Eight Belles Breaks Down At Derby
05/04/08 WGC/AP
It took a few minutes to sink in, but anyone watching those horses during the 134 running of the Kentucky Derby soon realized that one of them had fallen to the track.
"It's the filly," someone whispered. She went down about a quarter mile past the finish line.
In just a few minutes, the joy of the Derby and the promise of a new Triple Crown season were upended when Eight Belles was euthanized by injection on the track. She had broken both front ankles and could not be saved.
"This horse showed you his heart," winning jockey Kent Desormeaux said, "and Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today. I'm deeply sympathetic to that team for their loss."
Eight Belles was attempting to become the fourth filly to win the Derby. Her owners chose to keep her out of Friday's Kentucky Oaks so she could run with the boys in the Derby. And run she did.
Big Brown's start from the outside post did little to hamper his charge when the field turned for home. Under the urging of Desormeaux, the 2-1 favorite cruised to an easy victory to become the seventh undefeated Derby winner. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.
That wasn't the only reason thoughts of Barbaro were hard to ignore on this Derby Day.
The breakdown brought back memories of the 2006 Preakness, where Barbaro shattered his right rear leg just after the start. The colt was euthanized months later, after developing laminitis from the catastrophic injuries.
Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby's on-call veterinarian, said the filly's injuries were too severe to even attempt to move her off the track. "She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was euthanized," Bramlage said. Trainer Larry Jones paid tribute to his fallen filly saying, "She ran the race of her life."
And he defended having her run against 19 colts in the Derby. "It wasn't that. It wasn't the distance. It wasn't a big bumping match for her. She never got touched," he said. "She passed all those questions ... with flying colors. The race was over, all we had to do was pull up, come back and be happy. It just didn't happen."
Eight Belles paid $10.60 and $6.40, and Denis of Cork, at odds of 27-1, returned $11.60. Tale of Ekati was fourth, followed by Recapturetheglory, Colonel John, Anak Nakal, Pyro, Cowboy Cal, Z Fortune, Smooth Air, Visionaire, Court Vision, Z Humor, Cool Coal Man, Bob Black Jack, Gayego, Big Truck, Adriano and Monba.
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