Triumph and Tragedy

Saturday was the run for the roses and it was a very exciting race. Big Brown came from the outside post to win in impressive fashion. This horse pretty much ran a flawless race and a lot of the credit goes to the jockey, Kent Desormeaux, for holding him back and conserving his energy for the stretch run where he turned it on and blew away the rest of the pack. It was truly a sight to see the power that horse displayed on the front stretch of the most famous racetrack in the world.

But the victory has been overshadowed by the freak accident that happened after the race was over. The second place finisher, Eight Belles broke both of her ankles while slowing down and galloping out a quarter-mile past the finish line. The breaks were so bad they had to euthanized the filly on the track. This horrible tragedy has gotten the attention of PETA and other animal rights groups. They are trying to blame the jockey and trainer of Eight Belles for forcing the horse to race while injured. They are calling for the suspension of the jockey. Everything I have read about this states that the jockey did nothing wrong and before the race the horse passes a physical by a track doctor who has no affiliation with horse or its owner. So for the PETA people to scream abuse and neglect is silly. Even though there is a lot of money at stake in these races, the trainers and jockey’s care about these horses and the last thing they want is to have an injured horse. At this level of racing, the horses are treated better then most people and the jockey’s truly form a bond with their horses. Just look how this jockey reacted and the jockey of Barbaro a few years ago, both were visibly shaken and concerned for their horses. I think this was a freak accident that has never happened at Churchill Downs before. I will commend NBC for not showing the horse down on the track and not going into detail about what they were seeing. Their decision not to show the horse was a good one in my mind. America didn’t need to see the pain the horse was in or the actual process of euthanizing the horse. It would have only brought more negative attention to the sport.

With Big Brown’s dominating win, there is truly a chance to have Triple Crown winner. The next race for Big Brown and the next leg in the Triple Crown is May 17th at the Preakness. Hopefully this race won’t end in tragedy and the winner will get all of the attention it deserves.