Kentucky Derby

Ok, we’ll start with the good news first. Big Brown wins the Kentucky Derby in impressive fashion running along the outside for three-quarters of the race and then flying past everyone to win by 4 ¾ links. The owner was talking a big game before the race and the horse delivered. Now if the Big Brown is really has good has everyone says he is then he should have a good shot at the Triple Crown.
Now for the bad news. Eight Belles, the first phily to run in the Derby since 1999, ran a great finish and had a strong finish to come in at second place. But then disaster struck. As the horse crossed the finish line jockey Gabriel Saez pulled up on her and she collapsed breaking both front ankles. All the doctors determined that they could save Eight Belles and they euthanized her right on the track. It was a sad end to otherwise one of the greatest days in sports.
Of course while everyone was coping, mourning and recovering from the tragedy, PETA swept in to bring the controversy. It happened so quick. Big Brown’s team was still hung-over from their win and Eight Belles team was still to coming to the realization that their horse was gone. So much for letting people have some space. PETA the very next day comes in calling for Saez’s suspension.
Not let’s get some things straight: PETA has a good mission. They don’t people breeding dogs to fight each other. That’s great. They don’t want 1,000 chickens stuffed in a 20x20 pen and injected with more steroids than Jose Conseco. That’s good too. They don’t want some other poor creature to suffer endlessly so that some company can test hair products on them. Still, that’s fine. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are spot that we treat the rest of God’s creations the right way. They have only one problem. They don’t have the slightest clue on how their mission fits into reality.
They sweep in like a pack of wolves ready to crucify this young jockey from Panama. They accuse him of purposely riding her so hard that he knew he would kill her. It’s absolutely ridiculous accusation. No jockey deliberately goes out their ready to murder a horse. I really think PETA gets itself in battles that they have no idea how to fight. They’re probably isn’t a single person at the organization that really, truly understands how horse racing works. And here’s my conspiracy theory: PETA is willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone to further their cause. They just saw an animal that died and found an opportunity for attention. They want to throw Saez in jail forever because of what happened because it would make them look like their making the world a better place. They don’t realize that what happened was accident. They also don’t understand these jockeys and trainers love these horses, they are broken when something like this happens. I’ll never forget the image of Edgar Prado in tears on the track after what happened to Barbaro.
PETA has a chance to really do good things but they just blow it sometimes. They get involved in issues they know nothing about and they don’t want to make the situation better, they just want to punish someone to further their cause. They polarize situations and only make people more annoyed. It is a cause that could be great, that they only make worse.