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Sadly to report he had a heart attack, and the poor horse had just come from a long lay off… Condolences to all
Jamie lost one the night before, from a broken leg…..
Tears of a clown was good for me last season, and I was sure w had not seen the best, but sadly we never will…
Sat morning is work morning for most, but prepare to be up early, ie for first light, the Limekilns are the place to see the best working, Warren Hill and Racecourse side, there will be horses working everywhere…
I have joined… she is owned by my friend this mare is stunning and has a great future in front of her… Kahil Burke trains her half sister Symbiosis, who is not to bad herself
i think its disgusting that he was still running at 15 years he should of had a long and happy retirement r i p old man.
And what do you know about this horse? Not all horses benefit from being retired…
enough has been said about it.. he has gone, lets leave it all alone so he can rest in peace..I tell you what, ask my best friend who looked after Happy what he was like….. at the moment she is heartbroken! She spent many a hour with him, he would have hated retirement, some racers don’t take to it well and he was one, hence why they kept him going, he was a bugger to ride at home… this is the text she sent me: Imagine me giving a watery smile, he was my ‘one’, I was lucky to know him and know he loved me almost as much back, he went doing what he loved best…. he never looked right before the race, its easy to say she should have pulled him up earlier, but doubt it would have changed anything, today was his time, going for a big cry now
I read that too….there is a lot of anger out in the USA at the mo….
Here is a article I have read tonight:
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – The trainer of euthanized filly Eight Belles adamantly defended the way jockey Gabriel Saez handled the Kentucky Derby runner-up.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Larry Jones said Saez applied the whip only to prevent Eight Belles from crashing into the rail.
"This filly in every race has tried to drift toward the rail," Jones said. "It’s her comfort zone, and Gabriel knows this. This kid made every move the right move, and I hate it that they’re wanting to jump down his throat. He did not try to abuse that horse to make her run faster. He knew he was second best, that she wasn’t going to catch Big Brown."
Jones spoke while traveling from Churchill Downs to Delaware with his other prized filly, Kentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell. Jones is scheduled to have a news conference Tuesday morning near the paddock at Delaware Park.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called for Saez to be suspended, contending he should have noticed an injury and pulled the horse up rather than apply the whip.
In a statement Monday, Saez said Eight Belles never indicated anything was wrong.
"All I could sense under me was how eager she was to race," Saez said. "I was so proud of her performance, and of the opportunity to ride her in my first Kentucky Derby, all of which adds to my sadness."
PETA also announced plans to protest the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority on Tuesday, arguing for major changes, including a ban on using the whip or racing horses younger than 3.
KHRA executive director Lisa Underwood said Monday that racing stewards found no evidence of wrongdoing by Saez. The authority also released a statement responding to PETA’s proposals, arguing that many of them were premature or unnecessary.
The Humane Society of the United States also weighed in Monday, arguing that horses are becoming more fragile because they’re being bred for speed, not durability.
"There are problems coming to light more than ever — problems related to breeding," said Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president. "Breeding too many horses, and waiting for someone else to clean up the problem. And breeding them for body characteristics that make these animals vulnerable to breakdowns, especially those spindly legs on top of these stout torsos."
Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian at Churchill Downs during the Derby, acknowledged there was merit to that argument. He suggested there should be more financial incentives for horses who display longevity, rather than just the ability to come up big in one huge race.
"The value of a horse is no longer related to how much he can win on the racetrack," Bramlage said. "It’s related to how likely he can get you to one of those events. The breed creeps toward a faster and faster individual, but that individual may be brilliant because they have a lighter skeleton. We’re inadvertently selecting for the wrong thing."
Eight Belles broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter-mile past the finish line and was euthanized on the track. Alex Waldrop, president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said there will be an autopsy to determine cause of death.
Jones said he has watched the race from various angles and found that not only did Saez do nothing wrong, but everything right.
"We’re putting him on multimillion-dollar horses, and I think this kid represented our business as professionally as could be run," he said. "If I were to run in the Derby tomorrow, I’d put him right back on my horse."
Jones acknowledged changes could made to make the sport safer, although he doubts any would have saved his filly from what he called a freak injury.
Stewards could, for example, mandate lighter whips or riding crops, Jones said. However, he said his training program takes great care to make sure no horse is abused, even in a rush for the finish.
"My horses don’t come back from races with welts on their body," Jones said. "Very seldom do we find a mark on these horses. I don’t think we need to make (the whips) out of foam rubber, but you could get to a happy medium where you know it’s not going to hurt them and the horse would still know what you want them to do."
Jones said some of his horses don’t respond to the whip at all. In fact, this year Jones petitioned officials at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas to let him send out a jockey without one. Jones’ petition was accepted despite initial concern the jockey wouldn’t be able to control the horse.
Waldrop said one of PETA’s suggestions, that whips should be banned, would cause horses to be out of control on the track, producing far more injuries.
"Forcing a jockey to give up a whip would be like forcing a NASCAR driver to give up his steering wheel," Waldrop said.
As for the prospect of changing dirt tracks to synthetic ones, Jones said he supports continued research on how that will improve safety. He insisted, however, the track at Churchill Downs was not to blame for the loss of Eight Belles.
"Churchill’s track was as close to perfect on Saturday as it could be," he said. "The moisture in it was wonderful."
Jones said he hadn’t yet decided where Proud Spell would run next but acknowledged the loss of Eight Belles has taken a toll on his team.
"I’m sure the way this affects us mentally, we’ll probably bounce too far to the conservative line for a little while, being probably too safe on our horses," he said. "We’re having a hard time getting this in perspective and behind us. These horses are very dear to us. I never got to say goodbye to her."
Emotions were still running high at Churchill Downs on Monday, where the Kentucky Derby Museum was considering putting up a card for visitors to sign, museum spokeswoman Wendy Treinen said. A vase of flowers had been left at the museum, with a card that read, "Eight Belles, you were courageous and beautiful and we will miss you, but never forget you."
If you go to http://msn.foxsports.com/ i can not believe they have a pic of this beautiful creature lying down injured! They have like a open forum on the aticles and some people have just gone off on one..
Please let her rest in peace and lets hope that the yanks get the message about this horrible surface! And that her half brother can do her justice at Chester this week..(Escape Route)
again another big american race ends in tragedy…. RIP Eight Belles
Awesome as the americans would say!
I was very sad to read this on Kim’s website, he has written a brilliant piece on him…
I am sure everyone at the yard and the owners are heartbroken…I was gutted he did not get in this years Grand National….
Not sure, but here is a link to his website: http://www.ah-horseracing.co.uk/
Royal Shakespeare, was retired due to a near life threatening injury..
Taken from the Racing Post
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE, whose portfolio of honourable achievements include the valuable BHB Order of Merit two seasons ago, will be sidelined for at least a year, and may face retirement, after breaking a bone in the back of his knee at Kempton’s Christmas meeting, writes Rodney Masters.
The John Webb-owned nine-year-old was injured when taking an extravagant leap at an open ditch during the Desert Orchid Chase won by Voy Por Ustedes.
He sustained a double fracture of the carpal bone in his off-fore, which will require the leg to remain in a plaster cast for the next six weeks, followed by a further period of box rest.
Trainer Steve Gollings said yesterday that, watching from the grandstand at Kempton, he immediately feared his stable star may have injured himself at the fence.
"He stood off from way outside the wings of the fence, and it was amazing he got over without a fall," he said.
"However, it did put extra pressure on his front legs, and the damage was done. He was x-rayed at Kempton, and the racecourse vet Simon Knapp did such a great job we were able to sedate the horse and bring him home.
"Fortunately, the carpal bone didn’t shatter, as it can under similar circumstances.
"The two pieces should knit together in time, and perhaps in a year or so we may bring him back to run again over hurdles, if the handicapper is willing to give us a little help."
Gollings added: "Royal Shakespeare has achieved so much that if it is best for him to be retired, then so be it. We’ve still got him, and he’ll have a very good quality of life.
"Even with a leg in plaster, he has shrugged off the injury as if nothing has happened and is behaving like a lion.
"Having a star like him on the sidelines is a major blow to a small stable like ours. My wife, Jayne, has ridden him every day, and she is devastated by the injury."
Rated 145 over hurdles, and 143 over fences, the former Flat winner at Abu Dhabi for Sheikh Mohammed has seven career wins to his name, including the Grade 2 Elite Hurdle at Wincanton in 2005, and a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Aintree in 2004.James Toseland , a guy with the perfect package, top sportsman, very fit and can sing!
Irrelevant of how the death occured, the horse shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
Whatever you do to a tendon, they take a year to heal and strengthen. All the time people come along with these new ideas (remember stem cell?), but they all prove to be a waste of time at best.
On the back of 2 crap runs the horse shouldn’t have been running in a 2 runner seller, let alone the National.
We all know that horses are patched up and bodged for runs every day, but that doesn’t make it right. The one chance the BHA had of a vet failing the horse to run (which surely any self resepcting vet who watched the National last year would do), and they wiimp out and take the easy option.
I hate the Animal Aid bull as much as anyone, but the racing authorities have all but asked for something like this to happen.100% true, I totally agree, it was just under a year between his runs and how long was he back being ridden ? I guess 4 months after his severe injuries? And Peter Bowen said he was lucky to be still with us, due to the severity of the injury… and this was after last years race…..
