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*Eight Belles’ death prompts debate on horse racing

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* UPDATE: 6:18 p.m. Eight Belles’ trainer today adamantly defended jockey Gabriel Saez’s handling of the horse after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called for Saez’s suspension. ‘This kid made every move the right move, and I hate it that they’re wanting to jump down his throat,’ trainer Larry Jones told the AP. ‘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.’

The death of Eight Belles, the first filly to run in the Kentucky Derby in Louisville since 1999, is generating new debate about the place of horse racing in American culture.

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On Saturday, after crossing the finish line 4 3/4 lengths behind winner Big Brown, Eight Belles galloped out and was around the first turn toward the top of the backstretch when she suddenly went down on her front knees.

The on-call veterinarian for the Triple Crown races said nothing could be done to save the horse, so shortly after the equine ambulance arrived, protective screens were brought out to block the view of Eight Belles being euthanized.

The New York Times’ William C. Rhoden offers his questioning perspective on Eight Belles’ death:

Why do we keep giving thoroughbred horse racing a pass? Is it the tradition? The millions upon millions invested in the betting? Why isn’t there more pressure to put the sport of kings under the umbrella of animal cruelty? The sport is at least as inhumane as greyhound racing and only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting. Is it the fact that horse racing is embedded in the American fabric? And the Triple Crown is a nationally televised spectacle? Or is it the fact that death on the track is rarely seen by a mainstream television audience?

Now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for the suspension of Eight Belles’ jockey, Gabriel Saez, the AP reports:

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.’

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-- Francisco Vara-Orta

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