The Not so Happy Recap

"i aint always right, but I've never been wrong" J. Garcia.

until yesterday......let me be the first to admit that I was dead wrong on my pre race analizations....the two horses I threw out with the bathwater ran first and an admirable second. I was more impressed with the late eight belles to be honest....she certainly did belong....she seperated herself from 18 of the 19 boys in the race and the only thing that stood between her and a date with immortality was a herculian burst down the stretch by Big Brown....maybe Johhny Browns namesake is that good.....the ugly sister of the three, the Preakness; should be a snooze, not sure who will even sign up for the right to challange.....Denis of Cork , Tale of Ekati and Leo Rousells colt recapturetheglory... should be feeling pretty good about themselves, but everyone else is sheltering a wounded ego this morn.........maybe we will see the re-emergence of ElGato Malo or behindthebar......too soon to really tell who will be on the track on the 17th.......I would be remiss to wax over the sad fact the only Lady in the race was euthenized after collapsing on the clubhouse turn in her post race gallop...having shattered both front ankles there was nothing left to do but put her out of her misery...it is a sobering reminder of just how fragile these beautiful beasts are, we should marvel at them and greet them with the cheers and reverance they deserve while they are with us, because as we have seen in the past, they could be gone in a flash......to the daughter of unbridled song , and grand daughter of my beloved Unbridled , may you rest in peace......below is a brief transcript courtesy of the CHDN site.



LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With heart and determination, Eight Belles ran the race of her life in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. But just after crossing the wire second behind Big Brown, Eight Belles, the only filly in the race, collapsed after breaking her front ankles. She was euthanized on the racetrack.

"There was no way to save her," said her trainer, Larry Jones. "She couldn't stand. There was no way to even think about trying to save her."

Jones was visibly shaken as he spoke to reporters at his barn on the Churchill Downs backstretch. A veteran horseman who won Friday's Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell, he had difficulty handling what happened to Eight Belles.

"These things are our family," Jones said. "We put everything into them that we have, and they give us everything they have. They put their lives on the line, and she was glad to do it."

Eight Belles was also entered in the previous day's Oaks, but owner Rick Porter had so much confidence in her that he decided instead to take on the male horses in the Kentucky Derby. He knew it would be a daunting task. Only three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby in its 134-year history, and none since Winning Colors in 1988.

Eight Belles was up to the challenge. Ridden by Gabriel Saez, she was no match for the Richard Dutrow Jr.-trained Big Brown but was easily second, finishing 3 1/2 lengths in front of Denis of Cork.