Kentucky Derby Tragedy

     Watching 20 horses run at Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby, one grabbed the attention of Dr. Chris Mortensen, state equine specialist at Clemson University.

     "I always get excited about the Derby," said Mortensen. "I was actually cheering for Eight Belles because she was the only filly in the race."

     But his joy over her second place finish was short lived, as the three year old thoroughbred collapsed a quarter-mile later.

      "All of a sudden you see a horse down-- my heart just dropped," said Mortensen. "Then you hear it was Eight Belles. Personally, I was like, 'Oh no.' I knew, when she was laying down. I knew it was something really bad."

 

     Moments later, vets rushed out to the horse and euthanized it on the track. Mortensen said when he learned the horse broke both front ankles, he knew there was no other option.

     "There's no way this filly with both shattered ankles was gong to be able to recover from that," said Mortensen.

     Using one of the hundred horses at Clemson University's Equine Center as a model, Mortensen explains that while standing or walking, horses front legs carry most of their weight. He adds that the animals cannot lay down for extended periods of time and breathe properly, nor can they remain suspended in slings for long. He says one front leg fracture is difficult to recover from. Recovery for fractures in both legs, he said, is impossible.

     "It would have been cruel," he said when asked about the possibility of allowing the horse to live.

     Mortensen goes on to explain, while running, a horse's weight moves to its back limbs. It's the shift between the two which might have thrown off Eight Belles at the end of the race, he said.

     "As she started to slow down, some of that weight transfers, maybe get a misstep and bam."

     Mortensen said a push in research is focusing on another possible culprit-- a horse's bone density during the rapid bone growth which happens during its youngest years.

 

     "The research is looking at their bone density and growth and maybe even future performance, if that has an effect on injuries or not," said Mortensen.

     Mortensen stresses these are just possibilities, that no one know what actually caused Eight Belles' fractures. But he adds research does show the type of track a horse runs on could effect its chances for survival. Mortensen points out Churchill Down is a natural track, but synthetic tracks generally provide easier running conditions for a horse's relatively thin limbs.

   "Some of them are better cushion for the horse, also there's just better drainage," Mortensen said.

     He said the latest statistics he's seen claim when racing on natural surfaces, two horses are euthanized for every thousand starts. But on synthetic surfaces, that number drops to fewer than 1.5 horses euthanized for every thousand starts.

 

    Mortensen also says, thanks to quick acting veterinarians and the adrenaline Eight Belles was feeling just after the race, the thrill of victory, was likely not replaced, by the agony of her injury.

     "She didn't suffer at all or very little, in my opinion," said Mortensen.