I had not planned to write about this. After all, can there be anything left to say? Haven’t we all become immune to this “rite of spring” that seems to many as much associated with the season as the delicate green leaves on the trees, to an event that is older than any human living on this planet?
I refer, of course, to the Kentucky Derby which started in 1875 and is now an annual spectacle held the first weekend in May. Among the horses competing at this year’s Derby was Eight Belles, the first filly to run in the Derby since 1999, and a favorite of the crowd. She finished second. Then, about a quarter mile later, she fell to the ground, both ankles broken and bones protruding through her skin. She was euthanized on the track.
So I feel compelled to mark her passing.
Two comments, each from a horse racing insider, give a concise explanation of what is wrong with the industry. “[T]he 2008 Kentucky Derby isn’t about horses. It’s about MONEY!” blares an advertisement in a glossy magazine, The Original 2008 Triple Crown Betting Guide, by “New York’s most honored selector and former top handicapper.” After the race the winning jockey remarked “… Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today.”
My ASI colleague, Bee Friedlander, writing about the tragic fatality of Eight Belles dieing in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Check out Animal Aid’s horse racing campaign. And the Grumpy Vegan’s earlier rants about horse racing.
