Eight Belles euthanized after Kentucky Derby
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Jockey Gabriel Saez was easing up the filly at the start of the backstretch after finishing 43/4 lengths behind Big Brown when her two front legs suddenly buckled and she went down.
"She broke both front ankles and they immediately euthanized her," said Larry Bramlage, the veterinarian on call at the Triple Crown races. "She didn't have a front leg to stand on to be splinted. Absolutely nothing could have been done.
"I have never seen a horse go that far [after crossing the finish line] and pull up with an injury, and not just one injury but two."
Unlike Barbaro's breakdown at the start of the 2006 Preakness when all eyes were on him, this horrific injury occurred when the 157,770 fans were preoccupied with undefeated Big Brown's great performance.
"When he turned for home I knew the game was over," said Big Brown's trainer, Rick Dutrow. "It was just the way we envisioned things when we drew [the 20th post]. Every inch of this race was to our liking."
Big Brown is the first horse since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929 to win from the No. 20 post position and the first since the filly Regret in 1915 to win after having run in only three races.
At Saratoga, where Big Brown began his career on the grass in September, and at Gulfstream Park, where he made his first two starts this year, his average margin of victory was more than 91/2 lengths.
"Talent-wise, he's the best horse I've ever ridden," said Kent Desormeaux, who rode Kentucky Derby winners Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.
"He was attentive to the cheers. He knew something big was happening. I had a beautiful, uneventful trip. No distractions; no alterations in course; just slide over [to within striking distance of the leaders entering the final turn]. He added power to the stride when I needed it.
"He has multiple gears. Every time I ask him it's like leaving the starting gate again."
Sent off as the 2.40-1 favorite, Big Brown was fourth a quarter of a mile into the 11/4-mile race, while Bob Black Jack, holder of the world record for the fastest 6-furlong race on dirt, set the pace.
Big Brown then dropped back and spent more than a half-mile racing in sixth place before making his move. He took the lead away from Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory with barely more than a quarter mile to run and went on to win with authority, going the distance in 2 minutes 1.82 seconds on a fast track.
Eight Belles was clearly the best of the rest. The only filly in the field and the fourth betting choice at 13-1 came from fourth place to finish 31/2 lengths in front of third-place Denis of Cork, the 27-1 long shot who had finished fifth as the even-money favorite in the Illinois Derby.
"After we passed the wire I stood up," jockey Saez said. "She started galloping funny and I tried to pull her up, but she went down."
Eight Belles' trainer, Larry Jones, who sent out second-place finisher Hard Spun in last year's Derby and won Friday's Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell, had tears in his eyes and his voice broke with emotion at a postrace news conference.
He didn't realize what had happened until he reached the track after watching the race from the stands.
"She appeared to be galloping out fine," Jones said. "… We were ecstatic to win the Oaks and run second in the Derby. She ran the race of her life. She went out in glory.
"… It wasn't anything that happened in the race. She didn't get bumped anywhere. … It's unexplainable, losing an animal like this. … She's our family. We're heartbroken."
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