Big Brown's Derby Win Overshadowed by Tragedy

An undefeated Big Brown thundered around the final turn to overtake the lead and win at Churchill Downs on Saturday during the 134th Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008.

The odds-on-favorite became the first horse to win from post position 20 since Clyde Van Dusen did it in 1929.

The win gave jockey Kent Desormeaux his third victory in the prestigious Run for the Roses. He won it previously on Real Quiet in 1998 and on Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

The 2-year-old filly Eight Belles came in second but tragically had to be humanely euthanized on the track after breaking both front ankles after the wire.

Her jockey, Gabriel Saez said, "When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That's when she went down."

According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the veterinarian on-site, "She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was euthanized."

Rounding out the top three was Denis of Cork, ridden by Calvin Borel.

The crowd of 157,770, the second largest in Derby history, was not only subject to the thrill of the "Most exciting two minutes in sports," but the agony of yet one more very public display of a horse "breaking down" in a race. This current tragedy makes it hard not to look back at the fate of Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, who finally had to be euthanized in January 2007 due to complications from the leg fractures he sustained in the Preakness the spring before.

What I want to know is: When Eight Belles collapsed on the track after coming in second in the Kentucky Derby, and had to be euthanized immediately is it really a shock to anyone that PETA has immediately come in up-at-arms about the whole thing?

I'm not surprised, heck, I've been saying the acronym PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) more in the past week than I ever had my entire life, since two horses had to be put-down at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event which I attended in Lexington, KY the week before the Derby.

We (as the collective horse world), with few exceptions, have been telling PETA they are NUTS for a while now. But ARE they? Completely?

According to their statement released after the Derby catastrophe, PETA calls for the following changes in horse racing:

"1. Delay training and racing until after a horse's third birthday. Before reaching this age, the animals' legs are not fully developed, which increases the chances for injury.

2. Eliminate racing on dirt surfaces. Synthetic track surfaces - such as the surfaces used at Keeneland and all California race courses - are safer for horses and have led to dramatic decreases in breakdowns.

3. Limit the number of races per season. Even Triple Crown racers who have light schedules leading up the Derby break down under the strain. Horses who race on smaller tracks are often run so frequently that strains and breaks are inevitable.

4. Ban whipping. Injured horses who are mercilessly whipped by jockeys will keep going until their legs shatter completely.

5. Immediately suspend the trainer and jockey who, through excessive force and neglect, allowed this tragic death to happen."

OK, I just have to dismiss a couple things out-of-hand here. This isn't the jockey or the trainer's fault, so #5 is right out for me. Also, I don't have ANY problem with jockeys carrying and using bats. Crops/bats/whips are ENCOURAGERS. They can get to the motor on a horse much better than any other device known to man, so I find this suggestion downright silly. And I have to come to the conclusion that the person that wrote this has NEVER tried to ride a horse past something it has decided is a horse-eater.

I also don't think that horses running on the smaller tracks, "...are run so frequently that strains and breaks are inevitable." Strains and breaks are inevitable for PEOPLE too, sorry, but no matter what you do horses will continue to strain and break their legs.

But as for number's 1 and 2 and the first sentence in 3, I don't think those are bad suggestions, especially the first one.

PETA has also published the statement, "Although Eight Belles' death, like Barbaro's before hers, made headlines, countless lesser-known horses suffer similar fate..."

You are about to witness a first. Something I never thought would ever come out of my mouth, or fingers: I guess I have to agree with PETA.

Tragic accidents can happen at anytime in life. But are the high-performance horse-sports really FAIR to the horses?

Are we asking too much from our equine partners?

Sure, thoroughbreds are bred to run, they LOVE to run, but should they be running before they are even physically mature?

Is trying to get to the top in eventing becoming tantamount to a "Do or Die" situation for horse and rider?

I can't answer these and other questions like them myself. ALL of us involved in the horse industry need to be active in this discussion and we have to have the horses' welfare as our primary concern.

I did not physically witness any of the tragic accidents of the three horses mentioned that have died this past week for sport (thank heavens for small favors), but I HAVE been very much affected by them on a personal level.

I entreat you all to join in a discussion. WE as the horse community need to be proactive in addressing the concerns of organizations and people that look at horse sports like PETA does or we will leave the final decisions OUT of horsemen's hands, and in the hands of people that don't really know and understand these magnificent animals like we do.

WE are the experts in what our horses can and can't handle. WE need to take responsibility for whatever areas in our respective disciplines are either cruel or unsafe to the horses' welfare and make the necessary changes.

Or someone else will.