Having lived in Kentucky for years, I of course follow the Kentucky Derby. Big Brown won this year, as expected, but the horse which captured the attention of the nation was the big-hearted filly Eight Belles. Eight Belles was the only horse spirited enough to go after Big Brown in the final stretch, and she finished second after giving the race her all. Apparently her all was too much, for both front ankles cracked just after she finished the race.
Eight Belles didn't stumble or trip. Perhaps the track was too hard--we know other major tracks, including Keeneland in Lexington, KY, have been changed over to a softer surface in recent years. Perhaps Eight Belles was not mature enough or strong enough to run with "the big boys"--rarely has a filly won the Derby. Race horses often begin and end their time in the sun before they are fully mature--if they look good in a few races, they are much more valuable for breeding than for racing. Huge sums of money are involved here.
So what is comes down to is that these magnificent horses, like most everything else in this society, are really first and foremost a commodity. To see Eight Belles lying helpless on the track and to know that she had to be euthenized there somehow made me indescribably sad. I kept reading the various accounts in the newspapers, trying to figure out what happened, why this beautiful creature had to die.
I finally had to conclude that for me Eight Belles had become a symbol for something much larger than herself: a culture which will sacrifice spirit and life and beauty--all of which Eight Belles epitomized--to the pursuit of the dollar.
What do we value in this world? What are our lives really about?
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