Eight Belles bloodline at fault?
Others more eloquent than me have spoken about the tragic death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. It was emotional watching that filly hang with the big boys and best all but the biggest – Big Brown, who looks to be almost unbeatable. Unchallenged in any of his 4 races, he always looks like he’s got another gear in reserve. But as remarkable as Big Brown seems to be, Eight Belles was the sentimental favorite of many, particularly in the aftermath of her runner-up finish. Not far past the finish, though, she collapsed on the track with two broken front ankles and had to be euthanized.
Interestingly, the Wall Street Journal ran a story on Friday noting that all 20 horses in the Derby field were descendants of Native Dancer, a Derby runner-up who died in the 1960s. In fact, some 75% of thoroughbreds in the US come from Native Dancer’s line. The problem is, because of the shrunken gene pool, one weakness is becoming more pronounced.
Like hemophilia in the Russian royal family, Native Dancer’s line has a tragic flaw. Thanks in part to heavily muscled legs and a violent, herky-jerky running style, Native Dancer and his descendants have had trouble with their feet. Injuries have cut short the careers of several of his most famous kin, most notably Barbaro, a great-great-great-grandson who was injured during the Preakness Stakes and was later put to death.
Overbreeding has exacerbated the problem. “There’s a lack of durability right now,” says Ric Waldman, the former head of operations for Windfields Farm in Canada, which has bred and raced Native Dancer’s descendants. “How much can we keep breeding into these same bloodlines? We’re dealing with the law of diminishing returns.”
The days of wealthy playboys who breed and race their own prospects has been replaced by ownership groups who – because of the tremendous growth of the sport and corresponding higher costs – buy established bloodlines who stand to make an immediate return on investment. That explains why Native Dancer has been so prolific. However, it appears that by breeding and in-breeding the same horses, they have created an atmosphere of seemingly disposable animals – run them hard, milk every penny out of them, then watch them break down. At the least, Eight Belles died doing what she loved and quite possibly knowing that she ran the race of her life.
It’s almost criminal given the large money that is involved in horse racing with the overseas contingency ( UAE and Japan) that these horses can’t be bred more astutely. It’s painful to see such beautiful animals have to be put down simply because they can no longer sustain the bottom line!