Second place finisher Eight Belles is euthanized following a collapse on the track at the end of the race. The loss overshadowed Big Brown’s commanding first-place finish.

Big Brown, the favorite heading into the Kentucky Derby, became the first horse since 1929 to win the Kentucky Derby from the 20th post position. Finishing close to five lengths ahead of the second place filly, Eight Belles, Big Brown makes a strong case to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

But the story of the day was not the win for Big Brown’s owners, the IEAH Stables, his trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. and his jockey, Kent Desormeaux. Sadly, that tragic ending would belong to Eight Belles, who ran the race of her life only to lose it in the end. Shortly after completing the race, the filly collapsed on the track, breaking both ankles to her front hind legs, and was euthanized right then and there.

What should have been a glorious win for the more than 157,000 horse racing fans in attendance turned into a tragic loss, one that sent shock waves around the world.

“The injuries were catastrophic,” said Dr Larry Bramlage, the track’s “on call” veterinarian. “She didn’t have a front foot to stand on. She was immediately euthanized. I have never seen anything like this before at the end of a race.”

The death of Eight Belles raises some serious questions…

While it is true that the horse racing industry is spending millions of dollars trying to make the sport safer, another sad truth is that death on the racetrack happens every day — nearly twice a day in the United States and Canada, according to Dr. David Nunamaker, a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and the chairman of clinical studies at New Bolton Center where the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was hospitalized and then later euthanized. According to Nunamaker, fatal muscle and bone injuries occur 1.5 times per 1,000 starts.