About the Derby

The Kentucky Derby is huge here in Louisville. Simply huge. I just finished watching it. I can’t help getting excited because I adore horses, and sometimes this is my only chance to see them.

But I never want to see them like this.

This is Eight Belles. She’s one of the few fillies to ever run in the Derby. As a rule I always cheer for the girls. Eight Belles finished a strong second… and then she broke both of her front ankles and was immediately euthanized on the track.

Here’s the things they don’t tell you. The Derby is for 3 year old Thoroughbreds. Officially all Thoroughbreds registered to race have the birthday of January 1st, when in fact they are born on average March through May, even as late as June. So most of the race is actually three. Maybe.

Second, these horses start their careers at two. They start being ridden in their second year (which remember is actually before they turn two). To compare other horses are usually ridden for the first time when they are no younger than three and some trainers even wait until they are five (by their actual birthday, not some arbitrary one).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to go PETA on you. But when you think about all these things, and add in that an estimated 30,000 horses were born this year for the purposes of racing and only twenty will race in the Derby every year…. Well, where does that leave the rest of the horses that never make it? Or those like Eight Belles and Barbaro, whose lives end in tragedy?

Jason would say it’s just a horse, one that I never met, I never even heard of a week ago. But it’s still heartbreaking. And that’s why you won’t find me at the Derby or the Oaks.