And i was correct again, And my second pick was Eight Bells, I just feel sick over Her loss,I'm so sorry for the owners,trainer and all family to this great horse. God bless them.It brings back the painful memories of the late Barbaro, which i mispelled His name earlier sorry! I love Horse racing always have,Been riding horses all my life,I hate to see the loss of great horses.i lost several of my own. Tragic!!!!

Let the discussion begin on whether or not connections should have run her against the boys. To their credit, she was almost good enough.

She told them "look and learn" She did! I'm really heart sick over her death.

The lady of the house, and several of her friends on the phone cried for 45 minutes. We were WPS on Eight Belles. Tragic!

Originally Posted by RightAngle

Let the discussion begin on whether or not connections should have run her against the boys. To their credit, she was almost good enough.

Yes this was a weak crop of 3yos but cmon a filly running against the boys and in a 20 horse field? The thing that gets me the most is she has never run over 1 1/6. Now your trainer who's ego is as big as the sky couldnt get it done last year with hard Spun wants his Kentucky Derby winner. He could of had the 1-2 finishers in yesterdays Oaks. Again she did finish 2nd but at what cost? Very sad.

Originally Posted by dragonswirl

The lady of the house, and several of her friends on the phone cried for 45 minutes. We were WPS on Eight Belles. Tragic!

I cried too! she was a beautiful horse! ( i really love them)

I wrote before on this site that fillies have NO business in the KY Derby....there are so many great races for 3yr fillies later in the year at Belmont, Saratoga, Breeders Cup......the owners need to leave their egos at home....Genuine Risk had 2 live foals out of 17....I would think it had something to do with the stress on these races early in May to June.

I hope the owners leave the boys to run against the boys and the girls against the girls...every other sport does it that way...it should be what is best for the horse...period

she beat 18 males, it's horse-racing......she was deserving to be in the big dance....
in a situation like this no choice would be right.

I had the chance to attend the Derby and was sitting in the Corporate area midway on turn 1. I will tell you the place was electric and there was so much on track support for #5 Eight Belles. We could not see the numbers at the finish but as they came around the turn after the finish she seemd to be galloping out fine just behind Big Brown. We turned our attention for see who was trotting behind them 3rd and once we determined it was Denis of Cork I notice that a horse had gone down around the second turn... I saw the jockey beside the horse and and determined by the jocks colors it was Eight Belles. They quickly draped the large sheet so no one could see but knew at that point the horse was being put down. The feeling in the crowd was so sad and I have been following racing for almost 30 years and told those around me I have never heard of a horse breaking both front ankles while slowing down!!

My wife who attended with me is still shaken today and the memory of the joy and agony just a few moments later will never be forgotten. The Derby #134 will live on for many years to come and Eight Belles should be remembered for the gallent lady that she was!!

Watching the pre-race walk of the runners prior to being saddled up, I thought there was something a little "off" about Eight Belles' stride. I rewound and played her few seconds of camera time over again several times, and while it was subtle, it seemed to me that her right rear leg was under-reaching, like she was favoring it ever so slightly. I haven't heard of any suspected lameness in her, but this image sticks with me now that she went down right after the race. Any comments?

God Bless ( Eight Belles) ! I've cried on and off all day! My husband said she was too thin and spindly, I think it should be investigated, whether she was under fed before the race perhaps several days, weeks, was she on roid"s?!!!! its just not right a young horse losing control of her legs like that.She was strong and sure or She would not have been up there with the Big Brown! Well we can cry, fuss about it ,But we cant get her back. But i hope there is an investigation?For Her if no one else! She was a beautiful Lady. She gave it her all, and her life! She went out with a blaze of glory, She left Her mark on the world..........She will not be forgotten, With God Speed Great Beauty,The whole world watch you perform your magic!

19 males Sir:

Originally Posted by meg sparks

Watching the pre-race walk of the runners prior to being saddled up, I thought there was something a little "off" about Eight Belles' stride. I rewound and played her few seconds of camera time over again several times, and while it was subtle, it seemed to me that her right rear leg was under-reaching, like she was favoring it ever so slightly. I haven't heard of any suspected lameness in her, but this image sticks with me now that she went down right after the race. Any comments?

Meg, I think your right, When i was young, we had a full blood thoroughbred, She had a club foot, when she would walk, she had a big wide swing when you turned her around quickly, she was real tall like Eight Belles! And i did see her when they walked her, and turned her around, i knew i had seen that before.(BROWNIE) God i hope I"M wrong! Do you think they knew that Horse had a problem? And raced Her anyhow?

sad day she was a great horse i had big brown to win , i had her to place, i only needed pyro or monba to show for my trifecta.

1 male in front of her.....she was in the place spot.....18 males were behind her!!!!!
just do the math lady!!!!

Have had the luxury of being around horses all my life, and sometimes bad things happen, especially to a gallant filly who did not and would not have pulled up no matter how much pain she was in...

When issue three failed in ohio, there were 18,000 standardbreds...now two years latere there may be 6,000 left, wonder if Peta would protest that many horses ending up on the table in france or japan.

Originally Posted by harper

Have had the luxury of being around horses all my life, and sometimes bad things happen, especially to a gallant filly who did not and would not have pulled up no matter how much pain she was in...

When issue three failed in ohio, there were 18,000 standardbreds...now two years latere there may be 6,000 left, wonder if Peta would protest that many horses ending up on the table in france or japan.

Great, great post. Extremely difficult to explain to those who can't understand the physical and mental aspects of a thoroughbred. A filly like Eight Belles would never take care of herself in a race like that. She was too competetive with too big a heart.

Thank you Cabster13 for a concise and compassionate telling of your experience. Here it's Monday, and Eight Belles' catastrophic end has been one of the lead stories on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and FOX. My friends are all bummed out. Everyone wants to know "why?" for which answer we will never be satisfied. Another friend wondered why he hurt so much in his gut for Belle, yet, though he sorrows for them, doesn't have that same awful gut feeling for our downed soldiers. I don't know that answer either.

It's just sickening to lose any of these fine horses. My mother called before the race and was't sure that she would watch because of all the tragedies of recent years. I hung up and there was Eight Belles being led by a small crowd. The crowd gave a cheer and she responded by prancing and bobing her head up and down, she KNEW that the crowd loved her and cheered for HER! She won my heart right then and there. She ran such a good race-she beat 18 colts! When they said the filly was down I knew immediatlly that it was over for her...I am still grieving and crying for the great loss of such a fine filly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by harper
Have had the luxury of being around horses all my life, and sometimes bad things happen, especially to a gallant filly who did not and would not have pulled up no matter how much pain she was in...

When issue three failed in ohio, there were 18,000 standardbreds...now two years latere there may be 6,000 left, wonder if Peta would protest that many horses ending up on the table in france or japan.


Harper, I assume issue three had to do with casinos thus the reason there are not nearly as many standardbreds left in Ohio is because they are racing for a great deal more money in Penn, NY and NJ...

Ohio goes to Ind and WVa to play the slotsby the car load. Racing was outspent in promoting issue 3 by several missiion dollars by the casinos decrying gambling and rich horsemen. This bill would have set aside money from the slots to provide a slush fund for college for every kid in Ohio....

Most of the horses in Ohio were bred to race at the local tracks and the county fairs, and the horse industry was barely hangin on.... with the national market far above their ability to compete and the hope of stimulating the ohio market gone, most of these horses found a one way ride to Sugarcreek....

Originally Posted by turfman

she beat 18 males, it's horse-racing......she was deserving to be in the big dance....
in a situation like this no choice would be right.

I have to agree...she did very well and paid a price so many colts have also before her.