Damned Unbridled ankles. She had too much heart for her legs.

****... hit the race for $10k and i was crying my eyeballs out. loved that filly obviously as ive defended her on here quite a bit. RIP awesome Eight Belles...

I'm not trying to start anything here, but does anyone know if Dick Dutrow knew that Eight Belles was in obvious distress? I understand being excited after the race but if he knew and I stress if he knew of the fallen filly. You think a little more humility could have been used even after winning a race such as the derby.

From what I got from NBC the filly fell close to Big Brown while galloping out causing Kent to be thrown off the horse, so Kent D must have knew something was seriously wrong at that point.

Like I said not opening any can of worms here, but can someone find out if Dutrow knew.

On the overhead you can see the filly duck down to the rail even though he was lefty sticking her.

Im sure Dutrow was lost in the moment and hes not the most humble guy to begin with. Hard to fault him for being overjoyed, and certainly very sad to see such a nice filly give all she had and pay the ultimate price.

On the fillys behalf she was gaining at the end and didnt have a very good trip. Had she been given a clean run instead of the hard steady off heels I feel she may have been very close at the end.

I would sure hope so, Hammond commented I believe it was a 'contrast in juxtaposition'. Seeing Dutrow so over the top at one moment and showing the filly or the image of the filly on the ground with Bramalage just informing the world it was a catastrophic injury the other moment.

Ducking to the rail was the filly's calling card...she did it continually...even in her works. I actually remember Steve calling attention to it after the Fantasy Stakes and calling her a toss even in the Oaks with that being one of the reasons. I thought Saez gave her an ok ride...not perfect, but I don't think she could beat Big Brown under any circumstance. Incredibly talented filly who I thought could win and I really liked. Quite unfortunate to happen on this stage and somewhat mar Big Brown's superb performance.

What she did in the Derby inside the 8th was different than what she had done before. Espcially with the way she was being ridden. Im assuming she probably wasnt comfortable, its ashame he didnt get her pulled up sooner.

I don't remember...you may be correct on her last 8th. But even in her last work...Saez pulled out the whip with his left hand just in case...she was on top of the rail. I'm not going to second guess the jock at this time. He is quite young however.

RIP, Eight Belles.. she showed tremendous heart in that race.

I get the feeling that Dutrow was already weaving his way through the crowd to the finish circle when it happened and probably didn't see. Although she killed my tris and supers, this is very tragic, RIP.

He could have gotten her pulled up sooner, thats all Im saying. Its not his fault she broke down

I just feel whenever anyone in the future references Big Brown's preformance, they should take the time to respect the heart of this filly, and how she ran, what a lady....

Godspeed Eight Belles...

Rip :(

So sad :(

I think she's THE story of this race if you ask me...Big Brown, more or less, did what was expected of him, she ran lights out, surprised a lot of people (myself included). So sad that she went down, totally dampened my day.

Obviously Big Brown seems to be something special and as the focus to him working toward a possible Triple Crown, the spotlight will fade off Eight Belles, and what happened, which is unfortunate, because she was magical today. It sucks how one in one flash, you see the brilliance and majesty and then in another you see the unfortunate.

She really did. Poor girl.

I actually said the same thing.

RIP girl.

i liked this big girl from the first time i saw her. she ran her heart out today and shocked alot of people. Eight Belles, Thank You for your best today!
easily the saddest ticket i've ever cashed.:(

16k
and now

10k

in two flippn days...

Good Lord.