Triumph and Tragedy

I don't want to say I told you so, but I did know that something was not right with this Derby. I thought something was going to happen at the beginning of the race and I actually had knots in my stomach when they were loading those 20 horses. And then when Big Brown spooked after he won and actually threw Desormeaux (which is what NBC showed us), it reminded me of Barbaro, who was not even breathing heavily after he won the Derby. Even the commentators were talking about how sharp he looked and then the camera pulled back and we saw the reason he spooked. Eight Belles was down and sprawled on the track.

I would be surprised if she didn't have a heart attack. Horses that fall like that usually do. I know they are talking about two fractured ankles but those might have been a result of her fall. We may never know. All I knew was that the longer she lay there, the less likely she was ever going to get up.

Two horses in two days. Chelokee the day before in the heavy slop, which luckily did not turn out to be a fracture. And then Eight Belles 24 hours later. The pundits are going to second guess this one to death. She should have run in the Oaks. Her jockey beat up on her pretty hard coming down the stretch. Speed. Greed. 15 minutes of fame. There are a thousand theories courtesy of hindsight, none of which are going to bring her back.

To my knowledge, a horse has never broken down in the Kentucky Derby and technically she didn't either since she finished the race. But they have in the Preakness and in the Belmont and certainly in the Breeder's Cup. We should be thankful they did not show the replay ad nauseum and I think NBC did a good job giving credit to the winners, who did not even know anything had happened until they were in the Winner's Circle. Big Brown race a great race and so did Eight Belles. And yet she probably took more spectators away from the sport at a time when it can ill afford to lose a single pair of eyes.

What will it take for racing to get its act together? What will it take for the sport to remember on whose backs the industry is literally riding? The Kentucky Derby has simply gotten out of hand--what does it say when the sideshow is bigger than the main event? Horses need to be returned to the forefront and it needs to be all about them, not because of them or in spite of them, and until that happens, the sport might as well write its own eulogy. It was one thing when tragedy loomed; another entirely when it was almost guaranteed to happen.

Kudos to the Big Brown team. They have a good horse on which to base their hedge fund. But they need to remember that horses have four feet, all of which are needed to stand and run. If I were Rick Dutrow, I'd be paying very careful attention to Big Brown's feet, especially after he ran on a track that took down a fine challenger.

Rest in peace Eight Belles. You ran your heart out and took a big piece of mine with it.