Eight Belles memorial today...

[shanahan]

200 people...200?  I feel for Jones and Mr. Porter...yeah, Louisville really loves has a passion for the fillies who give it up...I\'m very surprised by this.  On the other hand, why wouldn\'t CD makeit during a real event?  Heartstings tugging for sure since I\'ve seen her run most of her races, but gee whiz...200?  Who planned this?

[richiebee]

shanahan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I feel for Jones and Mr.
> Porter...

Hate to be insensitive, but if Porter had listened to Jones and not run EB in
the Derby, there might have been no need for a memorial and you could have had
the pleasure of watching her run in Hot Springs again this winter.

EB\'s death was not in vain, as her demise focused further attention on drugs in
Racing. On Friday I read that the governor of Kentucky signed an emergency
order, the impact of which will be to bring about restrictions on the use of
steroids sooner rather than later in that state.

On a tangentially related matter, Kip Deville 5th at 50 cents on the dollar
in the Woodbine Mile today.

On another tangentially related matter, looking forward to betting against the
Big Brown pile of hype at Monmouth Saturday. I am looking for the public to buy
into this overrated animal and believe he will struggle running without the
benefit of steroids against decent older graded turf runners.

[sighthound]

>> Hate to be insensitive, but if Porter had listened to Jones and not run EB in the Derby, there might have been no need for a memorial

Richibee, that makes no sense.  Running on Saturday rather than Friday didn\'t cause her to break down.

>> EB\'s death was not in vain, as her demise focused further attention on drugs in Racing. On Friday I read that the governor of Kentucky signed an emergency
order, the impact of which will be to bring about restrictions on the use of
steroids sooner rather than later in that state.

As an aside, it would be nice to remember that Eight Belles didn\'t run on steroids.  

It will soon become clear that steroids have little to nothing to do with breakdown rates.

It was terrible to hear Larry Jones\' voice break, see him tearing up talking about her.   His love for the horse was obvious.

[richiebee]

sighthound Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >> Hate to be insensitive, but if Porter had
> listened to Jones and not run EB in the Derby,
> there might have been no need for a memorial
>
> Richibee, that makes no sense.  Running on
> Saturday rather than Friday didn\'t cause her to
> break down.

Sight, that might be true, but it is equally as speculative as my comment.
 
> >> EB\'s death was not in vain, as her demise
> focused further attention on drugs in Racing. On
> Friday I read that the governor of Kentucky signed
> an emergency
> order, the impact of which will be to bring about
> restrictions on the use of
> steroids sooner rather than later in that state.
>
> As an aside, it would be nice to remember that
> Eight Belles didn\'t run on steroids.  
>
> It will soon become clear that steroids have
> little to nothing to do with breakdown rates.

I agree with you and defer to your knowledge on these matters. My personal
feeling is that unsoundness, lameness and eventually breakdowns are unavoidable
so long as breeders in their greed continue to dilute \"the product\".
 
> It was terrible to hear Larry Jones\' voice break,
> see him tearing up talking about her.   His love
> for the horse was obvious.

I remember reading that Larry Jones, prior to the Derby, stated that he would
have preferred to run EB against fillies but that the owner preferred to go in
the Derby. That would have been a good time for Jones to show his love for the
filly by taking a stand against an owner who seems to lose a lot of perspective
when it comes to the Kentucky Derby (see Rockport Harbor, who Porter had John
Servis keep patching together and keep in training in an attempt to make the
Derby). If Porter had a Derby worthy colt this year, Eight Belles never would
have been entered in the Derby.

Porter has been a man possessed when it comes to the Derby. He has spent
millions at auction seeking Derby glory to match the success he has had with
fillies, among them Eight Belles, a Breeders Cup Distaff winner who cost me so
much money that her name escapes me, and the Grade I winner Jostle.

Porter\'s Derby obsession only grew when the Chapmans, also clients of John
Servis, pretty much bred and raised Smarty Jones in their backyard in PA. and
came up with a Derby winner.

[mlnolan00]

Eight Bells\' number made her fit on paper for the Derby...

Ritchie I believe you\'re talking about Round Pond.  I made a lot of $$$ on her on 2006, but it felt like blood money because I was cashing as Pind Island was dying and Fleet Indian had the busted suspensory.  And at least we could save Fleet Indian, but she had to wait 5-10+ minutes for the ambulance to get to her.  UNNACCEPTABLE.
That\'s one rule I wish the KHRB would change--allowing more than one equine and human ambulance on the track at one time, because don\'t even get  me started on the horrific day at Keeneland last fall when the horse flipped in the paddock before the Phoenix and was dying right in front of me and they couldn\'t fit the ambulance in the paddock or find a vet to give some dormosedan or Torbugesic to the horse while he was seizing and bleeding from the nose and ears.  Then Teuflesburg breaks down during the actual running of the race and it take the ambulance another 10 minutes to get out to him.  All this while ESPN was live.  I has PTSD when going to the paddock for more than a few days after that episode.

[Jacimo]

\"a Breeders Cup Distaff winner who cost me so
much money that her name escapes me, and the Grade I winner Jostle.\"

I think the Breeders Cup Distaff winner was \"Round Pond\" a couple years ago.

Though I agree with Shanahan, the breakdown of Eight Belles was clearly a freakish thing related to genetic unsoundness. Unbridled\'s Song\'s are brilliant but tender.

I\'d have to think that Hard Spun is some evidence that Porter has a way with colts too.

[richiebee]

Minolan:

Round Pond is correct.

As to Eight Belle\'s number(s) going into the Derby, yes by the number she was a
contender. I believe she also may have had more preps going into the Derby than
any of her male counterparts.

What has been discussed frequently and intelligently on this board is that a low
number, or series of them, sometimes means it is time to stop on a runner or
suffer the consequences.

By no means am I saying that filies/mares should never be run against males. I
thought Rags to Riches was very well spotted in the 07 Belmont given her
bloodline and the fact that she was being matched against some rivals who had
every reason to be a bit tired (Curlin and Hard Spun). I was at CD for Genuine
Risk\'s win in the 1980 Derby and it is still one of my great memories in
racing, even though I backed the second and third place finishers.

Rick Porter is obsessed with the Derby. He tried to rush Rockport Harbor into
the Derby with various hoof ailments and luckily this talented grey was stopped
on before there was a serious injury. Porter threw Hard Spun into the Triple
Crown races, where he performed admirably, though many have contended that HS
would have been a champion at shorter distances.

Bottom line... with regards to Eight Belles, I feel a lot more sympathy for the
trainer with the cowboy hat than I do for the owner with the bow tie.

[miff]

When will they have a memorial for former jockey Parker Buckley,40 yrs old, wife,two kids killed in a training accident on the racetrack.

Wonder when the congressional hearings will be held on jockey safety and related issues.Think the animal loons will show up?


Mike

[Frank]

Parker Buckley\'s death was a medical issue and not a training accident. Agree that jockey safety is an important issue but thought I would clarify your misrepresenting his death.

Frank

[miff]

Frank,

You must be talking about a different Parker Buckley.This one died as a direct result of being thrown off an Asmussen horse at Saratoga


\"Exercise rider and former jockey Parker Buckley III died on Tuesday morning, one day after being thrown from a horse on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course\"


Mike

[jimbo66]

Miff,

I read something different.  The medical condition caused him to fall off the horse and eventually lead to his death, not the other way around.  

Jim

[miff]

Hi Jim,

Only read the following and did not know it was a pre existing condition if that is the case.


Thoroughbred Times


Posted: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 2:15 PM

Former jockey Buckley dies day after training accident




by Paul Post

Exercise rider and former jockey Parker Buckley III died on Tuesday morning, one day after being thrown from a horse on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course.

Buckley, 40, was taken to Saratoga Hospital and then flown to Albany Medical Center Hosptial, where a CT scan revealed that he had blood on the brain and doctors placed him in a medically induced coma.

The accident occurred sometime between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. EDT on Monday.

"I went down and visited with his family [who are from Fort Walton Beach, Florida]—his mother, sister, and aunt," trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.

Asmussen said he did not personally witness the accident or know details of exactly what happened.

"I've heard all kinds of versions," he said

[TGJB]

My understanding is that he suffered a stroke, then fell off the horse. Don\'t know if that has been confirmed.

[sighthound]

I also heard what TGJB heard, for what it\'s worth.  But Mike, good reference point to remind us.  Thanks for reminding us of Parker.

I still don\'t understand (seriously) why some feel running a filly against colts could contribute to breakdown.  It\'s done routinely and frequently in other countries.  

A concern about \"overmatched\"?  That occurs daily in horse racing.   In this specific instance, this was a big filly whose numbers fit, and she indeed readily trounced many for second.

Look, veterinary science is identifying factors that generally contribute to breakdown (ex: track surface, toe grabs); and we have very sophisticated diagnostic technology available to monitor individual horses during their career (MRI, etc).  Frankly I think we need more utilization of those modalities ($$$)

But these are still elite athletes pushed to the brink of their anatomy and physiology.  I hope we can someday bring the number of breakdowns down to be equal to random chance, but don\'t count on it.

[TGJB]

Last time I went down this road it caused a real s--tstorm, but...

To reprise my Derby seminar thoughts, I don\'t think the choice of races had anything to do with it. I think the 10 starts from September to the Derby while running really really fast did (count the starts for the other recent Derby starters over that period), and I think bearing in badly near the wire in the Fantasy was a signal that something was bothering her.