Comments on: RIP Eight Belles – a moment of reflection

By: A year in the books and counting « THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

A year in the books and counting « THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:13:00 +0000

[...] the way there’s been some serious moments. Who could forget the tension and disgust when Eight Belles broke down after the Kentucky Derby? It’s a moment that literraly spun the entire sport on it’s [...]

By: Stephanie V.

Stephanie V. — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:53:03 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot of comments about the tragedy of Eight Belles and I really have to say something. I have owned horses my entire life and I love these animals with a passion. I also love to watch the Triple Crown each year. In 1973 I was 21 and watched Big Red (Secretariat) win the Triple Crown and he was MAGNIFICENT! You were in the presense of greatness, a legend. This is why people love horse racing-even the hard core betters are awestruck if they are fortunate to witness a horse such as Secretariat. He was the greatest race horse of all time because he had heart and he loved to race-yes love. He loved to run and it SHOWED! In the Derby he broke the track record for each 1/4 mile he ran-that means the next 1/4 mile he ran he beat his previous record which means he got faster with each 1/4 mile the entire race! Two weeks later in the Preakness Secretariat went from last to first on the clubhouse turn, never relinquished the lead and beat Sham (his rival during his racing career) by 2½ lengths. Clockers timed him in a Pimlico-record 1:53 2/5 for the 1 3/16 miles, but because of an apparently malfunctioning clock, the official time was recorded as 1:54 2/5, two-fifths of a second off the track record set by Canonero II in the 1971 Preakness. The most amazing race was yet to come, the Belmont: Only four horses challenged Secretariat in the Belmont, even though the previous seven horses to have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness withered in the 1½-mile race, unable to match Citation’s 1948 Triple Crown. “Big Red” changed all that on June 9, 1973. Secretariat and Sham broke together and stayed that way into the first turn. They were by themselves on the backstretch when Secretariat made the biggest move ever seen in a Triple Crown race. The following is Chick Anderson calling that part of the race: “Secretariat is alone. He is moving like a tremendous machine!” He’s going to be the Triple Crown winner. Unbelievable! An amazing performance. He’s 25 lengths in front!” It still gives me chills when I read that. Secretariat won the 1973 Belmont Stakes by an unheard of 31 lengths and he did it in 2:24 minutes breaking Gallant Man’s 16 year record by 2 3/5 seconds the equivalent of 13 lengths! The most impressive was the 31-length gap. It was so big, even the widest angle of the CBS camera covering the stretch run could barely show Secretariat in the same shot as the next-nearest horse, Twice A Prince. As Charles Hatton wrote in The Daily Racing Form, “His only point of reference is himself.” When Secretariat died in 1989 it was discovered his heart was twice the size of a normal horse. He LOVED to run and he had HEART. The people that were fortunate enough to see this great athelete win the Triple Crown, or Seattle Slew in 1976, or Affirmed in 1978, know how it feels to be in the presence of greatness!
I have a question, that needs answering, to everyone that is against horse racing because it is “cruel”: Where is your outrage when yearly there are tens of thousands of beautiful, healthy, some pregnant, (some just babies), horses being shipped in deplorable means of transportation, some don’t even survive the trip, to the slaughter houses in Canada & Mexico frightened beyond belief, then killed in the most brutal, horrible, & inhumane way possible-for human consumption. Where is your outrage for these poor horses? Although tragic, Eight Belles was treated quickly, with dignity, and humanely. Place your outrage where it is needed with horses that truely suffer horrible fates!

By: Kristy

Kristy — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:55:08 +0000

I think we are all missing the big picture here. Race horses love to race, to win is great. The word of the day should be Moral, love and respect which I believe the owners of Eight Belles and Barbaro did. It’s like people who are againts running dogs to hunt. These dogs are bred to do this and they love it, I owned huning dogs and people were alaways pleased to see that they had names and that I was more than glad to pick them up at 200 am and that they were fat and in good health. I treated them great, however I have never given a drug to make them go faster or starve them to be lighter, thats just bull. BORN TO RUN is what a horse is made of and then some are not. We need to make all the right choices for these animals and not our purses. I bet 5.00 on Eight Belles to win or place, now I have 16.00 I don’t want. Why???? Because I would have rather seen her come in last and go home and graze but racing is what she done. Lets promote better shoes and safer tracks, if we have to, better owners. Stop the over breeding and these god awful slaughter houses, they end up in. These folks have enough money to have 5 different people take care of the horse, they can also afford to feed them for 25 more years. I mean after all didn’t the horse put the millions in the pockets. LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!!!!!!!!

By: Kevin Stafford

Kevin Stafford — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:23:18 +0000

I understand what you are saying, isabellablue – but grinding the axe here on this obscure blog won’t solve anything.

I get that you hate horse racing- that comes off loud and clear. I only ask that you understand that there are people who love horses that also love horse racing, as impossible as that may be to fathom for you.

We share several passions – namely the better treatment of horses – which is why I’ve allowed you to go off on your rants here – but enough, okay? I’m not sure what the goal you are trying to accomplish here is. I’m not the industry – this blog is not the industry – and further it is not your personal soap box. If you have that much of an axe to grind against the entire sport than this is probably not the best place for you, I”m sad to say.

That being said, I’d strongly encourage you to harness that passion and start blogging about it if your goal is to increase awareness, promote activism, spread the word, etc. You can get your own free blog here at wordpress – trust me, takes about 10 minutes to set up and can then fire away all you want. Heck, I’d probably stop over regularly and read you.

So, I’ll call on you to show some class here and rather than thumb your nose at everyone else and smugly suggest that only you are a true horse lover, that if you cannot respect the few rules I have in place here (and indeed the only “rules” I’ve ever had to apply here.) that you kindly move along. I don’t think they are too much to ask.

By: isabellablue

isabellablue — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:44:49 +0000

Kevin, I would comment and say poor, poor Eight Belles, but I’m too angry that her death was the fault of the racing industry. Hopefully, however, her death will not be in vain.

Great comment Kristy. I wasn’t even going to mention the special commode for the jockeys to vomit. It’s a fact and I’ve seen it – no I wasn’t in the men’s bathroom at Churchill Downs – but it’s there. I think of Randy Romero and his mangled organs and I’m happy to hear he is still alive and doing well.

I’ve also gone with four friends over the years to stop slaughter trailers and pay for horses and watch the year of rehab it takes to bring a race horse off drugs and fix their feet. Now THAT is a heart wrenching experience and if you don’t have to be there to support a friend or rescue a horse yourself from a truck, then don’t do it. It costs a ton of money to take on such a project, but that is what people do that don’t care about money. Horse racing has little to do with any thing other than money.

I’ve had six horses my entire life and each have gone on and retired fully sound to acres of grass to eat and run on. I still make sure their feet are shod and taken care of. I now have a baby that just turned five. I didn’t get on his back until he was four. I gave him a great big hug today and watched him run his little heart out. I’m so happy he is not on a race track and look forward to the next several years we have together. It takes a true horse lover to understand the real tragedy here.