abigail414's diaryland diary
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In Memory of Eight Belles
Eight Belles was a 3 year old filly who died at the Kentucky Derby today. Her stats indicate that she raced 9 times in her short life, won 5 of them, was bred in Kentucky at Serengeti Stables, and was the daughter of Unbridled Song and the Dixieland mare Away. Eight Belles was Triple Crown nominated on March 29, and had over $300,000 in winnings. She was considered big for a filly, and was the only one in the Derby. In the photo below, Eight Belles is on the left, coming in second place to the winner Big Brown.
Unfortunately, something went wrong after the finish line while she was slowing down. Both her front legs broke at the ankles. There was no saving her, based on the kind of fracture and the difficulty in convalescing a horse, so she was euthanized.
I was at a Derby party, wearing a hat and drinking mint juleps, being festive with other derby-watchers, rooting for our underdogs - and then there was an animal in pain. The whole thing about being a racehorse is probably pretty painful, and I�ve been in denial. I loved the beauty and power and adrenaline of it all. This just smacked me in the face and I may be done watching horse races. Barbaro had a �breakdown� in 2006, now Eight Belles, and there are probably hundreds more happening at lower profile races. I think they are running them too young and too hard. Or running them with prior injuries. Or breeding them unsoundly. Horses race on what would be our middle finger, and are a lot more fragile than they look.
I hope that somebody loved Eight Belles. She seemed like a nice horse, walking from the paddock and into the starter gate. In pre-race videos, her trainer and owner both seemed like jerks, but maybe there was a groom or exercise rider or little girl who brought her apples and carrots. I cried for her today, and I never met her. She was a beautiful creature, running for her life, which ended abruptly and too soon.
8:51 p.m. - 2008-05-03
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