Kentucky Derby: How Much Tragedy Can We Endure?

I've finally had it.

I've stated it privately. Now I'll state it in public: I will never again watch a horse race while it's in progress.

Why? Because of Eight Belles.

I decided not to watch the 2008 Kentucky Derby. I made sure I was far from the TV when the race ran this year. The memories of the great Barbaro and his injury just weeks after he rode into fame at Churchill Downs in 2006 were still too raw.

Most of us believed that thanks to the extraordinary care he received and his indomitable spirit, he would survive and walk on all four hooves. This was not to be. He was euthanized on January 29, 2007 due to laminitis.

But Barbaro's injury was not the only catastrophic one in recent years. We just heard more about it. We also lost wonderful horses such as Pine Island and Mending Fences.

There was something very special about a filly named Eight Belles. She was the first filly to start in the Derby since 1999. She was a big, big girl, reportedly 17 hands tall. According to AlexBrownRacing, she finished 4 ¾ lengths behind the phenomenal Big Brown in the 134^th Run for the Roses. She arrived at the Derby with four consecutive wins this season and finished a comfortable distance ahead of the third-place horse.

The thing is, Eight Belles probably ran herself to death. According to Brown's site, she executed a come-from-behind race, only to break both ankles as her jockey galloped her out approaching the backstretch. As she fell, she threw jockey Gabriel Saez but tried to pull herself together, then partially collapsed again as outriders and emergency staff rushed to her side.

The horse suffered two compound fractures. Larry Bramlage, an on-call vet, said she had to be immediately euthanized.

Those of us who love animals, on or off the track, should be asking ourselves several questions right now. The most immediate should be why it was necessary to plaster graphic photos of her injuries all over the media. Close behind that: will the fact that she was a filly minimize the importance of what happened to her?