Although I have read a hundred books about racing and its most legendary horses, I don't follow horse racing at all, although Gina (my editor and friend at Pet Connection) does. But I always watch the Kentucky Derby, and I imagine there are a lot of viewers like me, for whom the Derby is everything we know of horse racing.
And I am not the only one I've seen today who's written these words: I'm done with the Kentucky Derby.
Watching Eight Belles, the first filly to start the Derby since 1999, who came in second to winner and favorite Big Brown, go down with two broken ankles and be euthanized where she fell, is more than I can stand. So I'm done.
I didn't see the race, but I saw a post about it at HuffPo. I thought, "God, how awful!" I'm not a big horse race enthusiast, but I do watch the Triple Crown races sometimes, if there's a horse with an intriguing name (remember Thunder Gulch?) If I'd watched this one, I'm sure I would have cried.
Posted by: Red | 03 May 2008 at 06:08 PM
Reminds me of when I was a kid and my Dad took me to a rodeo. At one point they had a calf roping competition. One of the calves was apparently roped incorrectly and his neck snapped and he died on the spot. This happened more than 40 years ago but its all I remember of the rodeo. Never went to another one.
Posted by: R4man | 03 May 2008 at 11:31 PM
I'm done. Death to the sport of kings. It's needs to be over.
Time to expose the dark side of this sport.
Great article by Ed Berliner at Bleacher Report:
Death at The Kentucky Derby
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/21227-Death-at-The-Kentucky-Derby-Eight-Belles-Tolls-for-Thoroughbred-Racing
Posted by: Ceci | 05 May 2008 at 01:46 PM