Posted on 05/03/2008 7:44:26 PM PDT by kingattax
The camera cut away from her, but it should have stayed on her. Eight Belles had run herself half to death yesterday, and now the vets were finishing the job as she lay on her side, her beautiful figure a black hump on the track. Horses don't just fall down like that, you thought, as NBC flitted away, cowardlike, from the sickening picture to the more appealing image of the Kentucky Derby victor, Big Brown.
There is no turning away from this fact: Eight Belles killed herself finishing second. She ran with the heart of a locomotive, on champagne-glass ankles, trying to please her jockey, trainer, owners and all the people in the crowd, the sheiks, oilmen, entrepreneurs, old money from the thousand-acre farms, the handicappers, men in bad sport coats with crumpled sheets full of betting hieroglyphics, the julep-swillers and the ladies in hats the size of boats, and the rest of the people who make up thoroughbred racing. There was no mistaking this fact, too, as she made her stretch run, and the apologists will use it to defend the sport in the coming days: She ran to please herself.
But thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it. Twice since 2006, magnificent animals have suffered catastrophic injuries on live television in Triple Crown races, and there is no explaining that away. Horses are being over-bred and over-raced, until their bodies cannot support their own ambitions, or those of the humans who race them. Barbaro and Eight Belles merely are the most famous horses who have fatally injured themselves. On Friday, a colt named Chelokee, trained by Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz, dislocated an ankle during an undercard for the Kentucky Oaks and was given a 50 percent chance of survival.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Then with the tragedy of Barbero and now Eight Belles, I am grateful that I was engaged in yard work when yesterday's derby took place because I had every intention of watching it. As it stands, I am seeing the still photos which are tear jerking in itself and I don't know how to deal with it.
On one hand I realize it is a business for the industry of horse racing and on the other hand, it is a hobby for the owners who deal with the obvious expendable commodity of horses, albeit expensive.
Is it a necessary part of our society? I don't know.....
Can we live without horse racing? Probably but I'm not the person to judge.
About all I can say is given what has happened this weekend and two years ago, it is unlikely I will set aside time to watch this event in future years..........
Thanks for the post. THere was a guy prior who posted the pic of Barbaro in the recovery pool, and if you go to that web site they show xrays of the break, and it is as you mention. Lots of pieces.
Horse racing isn’t pointless. Money is the point.
Sorry to see this horse euthanized. Which is why I don’t like the skinny little racing breeds and go for the heavy forelegged types. Much more useful over the long haul
Many states have banned greyhound racing. Are there any states that have banned horseracing?
You have a link to that article?
I agree about the trend in breeding the Native Dancer line. There have been some absolutely breathtaking horses that came of it, but I think it is responsible for a lot of the unsoundness on the track today. Go to Canter.com, there are hundreds of horses that break down every year, though not quite so spectacularly. Nasrullah was a great stallion, with a legacy of great horses, who also had good bone. A friend had an old hunter which I used to ride who was a son of Nasrullah, Secratariat’s uncle. Great old horse, but he could be mean as a basket full of rattlesnakes! Race bred, he had great bone, and stood up to a life as a stadium jumper before “retiring” to being a hunter, and lived to the ripe old age of 38, and died sound.
Not to be a know-it-all or anything, but Nasrullah was Secretariat's grandsire, not his uncle. Secretariat was by Bold Ruler, who was by Nasrullah.
Secretariat had a lot of stamina influences in his pedigree, something that's not common today. For example, Bold Ruler's dam (mom) was by Discovery, who was by Display, who was by Fair Play, the sire of Man o' War. The Fair Play line is considered one of the most important stamina influences of the 20th Century, yet that sire line is nearly extinct today as fewer and fewer breeders in the last half-century have bred for stamina.
Secretariat was also a complete outcross, with no name being repeated in his pedigree going back 5 generations. Outcrosses like this are relatively uncommon these days. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the two horses considered by far the best of the 20th Century, Man o' War and Secretariat, were outcrosses. Man o' War was a complete outcross going back 4 generations. In his 5th generation (great-great-great grandparents), only two names repeat.
Last year's Horse of the Year, Curlin, is a complete outcross going back 5 generations. However, he's a grandson of Mr. Prospector, who was sired by Raise A Native, Native Dancer's most important son. And Curlin's dam is from the Northern Dancer line. Native Dancer was the sire of Northern Dancer's dam.
So as you can see, these days it's all but impossible to find a pedigree that doesn't have the Native Dancer line and/or the Nearco line (mostly through his sons Nasrullah and Nearctic, the sire of Northern Dancer). So most, if not all of the mares he'll be bred to will be from those lines.
The author of the article is right in one respect. It really does seem as though a very small pool of bloodlines are used by breeders these days. Whether or not that's a contributing factor in the many catastrophic breakdowns we're seeing probably could not be said with certainty without a lot of genetic research.
I believe if they waited until they were 4 yr olds..there would be alot less injuries. They are not developed enough at 3 to race..imo
1st, they break the bones, which leads to tearing of tendons, ligaments and blood vessels-there is no longer any supporting structure to the leg, and if the blood vessels cannot be repaired, no blood supply to heal the wounds. Also, if it is a compound fracture, bacteria will enter the wound which can lead to infection. If the horse manages to survive all that, THEN the problem is one of off-leg laminitis, where the horse is supporting all it’s weight on the uninjured leg/hoof. This is what ultimatley killed Barbaro. There is also the problem of colic due to inactivity-the horse is stall ridden until healing takes place. Horses were meant to move constantly while grazing and do not take well to confinement, though this can be mitigated somewhat by careful monitoring of diet and handling.
Speed kills, although even distance Euro horses break down. Colts are more likely to break down than fillies and mares-due to somewhat greater speeds, and that uncastrated males develop heavier musculature in their necks. More weight, more breakdowns. This is why jockeys have to be so light-it isn’t just an advantage to the owner’s horse, it’s to protect the animal.
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