Derby Fallout

Like most Americans these days, I'm not really a horse racing fan. Generally, I may catch one of either the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and then if there's a possible Triple Crown at stake, I'll make a point to watch the Belmont. I used to watch all 3 races every year, and would occasionally even catch some of the prep races. Not so much anymore.

And to be honest, I didn't even watch Saturday's race live. However, like anyone who was tuned into the sports world for the rest of the week end, I'm very aware of what happened. That is to say, I'm aware of what happened after the race. I'm relatively certain you could have read a good deal about the Derby and not actually found out who won, because the bigger story was the fate of runner-up Eight Belles, a filly that collapsed shortly after the race with 2 broken ankles, and was euthanized on the track.

Before I move on, I have to make sure I acknowledge what a sad event this sort of thing is. I'm not the sort of nut you heard of that was posting get well messages to Barbaro back in 2006 after that horse came up lame in the Preakness and was eventually euthanized after a long run of surgeries and treatments. A horse is just that, a horse. But I do have an affinity for animals, and thoroughbred horses are such beautiful and majestic creatures, it's an absolute pity to see one have it's life cut short in this manner. While I would stop short of calling horse racing cruelty to animals, I do think the business needs to take a long look at itself and see if there aren't practices involved that are placing these animals at undue risk of harm.

All of that being said, some of the fallout from this sad event has me rather aggravated. First of all, there's nothing that annoys me more in the sports media than someone grandstanding about something they clearly don't have all their facts straight on. And, as much as I like Dan Patrick, he was doing that today. Patrick devoted, in my estimation, at least 1/2 of his show today to discussion of Eight Belles. Maybe Patrick does generally pay attention to horse racing, but if so, he was clearly off his game and did not do his research for the topic. He made this clear by repeatedly saying how "finally a favorite won at the Derby". While the favorite winning the Derby has been relatively uncommon over the last 30 years, this was actually the second year in a row that the favorite was triumphant. Furthermore, Patrick, when referencing the injury to Eight Belles, talked about how this had happened last year with Barbaro. Barbaro was injured in the Preakness in 2006, after winning the Derby. All of this made it more frustrating to hear Patrick assail NBC for not show more replays of the actual injury to Eight Belles. NBC showed only a more distant overhead view of the incident, and nothing close up. He accused NBC of having a responsibility to show the incident to the viewers, while not being gratuitous, so people could actually see what had happened.

I might tend to agree with Patrick to some extent, except that NBC had stated quite publicly since the race that the shot they showed was the only one they had of the actual injury, since Eight Belles was not one of the horses they targeted for individual attention, and since the collapse had occurred after the race and beyond the finish line. And I'd be willing to question that statement, had I not been watching the Preakness 2 years ago and seen the close-up replays of Barbaro coming up lame after the start over and over again. And honestly, I'd have been okay if Patrick had said that he didn't buy NBC's explanation, but he didn't do that. So, he either was woefully ignorant of the facts surrounding the story, or he ignored them for the sake of his grandstand. Either is unacceptable.

And of course, where there's an animal dying in the news, there's always going to be PETA. And you know, I could honestly abide PETA's involvement in this kind of situation, if they were going about it in a sensible manner. Like I said before, I don't doubt there are things that could be done to make horse racing safer for the horses, and such things should be looked into. And I'm sure the horse racing business will be doing so, because it's really bad for business to keep having these major injuries occur on their grandest stage. How many casual horse racing fans who only pay attention for the Derby were completely put off by what happened on Saturday? However, PETA being PETA, they aren't behaving sensibly, and instead made waves by insisting that the injury obviously occurred during the race, and that the jockey knew the horse was injured and pressed him onward anyhow trying to win the race. They are calling for his suspension while the accident is investigated.

That's just irresponsible on so many levels. First of all, as I just noted, we haven't even seen close replays of the incident. How in the heck can anyone claim with any certainty to know the details of how/when the injury occurred at this point? Secondly, while I don't watch a ton of horse racing, I've seen a number of races in which horses were injured. A common characteristic of those races was the jockey pulling the horse up as quickly as possible and trying to get them off the track. This was the case with Barbaro in 2006, and even more poignantly with Charismatic in 1999. Charismatic, who had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, was coming down the stretch in the Belmont, when the horse slowed up, and shortly after the finish, his jockey jumped off and famously held up the horse's left front leg, allowing the horse to walk and stand without putting any pressure on the leg. These jockeys, as a rule, care about these horses and wouldn't press on knowing the horse was injured. If you wanted to make the suggestion that the lure of winning the Derby and the money that would result from it would be enough to override care for a horse, you still have to deal with the fact that a jockey who would press forward with an injured horse is risking his life along with that of the horse, and potentially the lives of other jockey and other horses. Eight Belles was running 2nd in the Derby, which means there were 18 horses behind her as she came down the stretch. If she goes down, the jockey is going down with her, and both are likely going to get trampled. So, am I here to say there is no possibility that the jockey kept pressing the horse knowing she was injured? No, I can't do that. But I can say it's totally irresponsible to suggest this to be the case without anything resembling evidence. But, then again, it's PETA.

So, that's all I have on the Derby. Chances are the Derby winner (favorite Big Brown, by the way) will go on to lose in the Preakness (which I will likely watch), and then I can go back to my normal stance of paying minimal attention to horse racing.