Farewell to the little girl who proved she could run with the big boys...even if it killed her.

I stopped watching horse races because of tragedies like this. Such a beautiful young life gone.
In the morning everything is fine but when the owners go home tonight...they are missing a special girl. I heard, but did not see, that she had to be put down immediately because they said she broke both legs....after finishing second. She ran her heart out but it was her legs that failed her.

I just can't understand why modern medicine can't catch weakness before it destroys a life.

My prayers are with her. Another soul at the Rainbow Bridge.

I have trouble watching the races as well, and I usually don't until they are over and I know there has been no such tragedy.

My dear father was in one of the last actually horse-mounted units of the US Cavalry, and was one of the greatest lovers of horses I've ever known, used to watch them, every time, with great tears running down his face...simultaneously sobbing and cheering. He took me on a long tour of the horse country when I was little to show me that the horses run because the love of running is in their blood. We watched one big red foal working out with his trainer, and I could see in the colt eyes the burning determination to win. I've never forgotten my close encounter with the great horse Secretariat.

I'm sure he, and Barbaro, and others are showing the little filly the ropes right now.

Dayna

It's a shame that little girl died. I can't say I have ever enjoyed watching the horse races though. Horseback riding at a ranch or on a trail is more my style. When I go horseback riding at our state park close to us, I find it very relaxing because it is so tranquil there with the beautiful surroundings.

May that little philly run her sweet self all around Rainbow Bridge forever, doing what she loves.

I had an ex racehorse off the track. I got him when he was 5 years old, too old to race anymore!
He LOVED to run. He would whinny and prance as soon as he saw me get the bridle out!
I never had to use a crop, just an open cornfield (or down the sides if the corn was up) and it was me and him and the wind. I let him just go and go.
He kind of seemed sad when we would turn for home. Very unusual for horses, since they usually love going back home.
He hated being in his stall, and every morning when I let him out he would buck and kick and run through the field as fast as he could.
After a good brushdown, he would start looking towards the tack stall, like "Can we go, can we go?"
He would often be mopey if we didn't get out for a ride.
So, as a firsthand witness, I can say, they LOVE to run, either with or without someone urging them on.
I didn't know a horse died because of the derby this year. That is very sad! But I can understand how they want to keep running, even with injuries, the urge to be first is there.

I'm also wondering why they let a female run in the derby, not that I'm sexist, because I'm not, but stallions just seem stronger, larger boned etc than mares. If you even look at colts and fillies in a field you can tell who is who because mares are generally more delicate looking. Stallions got big muscular necks, and the females are more slender and refined.

I'm not as sad for the owners as I am for the trainers and stable hands. I doubt too many owners brush, feed, and exercise their own racehorses, and even fewer of them actually know their horses personally. The guy who brought the water bucket, and the ones who muck the stalls, those are the ones I'm feeling for!!! And the jockey, that must weigh heavy on his heart.

In my book, the filly is the winner. I don't care who crossed the line first.

Dayna:

I envy your seeing Secretariat work out. I love and rode horses during the summer when school was out even though I lived in the city.

I started watching Secretariat when the Triple Crown races started. I videotaped anything about him on TV and did buy his DVD
tribute. I watched him run and win in 1973 and he looked so beautiful in what he did I actually watched his races through tears.
I was devastated when he was put down. I was glad he lived to 19. I was sorry money dictated he stop racing at only age 3.

I grew up never being a fan of any movie star or rock star, etc. but I was a fan of Secretariat and if I had had a wish granted, I would have loved to have seen him run in person. Being in Kentucky he was too far away for me to visit but it was always in the back of my mind. He never raced on the West Coast else I would have seen him. He was just so special...I still have the Time magazine of the story of his wins. "Big Red". How lucky his owner was to have him and his trainer was to have trained him. I have many times timed actual races and Secretariat was able to do things that were unbelieveable but were there in front of your eyes. His own jockey said anyone could have ridden him because he knew when he wanted to move and you just had to let him do his own thing.

Other great ones have lost their battles due to racing. I remember hearing Ruffian lost over my car radio driving on the freeway to work and driving through tears. Barbaro was a fighter too and he lost. I was glad the owner gave him the opportunity to try and live instead of just collecting the insurance as so many do. Some owners are very cruel about getting rid of a good horse when his stud days are over. I couldn't read any of that anymore.

I can understand why you said you saw something you will never forget. I would have loved to have seen him run at Santa Anita or Hollywood Park or Del Mar which was close to where I lived at the time but the West Coast never got to see him except on TV.
It was only a few months back I bought his DVD from his website. My tapes are probably better but in case the tapes don't last, I do have a permanent showing of him on DVD.

Sorry to ramble on but I couldn't resist it when you mentioned Secretariat....I can't pass an opportunity to praise him and what he gave to the world by being here. Like I said...I have been star-struck about him since 1973. Never happened to me before or since.

Don't apologize to me for going on about Secretariat the Great. I feel the same way. That was late summer of 1971, that Dad and I saw him up-close. I knew I was looking at a winner...I didn't know I was looking at horseracing history. I often wished I could take Dad to see him in retirement ( they died the same year). I understood that he drew large crowds of fans around the farm, trying to get a look at Big Red.

I remember the Ruffian tragedy too...a few hundred feet away from winning the Triple Crown. Still makes me cry.

Which brings me to the issue of whether the girls should be allowed to run with the colts. I just wish owners, (and most of them do), could turn down the money, and make the right choice for the horse.