Eight Belles - A Filly to Remember
I fancy myself an animal lover, having recently become enamored with the horses at our local race track, and was in tears watching the ending of today’s Kentucky Derby.
Seeing Eight Belles go down with two broken ankles after crossing the finish line was heartbreaking. Having to be euthanized immediately on the track is devastating and watching Big Brown’s trainers and owners continue to celebrate is a lesson in poor sportsmanship.
She was the only female in today’s race, one of only 39 fillies to ever run in the Derby’s 134 year history, and only the second filly to ever finish second, with the third place horse 2 3/4 lengths behind.
I don’t anything about horses, but from what I have been reading, Eight Belles was far too young to be racing in the Derby and had been pushed far too hard in recent weeks. She was pulled from Friday’s Kentucky Oaks race for a reason, and shouldn’t have been raced today.
ESPN has a beautiful article by Paul Moran entitled Eight Bells gave Derby’s most valiant effort that everyone should read. If you didn’t watch the race live, clips of Eight Belles are on YouTube, but it is just too sad to post here.
Wow. Thanks for posting this. I haven’t watched any news since the Derby and hadn’t heard about this. This is just too sad.
She was beautiful. That is so sad.