Hillary's Kentucky Derby Bet

[Deman]

So apparently Hillary Clinton bet on the only female horse in the derby to make a statement about her own political race. We'll just say the horse she bet on crashed and burned in a big way.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/03/kentucky-derby-horse-eigh_n_99987.html

Big Brown backed up his trainer's boasts with an explosive finishing kick and won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday - a day marred by the fatal breakdown of the filly Eight Belles.


The cheers for the winner's decisive victory were cut short when Eight Belles, the runner-up, was euthanized on the track minutes after the race when she collapsed with two broken front ankles.

Hillary Clinton last week put her money on Eight Belles to win the race:

"I hope that everybody will go to the derby on Saturday and place just a little money on the filly for me," Sen. Clinton told supporters in Jeffersonville, Ind., ABC News reports. "I won't be able to be there this year - my daughter is going to be there and so she has strict instructions to bet on Eight Belles."

Eight Belles actually ended up finishing second in the race, just behind Big Brown. But in a shocking and tragic development, just as Eight Belles crossed the finish line, jockey Gabriel Saez "heard the worst sound possible - a pop."

Saez said the filly did not take a bad step, but he heard the pop and tried to pull her up.


"I tried to get her to stop," he said. "I tried to get her to stop, but she wouldn't stop."

Dr. Larry Bramlege the on-call veterinarian from the American Association of Equine Practitioners said on NBC that the the horse broke both front ankles. She was euthanized on the track.

Here is the NBC coverage as the confusion of Eight Belles down gave way to the announcement she's been put down:

The rest of the AP article is below:

The unbeaten Big Brown took charge when the 20-horse field turned for home. Under the urging of jockey Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown cruised to a 4 3/4-length victory to become the seventh unbeaten Derby winner with his fourth consecutive win. The last one was Barbaro in 2006.


Eight Belles was attempting to become the fourth filly to win the Derby. However, as the horses galloped out around the first turn, the filly fell to the ground and jockey Gabriel Saez jumped off.

An equine ambulance came onto the track, but the filly could not be saved, said Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Derby's on-call veterinarian.

"When we passed the wire I stood up. She started galloping funny. I tried to pull her up. That's when she went down," a distraught Saez said.

At first I was very skeptical, this story screams of Onion-esque satire, but I went ahead and googled it up to confirm on other sites:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/clinton-backs-g.html
This blog on ABC News was posted two days before the derby.

I find this line amusing:

Eight Belles actually ended up finishing second in the race, just behind Big Brown. But in a shocking and tragic development, just as Eight Belles crossed the finish line, jockey Gabriel Saez "heard the worst sound possible - a pop.

 

[Jakut]

lol A sign I say!!! Obama will win o/

 

[Barney]

Lol that's a great story. It does sound very onion-ish but it's even better that it's true.

 

[sub]

Just some perspective - We're all thrilled about a horse dying because one woman bet on it. Irony > a life?

 

[Chakra-X]

Just some perspective - We're all thrilled about a horse dying because one woman bet on it. Irony > a horse's life?

Fixed.

But you're right. I wasn't really thinking "take that Hilary!" anymore when I found out the horse had to be put down. I just thought it came in last after doing so well in previous races.

Is rather ironic though.

 

[Jakut]

Well like my theory goes, we're all a bunch of rtarded btards

 

[Zeonix]

Just some perspective - We're all thrilled about a horse dying because one woman bet on it. Irony > a life?

I'm happy the horse was killed. Had it been allowed to live, the leg would have never healed, it would have been infected and the horse would've died a horrible death soon after. They put down the horse to save the it from the ensuing pain.

It just so happens that the race took place at a time (May 3rd) when voters from both camps absolutely hated each other for thinking the opposing candidate was a good choice.

 

[Jakut]

He meant that we're talking about election BS even though an animal has died and not the whole putting down thing, just plain ol'death

 

[Zeonix]

He meant that we're talking about election BS even though an animal has died and not the whole putting down thing, just plain ol'death

No one is saying, "Hurrah the horse died." People noticed an eerie similarity to the political atomosphere of that time, and the irony of the top horse being beaten by the underdog. The horse died doing what it was bred to do. It had no other purpose than to race. The Man giveth life and The Man taketh life away. Rather than shed a tear, salute the horse for giving it all she had until the very end.

 

[[S]]

I found it ironic that a poor horse lost it's life for finishing second and Hillary gets to keep her job as senator. My friends i believe the wrong creature was put down that night the wrong creature.

i kid i kid

 

[Killface]

lol A sign I say!!! Obama will win o/

Don't forget about McCain... its not just between Hillary and Obama anymore.

And i bet shes gonna have a hell of a time trying to gamble at casino's for now on. =P

 

[Barney]

Too bad there wasn't a horse named Old White Guy.