Aaaand PETA weighs in

[ShyGuy727]

The Associated Press: PETA wants Eight Belles jockey suspended after filly's death

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking the suspension of Eight Belles' jockey after the filly had to be euthanized following her second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Gabriel Saez was riding Eight Belles when she broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter of a mile past the wire. She was euthanized on the track.

PETA faxed a letter Sunday to Kentucky's racing authority claiming the filly was "doubtlessly injured before the finish" and asked that Saez be suspended while Eight Belles' death is investigated.

"What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?" PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. "If he didn't then we can probably blame the fact that they're allowed to whip the horses mercilessly."

Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones said the filly was clearly happy when she crossed the finish line.

"I don't know how in the heck they can even come close to saying that," Jones told The Associated Press on Sunday. "She has her ears up, clearly galloping out."

Guillermo said if Saez is found at fault, the group wants the second-place prize of $400,000 won by Eight Belles to be revoked.

Saez, a 20-year-old Panama native, was riding in his first Kentucky Derby. He frequently rides for Jones.

A call to the jockeys' room at Delaware Park, where Saez raced on Sunday, went unanswered.

Eight Belles, the first filly since 1999 to run in the Derby, appeared fine until collapsing while galloping out after the finish.

Are they seriously suggesting a jockey would ride his own horse into the ground.

I think PETA might be the dumbest organization on the face of the earth.

[wariovswario]

I have to agree that the use of whips is rather bad for horses but I seriously don't think that it was what killed the horse. PETA is most likely just using this as an excuse to try to finally make themselves gain fame as though they are actually in the right mind now.

[Wootmaster]

lets ignore the animals that get crushed while people harvest wheat and soy, horses are more important!!!1111oneone

peta is dumb

[Lurch1982]

Horse racing is dumb. Anything that puts a black eye on it is good in my book.

And the jockey probably should be suspended pending an investigation. If I'm an investor in a horseteam, I'm certainly not letting that jockey touch my horses until I'm shown this was not the fault of the jockey.

[wariovswario]

It's not so much that PETA is going after this guy...it's more of the fact that PETA is wasting their time on this issue when they should be fighting bigger things such as illegal poaching in places like as alaska, antarctica, and africa.

[Lurch1982]

^and ignore a potential unethical treatment of an animal on horse racing's largest stage? PETA, like Greenpeace (and any other non-governmental organization for that matter) does a ****load of things outside of the big-headline events.

[Crazyswordsman]

ShyGuy, you don't care about lacrosse. That's fine. Well, I don't care about horse racing (or racing of any kind that doesn't involve being on two skis). -CSM

[ShyGuy727]

Uhh...wow, the jockey did nothing wrong. He said he felt something funny in her in her gallop after he crossed the finish line and tried to pull her up but she wouldn't respond and just went on with the normal cool down routine she was used to- her ears were still up as well. The last thing a jockey would do is push his horse upon its limitations if it had an injury- no trainer or owner would ever ask him to ride their horses again and he'd be out of a job. Belle's trainer and owner even said she looked perfectly normal and crossing the finish line.

Thoroughbred horses are the best-treated animals on the face of the earth. Hundreds of thousands of them race every year with less than 1% sustaining life threatening injuries. People have died playing lacrosse, hockey, football, baseball- it's silly and ignorant to shut down an entire sport because of a freak accident. More and more tracks (Santa Anita this year, for instance) are slowly switching to polyturf which has reduced the risk of injury even more, and I'm sure by the time my lifetime is up all three Triple Crown tracks will be as well.

If there's anything preventable, it's involved with the breeding. Belle's pedigree is injury ridden, specifically her sire, Unbridled's Song who had to miss the Preakness and Belmont in 95 because of a foot injury. Horses, specifically her pedigree, have been slowly shifting toward speed rather than soundness in the last 15 years, which her weak ankles can probably be attributed to.

Originally Posted by CSM Juarez

ShyGuy, you don't care about lacrosse. That's fine. Well, I don't care about horse racing (or racing of any kind that doesn't involve being on two skis). -CSM

Ooo burn. You showed me.

This, unlike Division 3 lacrosse is a national story. And I never said I didn't like lacrosse.

[Crazyswordsman]

Actually, it was reversed. Hobart is staying D-1. -CSM

[Lurch1982]

Originally Posted by ShyGuy727

Uhh...wow, the jockey did nothing wrong. He said he felt something funny in her in her gallop after he crossed the finish line and tried to pull her up but she wouldn't respond and just went on with the normal cool down routine she was used to- her ears were still up as well. The last thing a jockey would do is push his horse upon its limitations if it had an injury- no trainer or owner would ever ask him to ride their horses again and he'd be out of a job. Belle's trainer and owner even said she looked perfectly normal and crossing the finish line.

Thoroughbred horses are the best-treated animals on the face of the earth. Hundreds of thousands of them race every year with less than 1% sustaining life threatening injuries. People have died playing lacrosse, hockey, football, baseball- it's silly and ignorant to shut down an entire sport because of a freak accident. More and more tracks (Santa Anita this year, for instance) are slowly switching to polyturf which has reduced the risk of injury even more, and I'm sure by the time my lifetime is up all three Triple Crown tracks will be as well.

If there's anything preventable, it's involved with the breeding. Belle's pedigree is injury ridden, specifically her sire, Unbridled's Song who had to miss the Preakness and Belmont in 95 because of a foot injury. Horses, specifically her pedigree, have been slowly shifting toward speed rather than soundness in the last 15 years, which her weak ankles can probably be attributed to.



Ooo burn. You showed me.

This, unlike Division 3 lacrosse is a national story. And I never said I didn't like lacrosse.

You know enough about racing to know its an investment and there's some big bucks involved. Would you put another horse in the hands of that jockey before he's cleared in an INDEPENDENT investigation? I certainly wouldn't. It isn't about shutting down the entire sport, but actually questioning if this could have been prevented and if signs were missed. Ignoring this and other incidents would be if Neckcar would have ignored Dale Earnhardt dying on the track and not made changes to the restraint and builds of the cars, chalking it up to a "small percentage of this happening and nothing really out of the ordinary."

And no, I'm not buying horse-racing explanations immediately after it because they have an interest to protect. They're not going to come out and say the jockey ****ed up or the meds had the horse doped up to the point that it couldn't feel the excess stress on its ankles, they're going to come out and say everything is fine and nothing is wrong, so please don't get so disgusted you don't watch the other two major races.

You're probably right with the breeding issues, but there's also the whole "the US is the only place that allows day-of-race medication of the horses" issue as well. Medicating the horses so they don't feel the natural indications and thus push themselves too far isn't right.

And as much as I don't like horse racing, its still more important than Lacrosse because it gets on network TV at least three times a year. Lacrosse might get on network tv 3x this decade.

[DJ Ryan]

Anything involving PETA automatically looses credibility.

PETA is nothing but a hypocritical organization that only puts itself in the spotlight for money.

**** PETA

[Crazyswordsman]

There are plenty of legit animal rights organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund. -CSM