Tragedy on the Track

We were still enjoying the thrill of hitting the exacta in the Kentucky Derby with Big Brown and Eight Belles (and wishing we’d bet the trifecta, since we had the third place horse, Denis of Cork, in our box, too), when the TV cameras showed a horse down on the track and announced that it was the filly, Eight Belles. Two broken ankles meant she couldn’t be saved.

A very sad ending to what had been a great race.

3 Comments

  1. Posted May 4, 2008 at 11:09 am | Permalink

    SO sad. I was upstairs assisting with a little boy’s untimely trip to the toilet, & my husband dashed up to tell me right after it happened.

    Marie’s last blog post..A royal ball

  2. Posted May 4, 2008 at 3:53 pm | Permalink

    We were having a playful wager on the race and my 4 year old niece had put all her money on Eight Belles. Luckily her interest had moved on once the race ended, but we talked about it in hushed tones in case she was listening to us. Sad indeed.

    Annie’s last blog post..Making the couscous

  3. Lisa
    Posted May 5, 2008 at 2:44 pm | Permalink

    Its breaks my heart to see things like that happen! Which is why we waited until my horse was almost 4 before we even started training her in barrel racing. Not the same thing, I know, but we wanted to make sure she was sound before training her in a race that is much harder on the legs than just your western pleasure.