Death at the Derby: PETA Says Jockey Gabriel Saez 'Whipped Eight Belles Mercilessly'

When I was young, I visited New Bolten Horse Hospital. The vet talked about the age of Racehorses. He said horses should not be ridden until they are 2yrs old, but they are RACED at 2. Apparently because their owners want them to get out there and make them money!

Reply

Bet that vet PAID by racing people !!!

Reply

I asked a jockey if that whip hurt the horses and he did say it does. I think whips should be abolished from racing and let the horses race without being whipped. The race will still go on, but at least the horses will not be hurt while running. Anyone who objects to this I ask, "how would YOU like to run a race with someone whipping you as hard as they can?"

Reply

What does pampering have to do with cruelty? So I can have an animal needless over exert itself for my pleasure as long as I pamper it before and rather?

Horses my enjoy racing but I have never heard of a horse in the wild running to the point it broke its own legs, I have never heard of any creature doing such a thing. A living creature can sense when its approaching a exertion stress point and naturally turns it down a notch, hard to do that with a jockey hitting you and 100,000 people screaming so they make money.

Barbaro, Eight Belles, you guys are literally running them into the ground but yall pamper them so its cool...

Reply

BIG PICTURE HERE FOLKS....... these colts/fillies are forced to train and race at way too young of an age. Horses bones do not fully delevope until around the age of 5!!! I think that the age for racing must be changed to protect all future racers and in the name of Barbaro and Eight Belles. It's all about money if they have to be older then it requires more time/training/feed etc.., if anyone argues that's its not about the money then they should back my idea and lets make a change!!!

Reply

It is apparent that the PETA folks do not have a clue of what they are talking about. If anything a more positive approach is to ban filly's from runing the race against the stronger "guys".
Just like us humans a males legs and ankels are stronger for the a femals. There are some exception but as a rule this is very true in horses.
Where was PETA when they had to put down two horses during the Rolex 3 day event the week before?
Not as high profile as the derby? Thus not worth making fools of themselves

Reply

The use of animals for human entertainment or profit is abuse. They have no voice, therefore they have no choice, pure and simple. I place each in the category of Michael Vick. Nancy Nargiz

Reply

I don't claim any expertise on horse racing - but it seems like that kind of injury would have happened when the filly was reined back after the run. That was my initial concern when I was watching the aftermath. If the jockey pulled her up too fast it seems like it could have caused the injury.

Reply

Being a registered animal health tech. I find it very odd that the filly broke both legs. And being a horseman if you really know animals you feel them when things are wrong. And there are only two things I could think of that is she may have hit a hole in the track or she had a stress factor and was pushed to complete break her ankles.
My heart aches for her, she was just trying to please man as many horses do. It has to be hard on the jockey as we do not really know what or how he feels. I can imagine he is in mourning if he is a animal lover at all.
This is a horrible tragedy and makes me not really enjoy such races as these. I am for the horse and his life rather than the dollar bill..
Angie Ross

Reply

The filly ran prep races at 1&1/16 mile. The colts run preps at 1&1/8 mile.Horses that have not run at least one 1&1/8 mile prep should be excluded from the 1&1/4 mile derby.

Reply

Lets talk about the sport "Cross Country".... 12 Riders died this yr--and 2 horses Euthnized @ the Rolex! If someone needs Thrills that bad @ the expense of an animal----DO IT YOURSELF__RUN YOURSELF TO DEATH__JUMP OVER FENCES INTO A BOTTOMLESS LAKE ETC. Don't include an Animal!

Reply

Having ridden horses for years, and after watching the re-play of this race, it was clear to me that during the last lengths of this race, Eight Belles was visibly trying to stop running and pull off the track, while the jockey was vigorously whipping her on, and reining her head back in straight, to continue the race. Watch the very last few lengths of this race and you will see her pull to the right, attempting to leave the course, while the jockey viciously pulls her back in line, and continues whipping her on. I feel certain that this jockey knew the horse was injured, but deliberately continued the race. My feeling is that she may have been injured or kicked by one of the other horses during the first part of the race, as the pack was racing extremely tight. Watch the re-play! So very sad, that the buck always rules...

Reply

The fact is as was mentioned earlier, these horses start racing at two years old...way before their bones are fully developed around 5 years old. Thoroughbreds have huge bodies compared to their delicate legs and feet which in this case led to Eight Belles demise and I'm sure to countless other unfortunate thoroughbreds. I don't know if running a filly against colts should be banned but this has happened before. Anyone remember Ruffian? Let these beautiful, graceful animals mature before racing and scrutinize the breeding standards to help ensure their soundnes and safety. It's all about money and greed starting them so early in their young lives.

Reply

Geez-

I didn't know quite how many horse experts there were out there until I read the comment section. I think that derby calibre horse trainers, jockeys and the nation's top equine vets might know just a tad more than "some who used to ride a lot" and a "registered animal health tech." Maybe it was just a freak accident. These horses are bread to race....that is what they do.

Reply

I swear to god, PETA members would give their own living child's heart to an animal if they were asked to. I couldn't care less about horse racing, but seriously, can you people find something worthwhile to get worked up over? Homelessness, hunger, perhaps. I mean human homelessness/hunger... it's ridiculous that I feel I need to differentiate. You know, if someone could even questionably prove that plants could feel pain, you'd all die of starvation. I'm working on that proof right now.

Reply

Jockey, Trainer and Owner should be DISBARRED from ever racing, again. They KILLED this beautiful horse. Her legs were not taped--Jockey WHIPPED her--she was too young to be in that race in the first place. Money and greed is all they cared about. PLEASE, PLEASE DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to at minimum, get SUPPPORT FOR LEGAL ACTION TO STOP WHIPPING OF HORSES.

Reply

Jones has the nerve to say that Jockey was right to whip her because she was trying to run into the rail. She was trying to GET OFF THE TRACK and STOP RUNNING-- because her legs probably were injured at that point. Jockey whipped her to keep her going and KILLED HER.People would be arrested if they abused their pet dogs this way. This should be the Wake up call to stop abusing horses for the SICK PLEASURE of GAMBLING GREED . END HORSE RACING IN ENTIRETY.

Reply

WIPING SHOULD ABSOLUTELY BE OUTLAWED! No riding crop should be considered part of a jockey's equipment! If Gabriel Saez did in fact mercilessly whip Eight Belles as she lumbered down the stretch...then, YES!..he should be suspended!...& fined! A careful replay of his whipping of Eight Belles should be examined by not only PETA, but the horse racing powers to be! How much faster will a horse run if it's brutalized by whipping it?

Reply

Honestly, most of the comments made here are from people who have no idea what they are talking about. They are knee-jerk reactionary folks that see something on the newswire and simply MUST make some comment about how WRONG it is to treat animals this way. Listen people, they euthanize more horses in a year on a ranch out west than any racetrack anywhere.
God put animals on this earth for us to use and enjoy. That means pulling my plow, fetching my slippers, or being a juicy steak on my plate!

Reply

I would recommend that all of the people stating that the jockey or the trainer be punished for this accident take a little time to research horse racing and horses themselves. I have been around horses all of my life. Accidents happen. Flukes happen. You can't know everything that is going on inside a horse's body. Yes its tragic that this filly went down the way she did. Should she have been in the race against the boys? Why not. If she was as good as they say she was then yes, she should have been given the oppurtunity to run. Do I agree with the fact that race horses are run at too young an age, yes I do. It is like telling a child to run a marathon. Is this tragedy going to change the racing industry, no. They have been racing horses at 2 for a very long time and this tragedy or any that follow it are not going to change that. Yet again let me tell you that accidents happen. Could this one have been prevented, probably not. Unless the filly had shown signs of previous injury or problems no one could have expected this. Same thing with Barbaro. The horse showed no signs of injury before the race. Thouroughbreds tend to be very thin boned and you see these injuries often. If you want to participate or watch racing you will see things like this happen. It goes with the territory. However racing has come a long way from the cruel pratices of the old days. That is something the racing industry should be proud of. As a horse person I can tell you that when you train an animal no matter how many you have you get attached and when that animal dies it does have an impact on you. Eight Belles was a great filly and her death is tragic.

Reply