AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!! 134th Kentucky Derby

An exciting and tragic Run For The Roses today. I always get emotional watching the Kentucky Derby. The pomp and ceremony, the memories of watching it the first Saturday of every May with my family- My Poulie would watch it and so would the rest of us. Great discussion was made on the horses and odds and trainers and such. I never got the odds stuff, But my Yiayia and Poulie would bet fiercely. They were used to going to the dog and horse tracks. So, I cry every time I watch it, remembering my Poulie. Today I picked Z fortune using my own special strategy... I pick my horses by color, the less common the color the better. Yep, highly technical. He's a grey. Beautiful. He unfortunately came in 10th. *sigh* The rest of my family's pics? Yiayia picked Cool Coal Man (he came in 15th), J picked Big brown (the winner), Mom picked Bob Black Jack (he came in 16th) and B, well, I picked B's horse. *sniffles* Her name was Eight Belles. A filly. The first filly in the Kentucky Derby in nine years. She came in second. At the end of the race, they showed her down on the track. She was a beautiful and courageous horse. A true champion. She ended up breaking both front forelegs at the ankles. She was immediately euthanized on the track. Her jockey, trainer and owners at her side, suffering the loss of their horse, their winner, their beautiful belle. My heart breaks for her. I love horses, have since I was a little girl and read every Walter Farley and other horse books I could get my hands on. Another tragic Derby race, bringing to mind two years ago when Derby winner Barbado broke a leg. It makes you wonder... They would have never let her race if she was unsound. Too much money is involved in each horse in this "Sport of Kings". It just saddens me. For her, it was an end. I hope she is over the Rainbow Bridge and at peace.

UPDATE: From CBS Sports, Canada...

Eight Belles put down

Filly Eight Belles finished second but pulled up injured after the end of the race. She broke both front ankles and was immediately euthanized.
"There was no possible way to save her," on-call veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage said. "She broke both front ankles. That's a bad injury."
Eight Belles was trying to join Regret, Genuine Risk, and Winning Colors as the only females to win.
Jockey Gabriel Saez slid off when the horse tumbled but was not injured.
"When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That's when she went down," Saez said.