Posted on 05/04/2008 7:18:36 PM PDT by RDTF
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking the suspension of Eight Belles' jockey after the filly had to be euthanized following her second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Gabriel Saez was riding Eight Belles when she broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter of a mile past the wire. She was euthanized on the track.
PETA faxed a letter Sunday to Kentucky's racing authority claiming the filly was "doubtlessly injured before the finish" and asked that Saez be suspended while Eight Belles' death is investigated.
"What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?" PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. "If he didn't then we can probably blame the fact that they're allowed to whip the horses mercilessly."
Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones said the filly was clearly happy when she crossed the finish line.
"I don't know how in the heck they can even come close to saying that," Jones told The Associated Press on Sunday. "She has her ears up, clearly galloping out."
Guillermo said if Saez is found at fault, the group wants the second- place prize of $400,000 won by Eight Belles to be revoked.
Saez, a 20-year-old Panama native, was riding in his first Kentucky Derby. He frequently rides for Jones.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Peta slimeballs would like to see every racehorse euthanized, along with all pets and domesticated animals.
Screw PETA!
Who the hell are they to demand anything of anybody?
I “demand” PETA disband until there are no more abortions!
We should just do away with every great American tradition because PETA or MADD or the Centers For Science In The Public Interest or the PTA or the UAW or the DNC or AFSCME says we should.
“PETA faxed a letter Sunday to Kentucky’s racing authority claiming the filly was “doubtlessly injured before the finish”
Because these socialist morons would know without even so much as a necropsy? The arrogance is stunning.
PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals. The hell with PETA. They are the who who killed hundreds of animals rather than try to get them adopted by good families. PETA is probably known for killing more animals than all the puppy mills and dog fighters in the country.
What is stunning is the stupidity of ANYONE who is associated with that idiot group...may their name rot in Hades.
PETA has no standing in any of this.
Hey, perhaps Free Republic ought to file a lawsuit against PETA for using up air and food resources that could be used on animals, instead.
I don’t like PETA either but I agree with suspending the jockey and investigating the poor horse’s death.
I traveled an hour every day (several years ago) to attend the court proceedings of a man who axed his dog to death in his front yard, in front of passerby’s and children. PETA was everywhere. They all appeared to be total NUTS.
One lady even carried a furry purse shaped like a cat - (glass eyes and all), and she petted that stupid “cat” purse during the entire trial - even talked to it as she petted the fur. It got national tv coverage.
Do you think people would bet money on jockeys racing around on PETA people?
I am sure the officials properly filed the compliant.
How do you know that wasn't her real cat?
Using the news to advance their agenda. Period.
yep
You understand you're taking away a man's paycheck. He can't draw unemployment if he's suspended.
And what basis is there for an investigation of the death? It has to be something more than the fact that a breakdown occurred. Racehorses are pushed to the limit, and they frequently break down, just as human athletes are frequently injured. It's not usually a catastrophic breakdown, like the wide receiver who broke his neck and was paralyzed, but it's not anyone's fault, unless you just want to stop the racing industry.
Of course, then somebody's going to have to feed all those racehorses, stallions, and broodmares . . . or they'll be turned out to starve because they can't be sold for slaughter in this country any more.
Unintended consequences all over the place . . . .
ROTF, Alouette!!!
I’d be the last one to defend PETA but there is talk in the racing community that Saez was PO’d at the filly and pulled the nose down after the finish line as punishment for a bad effort causing the injury.
This is a totally different claim than the BS PETA is spewing, but let’s face it, this kind of accident isn’t normal.
BTW, I checked on Saez before the race, he’s only a 20yo from Panama. Not unusual as far as jockeys go, but look at the trash swimming the Rio Grande. I was thinking maybe he was a young Edgar Prado. Darn glad I didn’t bet on him.
I’d pay good money to see that,as long as the jockeys don’t spare the whip....
You have to admit that PETA has some good-looking fillies in their stable, unlike the CODE PINK nags
Where’s PETA during the running of the bulls in Spain? The ONLY reason PETA makes nosie is because they’re tolerated.
Simple as that.
I’ll admit they have some decent fillies in their stable but-I learned a long time ago not to try to ride a crazy horse.
What, they think this guy doesn’t already feel like sh*t? Nothing like kicking someone when they’re down.
do you speak from knowledge or just speculation? Many that have knowledge (and common sense) know this is was no usual incident.
Very well put, thank you.
"No lie about not caring for people. In 2003, Newkirk hectored late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat because a terrorist blew up a donkey in an attempt to blow up people. Newkirk also told the New Yorker the world would be a better place without people. She explained why she had herself sterilized: "I am opposed to having children. Having a purebred human baby is like having a purebred dog; it's nothing but vanity, human vanity."
Another freeper posted an prerace article by a sports reporter who was concerned that Eight Bells was too lightly raced to take on the Derby, and predicted tragedy.
I’m not a PETA lover, but if the horse was abused, I’d like to see some consequences. Perhaps the racing fraternity should take this on.
I’ll see if I can find it.
Horseracing is an extremely dirty business. I’d look to see how much insurance there was on the horse.
Here it is. It was written by a racing reporter, so I wouldn’t lightly discount it.
By the way, what the heck was done to the search? All the posts are all jumbled, ones from 5 years ago listed before yesterdays. I wouldn’t have been able to find it if I hadn’t bookmarked it.
Someone believes Eight Belles never had a chance to get through it uninjured:
Kentucky thoroughbred racing columnist Paul Moran, April 30, 2008, wrote the following column:
“Where are the animal rights activists when you need them?
Eight Belles was entered in the 134th Kentucky Derby on Wednesday. Success would demand that she run 10 furlongs faster than 19 males. There is the most remote possibility that she will succeed, this covered by one of life’s immutable truths: Anything can happen in a horse race.
What is far more likely is that Eight Belles will be permanently scarred by the experience.
Three fillies have won the Derby, in 1915, Genuine Risk, Genuine Risk, in 1981, and Winning Colors, whose victory will mark its 20th anniversary on Saturday.
Regret, though she was generally unsound, was an extremely fast filly whose regularly defeated males. But Genuine Risk and Winning Colors were nothing like Eight Belles. Both were big, rugged fillies who competed against males on even physical terms. Winning Colors defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby before the Derby. Genuine Risk prepped for the Derby in the Wood Memorial, in which she finished third.
Eight Belles has nothing in common with those fillies.
She is, however, a beautifully conformed filly, light-framed and feminine. Her misfortune is not trainer Larry Jones, who skirts the issue uncomfortably. A trainer who criticizes the decisions made by an owner will not be training for long. Though he came here a year ago with Hard Spun, who was runner-up to Street Sense, Jones shows no symptoms of Derby fever and he seems uncomfortable discussing Eight Belles’ chances in the Derby. Owner Rick Porter, however, is apparently beset by Derby fever.
Unlike the three fillies who have won the Derby, Eight Belles has never faced males nor has she attempted a race beyond 1 1/16. She has won her last four races, one in New Orleans, three in Arkansas but none in Grade I company. She would be formidable in the Oaks on Friday, in which Jones has Proud Spell for more reasonable, less vain connections who are probably concerned with the welfare and well being of their prized filly.
There is no reason beyond vanity to run Eight Belles in the Derby, either. As a breeding prospect, her value may be increased but a broodmare can produce only one foal a year. Breeders found it almost impossible for Genuine Risk to conceive and Winning Colors has had no impact as a broodmare.
The only thing that might have saved Eight Belles from the cruelty she is about to endure was a poor post position but the draw put her connections sixth in order of selection, assuring a favorable position in the barrier a day after she drew the outside post in a field of 12 entered in the Oaks. She will face the firing squad from post five.
Porter has enjoyed great success, having owned the very good filly, Jostle, a Grade I winner in 2000, Round Pond, winner of the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Hard Spun, who he sold for an enormous amount of money last year. Porter should know better. He should also show a bit of compassion for a very nice, still developing filly who, if he sends her into the teeth of a buzzsaw on Saturday, may very well leave he career in the shadows of the twin spires. If so, it will be a sad, sad day. –PM
I hope PETA understands that. I think the jockey should be investigated just to make sure that he didn't push her to the breaking point. If nothing foul or sinister happened, then PETA should be quiet and move along.
I am surprised that this story didn’t say that it was Bush’s fault since the Liberals seem to think everything else that’s going wrong in America is Bush’s fault.
We have been over this ground before on another thread. You made no response to my posts at the time explaining how the stewards have had more than ample opportunity examine the many yards of tape made from every possible angle at every moment of that race. They also have heard from the vets who already examined the legs of the mare.
Please tell us all about what further investigation you think there could be and by what mechanism you imagine a jockey could conceivably break two ankles while he was sitting in the saddle.
These people are lunatics, and should be ignored by normal people.
"This is Christian4Bush, reminding you to help control the PETA population; have your PETA spayed or neutered."
/channeling Bob Barker
Or that it was due to global warming...
An American Mother is a very experienced horsewoman who owns a Thoroughbred mare herself. I am a former professional horsewoman who has experience with racehorses, managed a training facility for racehorses, and now enjoys retraining retired racehorses for hunting or dressage as a pleasure rather than a profession. I too own a Thoroughbred mare, hence the screen name OTTBMare. We are speaking from knowledge, not speculation. How about you? What are you credentials, and what international-caliber trainers did you study with?
"Many that [sic] have knowledge and common sense" know that breakdowns like this happen far more often than the general public is aware. The public only hears about it when it happens in a Triple Crown race.
Bump - agree.
I among many TV watchers was upset by the trauma of the suffering and euthanasia of this fine horse.
Belles seemed ready to run. Where was she "unsound?" There was no way to pull her back. She wanted to finish. She wanted to win.
Putting her down right away was kind.
You push any animal, human, or machine to their extremes and the odds say a certain percentage will fail. That's just life. Obviously a Second Place finish horse is worth far more alive than dead so I'd rule out insurance right off the bat. The death was a monetary loss of future earnings.
Just a bad day for the horse, owner, jockey, handlers, and trainer. It could have happened just as easy riding a common horse in an open field at full gallop. Such things as groundhog holes etc have taken many a horse down. Thankfully the Jockey or no one else was hurt.
BTW didn't Street Sense Jockey {last years winner} have a horse fall on him the year before?
This is an important (and funny) story. Thanks very much to you--and Dad.
I think the reporter was refering to Regret, not Eight Belles.
Peta is as disgusting an organization as there is.
They’ve taken what should be a reasonable area of concern, and have made it so people automatically dismiss what would otherwise be normal areas for concern, just because their name is associated with the complaint.
These leftist fringe/terrorist groups are getting out of hand.
I heard that the breed line that the horse came from had several horses with weak ankles. I don’t know if that is true but just what I’ve heard.
The PETA people are upset because their horse didn’t come in first.
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