1st place: $$$; 2nd place: Death

If this were in fact the stakes and stipulations of the Kentucky Derby, then it really would be the most exciting two minutes in sports.

This is sad

I'm with you.

i hate horse racing, horses are dying for no reason, it is equivilent to the war in iraq

i don't know if you could compare it to the war in iraq but the fact that horses die sometimes because of racing is really bad

I think that Philly is referring to the other article that outlined the way race horses are bred, they are dying at a faster rate during races. According to the article 2 die per day. I guess if we were going to compare iraq to deaths in racing the deaths in racing would be in the lead.

It was an awkward moment during the first post-race medical interview where it was revealed that Eight Belles had already been killed. And then they cut immediately back to coverage of the Big Brown celebration. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.

that was really strange

Really really sad. That's all I have to say.

this was a very special filly and she had the best care as jones and porter are the kind of trainers that really care about their horses,they are considered family

comment below viewing threshold. show / hide comment

I don't care for an animal of a different species, nor should the sports media mourn over this.

Do you have any heart? That was a horrific tragedy.

were u neglected as a child? because you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat animals, and the only excuse one could have to hate a fellow mammal is some deep hate of someone in ur life who makes you think of animals. or you have no soul. one or the other...

Are you serious?

Sad ending to a great sports event. I'm glad they didn't show her actually going down. Watching Barbaro go down during the Preakness last year was sad enough.

Ok I never been a horse racing fan but I actually paid attention to this race. When they said the horse has been euthanized I couldn't believe it. Now my questions because I never look a horse racing is.. #1 Do they normally kill the horse that quick? and #2 Ok the horse broke it's ankles so why was euthanized? I mean I know it won't race again but couldn't they treat it and try to heal the horse?

Because a horse's anatomy is very different from a lot of animals, particularly thoroughbreds. They hold so much muscle and mass on their legs that when they get a break, the other legs try to compensate by holding that pressure, and they break down over time. In addition, when horses get fractures, their bones break in 10 different places and it's very difficult to heal. It's the same reason they had to put down Barbaro, except this scenario presented a more serious and more painful threat to the horse.

ya i hate to say it but the bones were sticking out of Belle's skin, and there was a HUGE possibility of infection. It was the same case that happened to Barbarro, except his fracture was only on 1 ankle, so he had a slight possibility of recovering. But at that point, the most humane thing to do was not make the poor horse put up with all the suffering. RIP Eight Belles.

when they break one leg they stand a chance but with 2 they do not literally have a leg to stand on..there is no way to heal two breaks at the same time.they did the only thing that could have been done that would have been fair to the horse.larry and rick did not even know until after it had been done.i can not imagine how they must feel! rest in peace lady belles

It was really sad

http://sportscracklepop.com/2008/05/04/the-kentucky-derby-i-was-a-quarter-right/

Not to be redundant...Ok, I'll be redundant...this is incredibly sad. Horses are beautiful animals and watching them in motion is equally so. Still, its clear that the handlers had no choice but to put down Eight Belles. As other have posted, a break in both legs is not something a horse can recover from. The question is, if this keeps happening, willl horse racing survive? It is hard to be a fan when the animals die.