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LOUISVILLE, Ky. ??- From the day they ran the first horse race 300 years ago or so in England till they sprung the latch on the Kentucky Derby last night, thoroughbred racing has operated on one unwavering principle: class will out.
Seldom has that fundamental been more dramatically or brilliantly exhibited than in the stretch run of the 134th Derby when the big brown running machine, Big Brown, roared off the turn, stormed to the lead and ran away from his 19 rivals to score an unforgettable triumph.
The ecstasy of it all lasted maybe 20 seconds. What should have been the soaring, crowning moment of Big Brown's career, for his owners, the IEAH Stables, his trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. and his jockey, Kent Desormeaux, suddenly turned somber, then sad and finally tragic.
The gallant filly, Eight Belles, who chased Big Brown under the wire, galloped out around the turn then in an instant slammed to the ground, her front ankles shattered, her life over.
"The injuries were catasrophic," said Dr Larry Bramlage, the track's "on call" veterinarian. "She didn't have a front foot to stand on. She was immediately euthanized. I have never seen anything like this before at the end of a race."
So, for the second time in two years, the sweet, magical appeal of racing was blown apart. Eight Belles' horrendous end triggered all the sad and bitter memories of Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness at Pimlico, just two weeks after he had won the Kentucky Derby by six widening lengths, his long struggle to survive and then his end.
There is nothing more to say. The loss of life hovers over every sporting event, human and animal. Who can explain it? Certainly, there was no apparent negligence anywhere, either in the race itself, the state of the track, or the decision of his owner Rick Porter and his trainer Larry Jones to start the filly against 19 colts.
Eight Belles ran a beautiful race. Her little 20-year-old Panamanian jockey Gabriel Saez got her smartly out of the gate, tracked the early leaders in a nice spot, ready to pounce if she had the motor to go. Well, she had it. Through the lane she left all the colts astern except the big brown horse, running her heart out at the end of an exhausting mile and a quarter.
At the wire, you couldn't help but cheer for her brave run. Then in a matter of seconds, it was all over. What a painful turn-around for her trainer, who brought Hard Spun through last year's Triple Crown. Only 24 hours earlier, Larry Jones, the cowboy, had won the Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell, and with Eight Belles was shooting for a unique double - to win the Oaks and the Derby in the same year with a filly.
How close he came to pulling it off. It took a horse of unbelievable power and stamina and beauty to beat Eight Belles and deny Jones his piece of history.
Big Brown was simply magnificent. He was dusted off by many experts as lacking the foundation to cope with the rigors of the Derby, to cope with his outrageous 20 post position, but the betting public kept the faith. He opened the day at 7-2, they hit him to 3-1, then to 5-2 and finally his starting price: 2-1.
At the end of the week, I never dreamed for a moment I might have to say that his brash trainer, Ricky Dutrow, actually understated the gifts of Big Brown. You know the story, how Rick said he had never seen a horse to compare with him, that he was a lock to win the Derby etc. Ad nauseum. His bragging seemed, well, unseemly.
As it turned out, he was modest. Big Brown came out of the starting gate, went four wide around the clubhouse turn, losing quite a bit of ground, then settled in about fifth and sixth behind the pacesetters, Bob Black Jack, Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory. The leaders ran comfortable fractions - the half in 47.04, the six furlongs in 1.11.14. For a horse like Big Brown, that was like taking candy from a baby.
