Eight Belles

[magwell]

Originally Posted by Show Me the Wire

Three serious injuries since Friday of sound horses. Gives me reason to blame the track surface.

Your 100% right, time for all tracks to get in the 21st century,Im not saying thats going to stop horses from breaking down but at least we should make an effort, dirt tracks went out with high buckled shoes....

[colonial]

no alot of the problem is the horses breed today aren't as sound as the horses of years past. raced more and were breed to be sound.

[garyscpa]

Or perhaps in their attempt to create a fast track, especially after the rains yesterday and last night, they scraped the track too low.

[srdnaty]

IMO this picture is the picture of the day and its now my desktop to remember the heart this horse had.

RIP

[cj's dad]

Originally Posted by Show Me the Wire

Another victim claimed by unsafe dirt tracks. CD should start looking at going synthetic.

If I remember correctly, Pimlico is a dirt track and that is where Barbaro injured himself. Dumbest post i've seen in quite some time.

[Shenanigans]

Originally Posted by dutchboy

Heard today about an article in the Wall Street Journal friday that each horse running in the Ky Derby today can trace their ancestry to one horse. May have been Northern Dancer.

The comment was that one of the problems with breakdowns is that horses with that sire in their pedigree seem to have serious leg problems. A solution being tried was to import horses from Europe to improve the breeding.

This was a local sports talk show and I was not listening closely so I may have the source of the article wrong. I was busy reading the private clockers reports and experts talking about Big Brown's sore feet and how it would affect him today.

Only horse I bet today was Denis of Cork to win and place. Could have been a good day.

There have been a lot of Northern Dancer progeny imported to Europe.

[Shenanigans]

I don't think I would blame the track for these breakdowns. Go to the Kentucky Derby website and view this fillys' last two races. She was lugging in badly while being whipped left handed. Horses don't lug into the whip, they get away from it if they are bothered by the whip. She lugged in in the Derby down the stretch. Lugging in is usually a sign of something wrong. I don't understand how these trainers don't see this stuff. I stated in another thread that I liked this filly, but wasn't too keen on her lugging in. Now you see why. Very game filly with a huge heart. Dirty shame.

[tomcalta]

I was just reading an article on ESPN and then made the mistake of read the comments that followed, and i couldnt stop myself from responding. People saying that horse racing is cruel and should be banned and how they have been watching for 31 years and they are just now being turned off. Saying that PETA should get involved to put an end to it. I cant stand it.

Yet, i am not surprised by their reactions. We can all agree that this stuff RARELY happens in horse racing. But why does it have to keep hapening when the whole world is watching!

Others said its "part of the sport," and that "if you dont like it dont watch it" and i cant agree with that either. Its not part of the sport and things are being done to keep horse and rider safer.

[Shenanigans]

Originally Posted by tomcalta

I was just reading an article on ESPN and then made the mistake of read the comments that followed, and i couldnt stop myself from responding. People saying that horse racing is cruel and should be banned and how they have been watching for 31 years and they are just now being turned off. Saying that PETA should get involved to put an end to it. I cant stand it.

Yet, i am not surprised by their reactions. We can all agree that this stuff RARELY happens in horse racing. But why does it have to keep hapening when the whole world is watching!

Others said its "part of the sport," and that "if you dont like it dont watch it" and i cant agree with that either. Its not part of the sport and things are being done to keep horse and rider safer.

Horses are pushed to the max on these big days. Being "worth millions" does not make a difference when owners want to win big races. Too bad there are many naive people that think the worth of the horse is going to dictate whether or not it should be raced. Yes, there are owners out there that don't take the risk, but usually it's after it's won "the big one" and it can be retired to the breeding shed. The bigger the race, the more the horse is worth.

[HEY DUDE]

I really liked Eight Bells. I feel terrible for what has happened to her. I must admit, this is the part of the sport that makes it difficult for me to continue to watch and play. My condolances go out to her connections.


RIP Baby!

[Spendabuck85]

From MSNBC.com:

But Bramlage said that an artificial racing surface would likely have made no difference in Eight Belles’ case.

“I don’t think you can blame the injury on the racetrack or say that the (artificial) track would have prevented it,” he said. “… She was done with the race … and I don’t think the forces on her legs pulling up would be any different on dirt or artificial surface.”

Jones also said that he didn’t place any blame on the track surface, which he said was in excellent condition despite the heavy rains on Friday and overnight.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24445049/

[Kelso]

Originally Posted by Show Me the Wire

Three serious injuries since Friday of sound horses.

An unsupported and, perhaps, motivated assumption? What certainties do you have as to their respective pre-race conditions?

[Marlin]

[QUOTE=Show Me the Wire]Three serious injuries since Friday of sound horses. [QUOTE]Show me a sound horse and I will show you a slow horse. Every single horse at the highest level has a physical issue. It's about manging these issues that separates the trainers from the grooms.

[dav4463]

I hate collecting place money on a horse that broke down.

[PaceAdvantage]

Lest we forget, horses have broken down on nationally televised racing days at tracks FEATURING ARTIFICIAL SURFACES.....remember my stellar thread?

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/s...eland+Massacre