overshadows unbeaten Kentucky Derby win
The Associated Press
Issue date: 5/5/08 Section: News
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ A day after Big Brown blazed across the finish line, the snapshot of Eight Belles down on the dirt set off a raging debate that extended far beyond the Kentucky Derby: Is horse racing now facing an image crisis?
With the memory of Barbaro still fresh, Eight Belles' catastrophic breakdown Saturday put increasing focus on a sport already trying to overcome a decline in popularity.
Her death has raised thorny issues about the whole thoroughbred industry, including track safety, whether fillies should be allowed to run against colts, and whether horses are bred too much for speed and not for soundness.
A prominent animal rights group got involved Sunday, too, criticizing Eight Belles' jockey for whipping the horse and saying the second-place prize should be revoked.
But to horse people, it wasn't all that simple.
"To make it safer, don't race the horses, don't train them, then they'll live good lives out on the farm," Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said.
"But you have to train them for races, you have to run them and that's where the problems start to set in. They have to be asked to run and sometimes in a particular minute, they're asked to run when they're not ready to give it and then it hurts."
While Big Brown's bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years will certainly gain momentum in the next couple of weeks, Eight Belles and the sight of fans crying in the stands remained a focal point Sunday.
"Filly's Death Casts Shadow over Kentucky Derby," read The New York Times.
"Tragedy mars Kentucky Derby as the only filly dies after race," the Los Angeles Times' Web site said.
Churchill Downs officials were unsure whether there had been a fatality in the Kentucky Derby. Superintendent Butch Lehr said there hadn't been one in his 41 years at the track.
The death of Eight Belles may have been rare because it occurred well after the finish line, but it's just the latest trauma to happen at a major race on national television.
With the memory of Barbaro still fresh, Eight Belles' catastrophic breakdown Saturday put increasing focus on a sport already trying to overcome a decline in popularity.
Her death has raised thorny issues about the whole thoroughbred industry, including track safety, whether fillies should be allowed to run against colts, and whether horses are bred too much for speed and not for soundness.
A prominent animal rights group got involved Sunday, too, criticizing Eight Belles' jockey for whipping the horse and saying the second-place prize should be revoked.
But to horse people, it wasn't all that simple.
"To make it safer, don't race the horses, don't train them, then they'll live good lives out on the farm," Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. said.
"But you have to train them for races, you have to run them and that's where the problems start to set in. They have to be asked to run and sometimes in a particular minute, they're asked to run when they're not ready to give it and then it hurts."
While Big Brown's bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years will certainly gain momentum in the next couple of weeks, Eight Belles and the sight of fans crying in the stands remained a focal point Sunday.
"Filly's Death Casts Shadow over Kentucky Derby," read The New York Times.
"Tragedy mars Kentucky Derby as the only filly dies after race," the Los Angeles Times' Web site said.
Churchill Downs officials were unsure whether there had been a fatality in the Kentucky Derby. Superintendent Butch Lehr said there hadn't been one in his 41 years at the track.
The death of Eight Belles may have been rare because it occurred well after the finish line, but it's just the latest trauma to happen at a major race on national television.
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