Ouchie at the Derby

It was a hot day in Barcelona 1992. The day of the big race. Derek Redmond had traveled halfway across the world with his father in order to participate in his fist summer Olympics. He had been training his entire life for this.

175 meters left in the race Redmond felt his hamstring explode. He collapsed. His father and best friend jumped out of the stands, picked him up, and helped him cross the finish line, shooing away the stretchers.

As the two cross the finish line they embrace and shed some tears. Thousands of fans cheer in the background.

A doctor then appears almost out of nowhere. He is holding a large needle. Redmond says his goodbyes to his father and goes toward the doctor. The needle punctures Derek's skin and Redmond quietly passes away...

Okay, only about half of this story is true.

But this isn't that much of a fantasy story. This weekend at the biggest horse racing event of the year, runner-up Eight Belles was "euthanized" right on the track after breaking both her ankles soon after she finished.

Does anyone else find this funny???

Well maybe not 'haha' funny, but ironic funny. In what other sport do you see a living thing being killed on the track after it breaks a bone? Would they do it to humans? Other animals?

I mean I know the horse was in a lot of pain and would probably never race again, but I'm sure they could have found SOME use for her in the future. Hauling a plow, rides at a carnival, re-enacting old episodes of Mr. Ed, or even being used as a very solid punching bag, are 4 great suggestions.

After the race trainer Larry Jones (also the winner of the generic name award), said that he doesn't blame the sport for this, even though this is the third death of a popular horse in the past 3 years! Seeing a trend here? I am.

Horse racing is clearly dangerous to, well, horses. Until very recently giving steroids to horses was LEGAL in horse racing. Obviously these steroids are not good for the health of the horse, making the upper body too large, but the legs too weak.

Do these animals have a say in this? What if they don't want to be race horses and want to other things with their lives? My dad wanted me to be a lawyer, I said no, and the conversation was over. I guess horses aren't so lucky.

The on-call vet who performed the killing, said that this injury is uncommon. He then noted that he was traveling straight to Game 1 of the Cavs game in case Lebron goes down next.