This past weekend at Churchill Downs the Kentucky Derby put on one of the most memorable races in recent horse racing history.
The bright side of it was the beautifully run race by Big Brown, the favorite at five-to-two odds coming out of the 20th post.
While not in the lead, he was near the front of the pack as they rounded the final turn. Down the final stretch he showed why he was the favorite as he galloped to a convincing victory.
And of course, the bad part of it was the exciting, yet devastating, story of Eight Belles.
Eight Belles was the three-year-old filly who was scratched from the Kentucky Oaks race on Friday to “play with the boys” in the Derby on Saturday. She was the first filly to run with the boys in nine years—and she did just that, finishing behind Big Brown in second place.
Tragically, the celebration was short-lived as she snapped both her front ankles in the cool down after the race. Doctors made the devastating decision to euthanize her moments later on the track.
Yet as I was working out this morning and watching SportsCenter, I saw a headline scroll across the bottom, reading (to paraphrase): “Trainer Larry Jones wants Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles fully tested in autopsy to prove she was not on performance-enhancing drugs.”
Really?
So it’s not enough that we can’t let Barry Bonds' record breaking 756th home run baseball go to Cooperstown without an asterisk.
And it’s not enough that Marion Jones’ teammates on the 2000 Olympic 4x100m relay team can’t keep their gold medals.
And it’s also not enough that we are destroying Roger Clemens’ reputation, both on and off the field, to try to prove that he used steroids.
But now we have to go after a horse that isn’t even alive anymore?
In all honesty, I get the point—using performance enhancing drugs is cheating. I completely agree, and feel that those who violate this rule should be punished.
But, there has to be a better way to figure this out and clean up the sports world without turning it into a witch hunt. Can’t it be accomplished more quietly by the sports regulators behind the scenes so it’s not the first story we hear about everyday?
Four days since Kentucky Derby weekend culminated there should be stories all over the sports media regarding two major things from that race.
First, the media coverage should be giving Eight Belles the respect she deserves.
We should be hearing about what a great race she ran—about how a real underdog took on some of the sport’s fastest and strongest, and nearly pulled it off. And maybe we should even be hearing about how her jockey, Gabriel Saez, perhaps rode her too hard and should have pulled up prior to the finish of the race.
And then we should be hearing about how amazing Big Brown looked in his race. They should be talking about how he looked stronger and faster than all the other horses out there, and proved it as they came down the stretch.
Stories should be popping up regarding, arguably, the most legitimate contender we now have to win the triple-crown for the first time since Affirmed did it in 1978.
And while I know that will be a hot topic of discussion as we approach the May 17th Preakness, we should hear about it now as well. And not just because Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby like other horses every year, but because of how dominant he looked in doing so.
But instead, we revert back to the media’s favorite subject—performance enhancing drugs. We seem to do this so often when major events in sports history are taking place.
In the end, I know I want to see the sports world cleaned up so that I can have confidence that the records and accomplishments that I witness are real and deserved.
But I also know that in the meantime I don’t want to miss out on a decade of enjoying those stories as the witch hunts take place.
Comments (9) Add a comment »
from 9 days ago
i think this is true and it always has to happen 2 the horse that trys the best and runs through the pain till the very end
from 9 days ago
No one is trying to tarnish the horse, a horse cannot make a decision to take any drug, clearing of blame is for the trainer/connections of the horse. And if the jockey had any idea she was injured he'd have done his best to pull her up - ever seen a spill in which a horse near the front falls? Most of the rest of the field go over them and the aftermath can be horrific, he knows this, of course, and at the very least would not have endangered his own life!
I misunderstand - was she a Philly from Philly? I'm confused, I thought a young female horse was a FILLY?
I'm sorry but non-horse people should NOT write about horse racing and this was quite obvious.
Or maybe the article was written awkwardly tongue-in-cheek and I missed it.
from 9 days ago
Number 1, it's a FILLY, not a PHILLY. And Larry Jones wants the FILLY tested because of the people looking for somewhere to place the blame of this ACCIDENT. There are horrible people who claim that she was on steroids because she was so large. My 5 year old TB was almost 17H when I got her at 3 years old, too. She never had steroids. Too bad people can't just let this poor FILLY rest in peace, and allow her connections time to grieve.
from 9 days ago
all these alleged"animal/horse lovers" at the derby,had a chance to either bask in big browns glory,or even allow a one minute of silence in honor of this glorious,and majestic creature "eight belles",and they chose the former.
just like you (the author of this shamefull article),they chose to just sweep it under the rug,after all,why take the edge off those expensive mint julips,and risk getting some tears on your fancy derby suits/dresses.
it is not only the incident itself,but it is an "indictement" on our culture ,society,and how little value life has these days.
anyone who doesn't see this,is wearing some kinda rose colored glasses.
and to the author of this article?
go break YOUR ankles,and fall down a sewer....that's where you belong.
from 6 days ago
You sound like another one of these "hit and run" commentors, let loose in the BR.
You can go report back to PETA, or wherever you crawled out from, and tell them that horses love to run. Nothing improper, unethical, orcruel was going on in the race, aside from the usual gambling that goes on in football, baseball, basketball, and even horseshoes.
Trying to put horses on the same pedestal as humans, what's next? Viruses? Bacteria? After all, they technically are alive, some viruses even attack bacteria, should we protect them too?
PETA, the brilliant way to waste money, one liberal at a time.
from 8 days ago
Terry why do you write with such hatred? I think you animal 'lovers' wear rose colored glasses too!
from 8 days ago
Have you ever seen what happens when you try and keep a racehorse locked up? its not pretty. ive seen hundreds of racehorses whove been rescued and dont understand why they cant run anymore. most cant even be turned out to pasture because they run like crazy and risk injuring themselves. it was an ACCIDENT. nothing more. and as far as the whole steroid thing goes look at another champion racemare who had an awful accident she was big too. her name was Ruffian.
from 7 days ago
I just want to know what happened. It looked liked her leg's just "crumbled" underneath her. I dont blame the Jockey or the trainer. It's hard (as a horse person) to watch these triple crown races ( which I have been watching for 30 years) and see two terrible accidents in a couple years (Barbaro). My heart goes out to all the people who trained and raised her. I hope she wasn't given any drugs that would have caused this devastating outcome. Please tell the public what happened, Thank you, Jen
from 5 days ago
Ummm... Roger Clemens is a huge douchebag. Nobody's ruining his reputation... you actually have to have a decent rep in order for it tobe ruined.
Also... I don't really follow horsies. I just don't get the big deal about horse racing.
But still, your headline and story were good enough to catch my attention. Good work
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