"She ran with the heart of a locomotive, on champagne-glass ankles..."*

Fact #582,341 you probably never would have guessed about me:

I like horse racing. I know a fair bit about it. I can rattle off Derby winners and jockey names and racing terminology – at least enough to converse semi-intelligently with my diehard racing-fan father-in-law and enough to pick decent horses to bet on (not that I ever really win, but I often have good reasons for placing a bet beyond, “Ooooh, pretty.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that rationale, either...) The horses are full of vigor and heart, and there are few things more beautiful than a horse in motion.

I was at a party yesterday afternoon when the Derby went off. We turned on the TV to watch the race. The favorite, Big Brown, won, coming in almost five full lengths ahead of the next horse – who happened to be number five, the grey filly Eight Belles, the horse I was pulling for. Eight Belles pulled out of the pack towards the end, finishing second. Man, what a gorgeous, gorgeous horse.

Just before we turned off the TV, someone said, “Is that a horse down?” but it wasn’t till this morning that I read that, right after her incredible race, Eight Belles was euthanized on the track. She’d apparently fractured both front ankles and, as is generally SOP with thoroughbred racehorses, was euthanized because with no way to put any weight on either leg, the chances for recovery are slim.

Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins asserts that thoroughbred horses have become too strong with bones too lightweight..."Part of the trouble is the makeup of thoroughbreds themselves: They are creatures physically at war with their own nature. The heart and lungs are oversize knots of tissue placed in a massive chest, and huge amounts of blood course through legs that are dainty. Anyone who has spent time around a barn understands that horses love to run.”

However, Jenkins goes on to say, "...thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it...Horses are being over-bred and over-raced, until their bodies cannot support their own ambitions, or those of the humans who race them."

In recent years (spurred particularly by Derby winner Barbaro’s injury in the 2006 Preakness, and subsequent death), there’s been quite a bit of this sort of talk.

I agree with Jessica when she says, “After yesterday, I'd say there's going to be a lot more ammunition for that fight.” As well there should be.

Eight Belles
2005-2008



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*Sally Jenkins, in "Is Horse Racing Breeding Itself to Death?"

"On and on and on, we'll be together, yeah..."*

I just started Michael Lee West’s Crazy Ladies and Bonny Wolf’s Talking with My Mouth Full. I had to read something while I stood in the kitchen stirring molasses and brown sugar and butter for Nigella’s gingerbread with lemon icing, for a picnic we are going to tomorrow. In the morning I will throw together a pan of Katherine Hepburn’s brownies (best brownies EVER) for the kids, or any adults who don’t like gingerbread. I am still reading Tenderness of Wolves, and it IS getting better, but I am so disappointed – I really expected to love it and just sail through it. Now I must hie me to Amazon to buy Not a Box for Seg. It is a huge hit around here, and one I think we need to own. Then I need to figure out how to set my running watch to count down and repeat thirty one-minute intervals. I have such an exciting life, hmmmm? Have a good weekend, guys, and GO PENS!

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"On and On and On," from Sky Blue Sky, Wilco (this is my new favorite Wilco tune, and a song that makes me just a leetle bit in love with Jeff Tweedy)