The View From Here . . .
By Bob Morgan, Jr.

Late Saturday afternoon, about 100 of us gathered at an annual Kentucky Derby party to benefit the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a charity that finds home for racehorses after their days on the track are finished.

As everyone now knows, the Derby we watched became shrouded in controversy. In a remarkable performance, the favorite, Big Brown, who had the very outside 20 post, broke sharply, gained a good position and then took over near the top of the stretch, winning by 4 3/4 length. Big Brown, who also won the Florida Derby from the outside post, will very likely be a heavy favorite in the Preakness on May 17 as he seeks to be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978 by winning that race and the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

But, of course, that was not the end of the story. The second place horse, the filly Eight Belles, chased Big Brown gamely through the stretch, beating 18 colts, and then was eased up after passing the finish line. She galloped out routinely for a considerable distance and then suddenly collapsed, with two ankles broken. Almost immediately, the horse was euthanized, the only reasonable veterinary course.

The sad fate of Eight Belles, reported but not dwelled upon by NBC Sports, cast a significant pall at our party, even among those who had wagered on Big Brown. And in some quarters of the media, it started a bit of a feeding frenzy.

Not only did the Sunday New York Times publish a front page picture of the stricken filly lying on the track, but there was also a very large picture of pretty much the same scene above the fold on the sports section, plus a somewhat hysterical column that asked why sport is not placed under the umbrella of animal cruelty, saying it was "only a couple of steps removed from animal fighting" and later compared horse racing to bullfighting. (In fairness, there was a also significantly more balanced piece by novelist Jane Smiley.) In Monday's Times there were three different articles or columns centering about the demise of Eight Belles and one about Big Brown's upcoming Preakness.

While I believe the Times coverage was a bit over the top, the interaction of people with animals has always been an uneasy one, raising significant ethical issues. For example, most of us eat meat, despite moral objections from vegetarians, and many people wear leather or furs, products that some find objectionable. It is not surprising that horse racing is also subject to sharp scrutiny.

The death of Eight Belles well after the Derby was something of a freak accident. Nevertheless, there are some steps that can be taken to improve the overall safety and humaneness of horse racing. While the racing results have been uneven, new track surfaces have been introduced at a number of major tracks, including Keeneland and Santa Anita that appear to cut the number of serious injuries. The purse structure at big tracks should be adjusted to encourage stamina rather than speed and precocity. Medication rules, which are much more liberal than in Europe, should be tightened significantly. Race horse retirement efforts must be stepped up.

In the end, however, some perspective is necessary. As Jane Smiley wrote on Sunday, "Without horse racing, the would be no thoroughbreds as we know them, and there is nothing like them. They are athletic, game and eager, full of energy and intelligence. Beautifu,l too." I, for one, would be extremely reluctant to end this spectacular, exciting, if sometimes tragically dangerous, sport.