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.
9 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete