Eight Belles was the lone filly — that’s a female horse — racing in the Kentucky Derby this year. As she was rounding the bend, in a solid second place, both her ankles broke. She managed to pass the finish line in second, but collaped on the track. Because horses are not able to heal from wounds as severe as this (for a variety of reasons) Eight Belles was euthenized on the spot, literally laying on the track in front of thousands of onlookers. I burst into tears (nary a sound from the rest of the drunken Derby watchers at the watering hole I was frequenting). I don’t know if it was because of the harsh way her sentence was carried out , or how bitter a light it shed on one of these little events I’ve so enjoyed in the past, or just because she was the only lady out there amongst all these brawny dudes, but seriously…wow.
