134th Derby (Slo-Mo Views of Eight Belles)

[DutraAnderson]

HOJE 3 ANOS SEM EIGHT BELLES EU A AMO, REST IN PEACE, : ( anderson do BRASIL

[MichaelJs1luv96]

Eight Belle's is LUCKY cuz she won second and beat at least some sort of world record!

[crystalwolf2006]

If these horses run for the shear pleasure of it, then why do they whip the crap out of them to get them moving? Yes TBs love to run, but they don't understand winning like people do. They hear the praise after they win. Anything likes to be praised for a job well done. But to say these horses do this all their own is BS. If that were the case then jockeys wouldn't even ride with crops, they would just let the horses run the way they wanted to. It's about money, hands down.

[thoroughbredrescuer4]

I am not a sick puppy and I DO have dignity. I have seen some terrible accidents on the track. But I will say this...

Horse racing is a magnificent sport, it is full of power, spirit, life, and mostly heart. The sport alone is not bad, it is the people who make it bad.

[umarmaxmas]

i confirm you in what you have said.

i would add CLASS and BEAUTY to your third line.

and for the critics, could you please name a physically demanding sport in which athletes dont get injuries.

[crystalwolf2006]

@umarmaxmas People KNOW the risks, animals don't. They are MADE to do "sports".

[umarmaxmas]

@crystalwolf2006 the only thing God made for horses is running.

[crystalwolf2006]

@umarmaxmas Yes, horses love running and they're the most beautiful animal to watch running. But race horses are run way harder than horses would run normally. Horses know their bodies and when to take it easy. These horses are push beyond what their bodies can take and break down.

[latinostallion94]

@maryhoernchen Her ankles didnt break during the race stupid. The accident happened when she was galloping out. U would know that if u watched 4:28-4:41

[mrshorsejumper]

aww:9

[dhanimals1028]

What I just noticed about this race, these horses are very "clumped" together. This would make the move that Calvin Borel did with Street Sense and Mine That Bird a lot harder, or impossible. If someone tried, they would just get lost between all of the horses. I can't believe this was eight belles last race! She looked so happy during the race. Her owners were devastated. RIP girl...

[crystalwolf2006]

@dhanimals1028 Devastated because their money maker is now dead and they have to wait another 3 years to get another Eight Bells to make them some money.

[meowington22]

it makes me want to cry every time i think of her.  so sad....

[articgirl101]

for all you anti-raceing horses they are breed to run they go crazy if they dont eight bells is no exciption.accidents happen theres always a what if?so dont say that it's mean to run these guys cause it's not thats what they want to do

and i loved eight bells i wished she hadnt died she was so pretty but they took a chance with running her with males and it didnt go as well as planned and death happened i agree the jokey was whipping her to hard though and that whips should be banned!!

[Surrender95]

using animals for money im not some animal rights fanantic but please,WHY?There is no point the horses lifes are shortened

[47scmefly]

Ohhh, sweet girl, we won't forget you. You gave those boys a run for their money...

[FanOBarbaro]

a loose shoe wouldn't be the sole reason Brownie lost the Belmont

[thoroughbredrescuer4]

Okay, look it up, Big Brown had a loose shoe, and I'm NOT kidding. I heard it on the radio AND looked it up, its true. And yes drugs are serious, but I don't think that that had anything to do with Big Brown winning. He is a great racehorse. I think Eight Belles would have won if it weren't for her injury, but I have no evidence otherwise. Also Thoroughbreds don't have to be racers OR jumpers they can do whatever their heart desires to do. I love Eight Belles, she is the Besr RaceHorse!!!!

[ottopasquier]

Your name is tbrescuer and you support racing ... you are one sick puppy ; I guess you have not seen or rescued the type of TB who come my way ... HAVE SOME DIGNITY

[iqreevo]

RIP Eight Belles

and as for you anti horse racing people - horses dont HAVE to run. they are MORE than capable of disposing of their rider and not racing. they LIKE it. accidents are tragic yes.. but it happens.

jumping isnt MADE to be dangerous idiot and Big Brown was found to have NOTHING wrong after the Belmont. he had an off day just like people do.

before you tell others to get their facts straight u should get urs.

[mariasmon]

LOL boy are they ever. They are perfectly capable of making their own decision whether or not they even want to go in the gate. If they don't want the jockey on them, off they go LOL. The horse always wins...

[krudmonk]

people who watch this "sport" should be euthanized

[MitsukiChanUnlimited]

That was rude and uncalled for. I don't agree with how the horses are treated but I still watch the sport.

[mariasmon]

You are sick in my opinion. There are many people that are very caring in this sport. As any other sport shit happens and there are good and bad people EVERYWHERE!!!!!

[rebellion67]

.. and, the fact was she was too YOUNG and should have NEVER, EVER been put in this race. GOD, i hate horseracing now. and, yes, i live not 10 minutes from Churchill Downs. THIS LITERALLY DISGUSTS ME. IT REALLY DOES! .. God bless Eight Belles!

[rebellion67]

the luv of money cost eight belles her life. nuf' said!

[Ruffian4Ever]

Its not for the love of money, idiot. The Derby isnt about that. So even though you might live 10 minutes for Churchill, you obviously know nothing about the sport.

[mariasmon]

It is about the run for the roses. :) I still believe that Eight Belles won that race.

"The issue of steroids in horse racing saw increased public scrutiny this spring after Rick Dutrow Jr., the trainer of Big Brown, acknowledged using the anabolic steroid stanozolol on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner."

[SimoncowBELLs]

Sad what happened to Eight Belles, but that was one helluva effort to come in 2nd after big brown.

[mariasmon]

No she didn't. She won this damn race. :-) She was running against drugs not a horse.

"The issue of steroids in horse racing saw increased public scrutiny this spring after Rick Dutrow Jr., the trainer of Big Brown, acknowledged using the anabolic steroid stanozolol on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner."

[directorwvp2]

Where's The FedEx Horse? I thought FedEx is faster and better than Big Brown. "FedEx, when it absolutley positively has to be there over night!

[directorwvp2]

Horses should race in water. That way they wouldn't hurt themselves ... they would just have to learn to doggy paddle really hard and THAT would be fun to watch. Fewer broken hooves.

[cheezits2on2]

horses would get hurt racing in water, they could drown, break something on a rock, ect

[DeepRedBlue]

Blatantly a horserace wouldnt be done in water with rocks... That would be stupid... And horses can natrually swim.

[shahrzad1893]

i saw more of big brown than eight belles

[horses2ride]

All my favorite racehorses are dying! *sniff sniff* (barbaro, Ruffian, and now 8 Belles!!!!) good bye sweet mare!

[BlackMinos]

poor animals... its sad how they are threated

[sassygirl6969]

threated??? what the heck is that dont you mean threatend?

[donray7]

My last comment was for silvaa70.

[roosterrocks]

no one pays attention to the sport till a horse dies then all they do is bitch come on people this is very rare

[sassygirl6969]

yea ok do you know how many breakdowns ive seen on youtube and all races in the past few years?

[roosterrocks]

that part of the risk in jumping horses break thier legs and die all the time but you dont hear of that because its not on the tv

[MitsukiChanUnlimited]

Incorrect, Jumping was made to be dangerous because a horse that couldn't jump couldn't or should fight on the battlefield. Research you sport history and jumping is always on TV you just need the right channel.

[dabertl2007]

come one... it was just a horse!!!!! if we make a tribute for every animal we kill and eat every day you tube will be impact full of that shit....

[Starlioness1978]

if you had a loved one that ran in the olympics and he/she died shortly after the race.. and everyone said it was just a random person that died.. it happens all the time.. I don't think you'd be very happy.

[BlackMinos]

it was a horse that died because the way she was threathen

[carlykaiser]

It already has shit in it,

You're here aren't you?

[rebellion67]

.. Eight Belles was the greatest filly .. EVER!

[matisforever]

what about rags to riches?

[Redsoxlover3477]

show was ruffian

[Redsoxlover3477]

ahh srry,

so* was ruffian

[EightBelles6]

@rebellion67 I agree!! :D

[SecretariatFanForeva]

@rebellion67 There's Ruffian and Zenyatta. She's 3rd best

[Halgrim]

As Big Brown starts to pull away you can see Eight Belles surge and keep up with him. She wasn't gonna let him humiliate her and she actually pulled to within a couple of lengths. Big Brown was just too powerful.

If the race was won on heart alone, that beautiful filly wins the race going away. Such a beautiful animal.

[mtsai2007]

RIP Eight Belles. you ran good.

[silvaaa70]

Please! Those horses are exploited by the owners, trainers, jockeys and spectators alike. Any of these horses would literally kill itself running. The horse didn't run with heart. It ran because it has been turned into a machine with one simple task: run as fast as it can. It knows nothing else. What happens when it can no longer race? The horse is given away, sold or put down. The people involved don't care about these horses. If they did they wouldn't put them through the rigors of racing.

[donray7]

You clearly don't know much about horses. The will to win, which is "heart" in racehorses, is a very real thing. That filly had so much talent and heart it was unbelievable. She beat 18 of the best colts around to come in second in the Kentucky Derby. This horse was loved and will be missed. She died not from abuse or cruelty but a freak accident that was caused most likely from the fatigue of running the race of her life. RIP Eight Belles.

[sassygirl6969]

You are right, that she really wanted to win and SHE was pushing herself too much and her dumb jockey didn't care and he let her run herself to death.....like when Kent Desormeaux said "I didn't have any horse!" Big Brown knew it was time to go and he would've run himself too hard and broke down too and Kent knew that and thats why he eased him up!

[MitsukiChanUnlimited]

IT wasn't that Eight Belles took a stumble as she was going into the turn and she flipped over. If you looked at the jockey afterwards he was so devastated he was crying. And in the Belmont Brown's lung collapsed and he was almost bleeding out of his nose. There was no possible way for him to run. Plus these are million dollar horses you don't push them the way you said.

[Ruffian4Ever]

Where did you here that Big Brown collapsed a lung? His vet checked him out after the race and found nothing.

[indysk8r32]

You would know that this is simply not true if you had ever ridden or worked around racehorses. These are 1200 lb animals, if they don't want to run, they're not going to run and they can't really be forced. And a lot of racehorses lives do not end in tragedy, many go on to great careers as pleasure horses or therapy horses. It sucks so much when this happens, but it doesn't mean that the whole racing world is corrupt.

[davisondad]

It's easy to see you've never been to Kentucky in the Spring! The foals race each other around the meadows all the time! Even at that young age, they are setting a pecking order of dominace. As for what they do when thier racing careers are over...the get put out to stud! The owners bring them new females to have sex with every day, sometimes two a day!! Doesn't sound too bad to me!

[babypebbles5]

x.[

Eight Belles was a beatiful fillie!!!! She was trying so hard, right behind Big Brown most of the race, then win they past the finish line, she fell, broke both front ankles! Its very heart-breaking. Its really sad tht she couldnt celebrate her coming in 2. ♥♥

[Redsoxlover3477]

Actually,

Eight Belles broke her ankles before and then ran on them across the finish line. But they gave way on her just after the finish line,

[sassygirl6969]

how do you know she broke her legs before the finish??????

[Redsoxlover3477]

I read it in the paper.

[TheGypsyStarr]

you can see her giving her all that was tragic a tragic end to such a promising filly

[godblesskentucky]

i watched this in person it was horrible... everyone in the grand stands were bawling....

i love you eight belles rest in peace

[mannierat]

I agree, running them under the age of four is idiotic though horse racing is not cruel as most people like to think, but then most people have had naught to do with it but watch it on TV. I am a strapper/track work rider and can say that the horses NEVER EVER have their injuries masked with drugs. These horses are worth thousands and thousands of dollars and owners/trainers are NOT going to run them with injuries!! Injuries and death occur in all horse sports, we just don't see them on TV!

[Spazzer]

So, Hillary bet on a horse and it ended up losing and dying? Jeez, that sure says something about the things she touches. :(!

[Redsoxlover3477]

i think the desicion to put Eight Belles down was a good one. If they she would have suffered so much more.

They train these horses too young. The way they train these horses is bad enough but they should atleast train them when there older and have gotten a chance.i think horse racing is an awful sport. If people never like horse racing in the first place none of those great horses would have died. Please dont hate me for saying this!!

[BlackMinos]

u are absolutely right... poor animals

[carlykaiser]

Racing them younger makes their bones stronger, if they didn't ride them at two you'd see way more breakdowns.

[blown93coupe]

Carly you are incorrect in your statement. Exercise in moderation builds bone density and muscle mass. The exertion required of these horses is more then ideal to build the most sound and healthy physic possible that factored in with the overuse of drugs gives these horses a false feeling of fitness and soundness.

[DeepRedBlue]

Where do you get your info from?! When any animal is still growing, it is a bad idea to do intensive exercise. Even PEOPLE who do intense sport training at a young age are more likely to break bones or get joint trouble later on. Bones are strongest when theyre fully developed, not when theyve had lots of strain put on them!

[theycallmebrittany]

the beginnign of this when tehy announce his name as tehy come i want to like go back in time and tell him not to raceee =( =(

[fishmarc]

Additionally, this is the most elitest sport on the planet. You can write off 200% of the purchase price of a racehorse. These are tax shelters and expendable. If they win, great!!! Your a winner and get fame and fortune. What do the horses get? Death for most of them.

[fishmarc]

No sane person questions whether Eight Bells needed to be euthanized. The question here is why the owner insisted on racing a filly, who had a swollen right, lower leg one week before the derby, had never won a grade 1 race, against all advice. For the money. If you are under the impression that horse racing is anything other than a money making machine that churns out horses for profit, you are ill-informed. 26,000 thoroughbreds go to slaughter a year. Even Derby winners.

[Illiamdra]

i agree that the horses are run far to young. any horse person would tell you a horse should never have a sadle placed on the back untill over 2. let alone a saddle with a rider. unfortunatly that same expert will tell you that once a horse reachs age 6 the bones start to become brittle.Ttruthfully a horse traind from 4 mounths to run will have stronger legs and less chance to break then a horse starting to race at age 5.

[911SETH911]

Dam|n,.....that horse had heart, she finished the race with two front broken ankles. I believe the industry should hold off and let the horses get past adolescents and then race! I never want to see this happen again!

[flynnbrdgt]

Belles had a lot of heart. If you look closely, you can see her stumble when they come around that wire. She ran that final strech on broken ankles. And STILL came in strong second.

I blame this on the Racing Industry. These horses are trained too hard, too early. You're not even supposed to ride a horse until they are three, let alone race them. She was a big girl too, 17hh. Her bones were not ready for this kind of work. At 5, she could do it. It is all about the green, I'm afraid.

[classclown4life]

what wire?

[carlykaiser]

The wire is a term people use in racing to describe the finish line

[classclown4life]

ok...thank you very much...i've only watched that one derby

[cstarsoft2000]

Tragic to see such a fine animal come to such an end.

[whipflip540]

The question is not whether she should have been euthanized, but rather, did the jockey knowingly race a lame horse? Is the excessive use of crops ethical treatment? and what is the proper age for a young horse to race the derby, when a horse's bones aren't fully developed until around 4 years of age. Those are the questions PETA wants answered. Either way, this was a shame.

[pm81374]

I grew up helping with farm horses, trust me they had NO other choice than to end 8 bells suffering. peta needs to do a little more homework on horse care and then put it to practice before saying anymore about the vets who did there job. They did the only humane thing they could with that injury........

[gannman51]

im not an animal rights activist or anything, but i think it might be more of the question of should they be racing horses, or whipping them? what if i put you on a race track and slapped you in the ass with a small leather strap, even after youve broken an ankle, then when you fell, i stuck you and put you to sleep, no say from you. would suck right. i agree, it was the most humane, but if that horse was not in the race in the first place, then what?

[BlackMinos]

definetely. its awful the way these animals are threathen. i dont know how could anyone like to watch this kind of events

[DarkTiger1991]

They are treated better then most animals. How can you say they are treated badly?

[BlackMinos]

u are right, but they werent born to do this

[MMB325]

you are a real moron

HORSES ARE BORN AND LOVE TO RUN

[KT8907]

too bad eight belle had to be euthanized atfter the race because she broke a bone right after crossing the line...:(

[ud106c]

not just one... she broke both her front ankles. they had to euthanize her because she couldn't even stand to receive treatment. tragic

[FireGirlG]

Plus her left leg had a compound fracture. Even if she hadn't broken her right leg, the compound fractuer sealed her fate. It totally took the fun out of the whole day. It's just a shame.