Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation
| Subscribe Now Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation
|
 |
 |
|
Weather  Calendar Obituaries Classifieds Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Coupons Ad Center |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
Home News Sports
Free Time Life Money Nation/World Opinion Blogs/Columns Archives Site Map |
| Sports ExtraTuesday, May 6, 2008 10:31 PM CDT |
 Comments (0) |  E-mail this page |  Print this page |  Enlarge type |  Reduce type |  Search archives |  RSS feeds |  Add to My Yahoo! |
Protest over Eight Belles' death draws both sides of debate
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- About 20 animal-rights protesters waved signs outside the offices of the state’s horse racing regulators Tuesday in response to the death of filly Eight Belles after the Kentucky Derby. Nearly as many people showed up to defend the sport from their attacks. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has argued jockey Gabriel Saez should have noticed the filly was injured during her second-place run and pulled her up rather than applied the whip. Saez says there was no indication anything was wrong, and racing stewards found no wrongdoing. The filly broke both ankles while galloping about a quarter-mile past the finish line and was euthanized on the track. “Unfortunately, money and speed is all that matters to these people, and Eight Belles is the most famous recent example in a string of broken and dead animals,” PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt said. While the PETA protesters held signs outside the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority that read, “Stop Racing Horses to the Grave” and “Race Horses: Bent and Broken,” supporters of the industry countered with posters saying “I Support the Sport” and “Gabriel Saez is not a murderer.” Carlos Ramos of Lexington, holding one of the signs backing Saez, said he was being made a scapegoat. “Why him?” Ramos said. “He’s a very young, talented jockey. I just don’t think it’s fair, when they don’t even know what they’re talking about.” PETA has called for the racing authority to eliminate the use of the whip and ban the racing of horses younger than 3. A statement Monday from KHRA executive director Lisa Underwood argued there is no scientific proof that 2-year-olds aren’t suitable for racing, and that there must be a method for controlling horses on the track. One of the protesters, Kelly Greenstein of Lexington, also took issue with Churchill’s dirt track, pointing out two other major tracks in Kentucky — Keeneland and Turfway Park — have replaced dirt with a synthetic Polytrack surface, which some studies suggest is safer on horses. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2008, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|
Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.
Please read the rules before posting comments.
You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.