Horse Racing - Review Of 2008 Kentucky Derby

By Author: Kellen Sears
Total Articles: 381
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Every year horses and their trainers gear up for some big races where there are large purses to be won. Out of all of these horse races that go on every year, none are as big as the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is a Grade One 1 1/4 mile dirt track with one big turn. On May 3, 2008, horses competed for the 134th time to try and bring home the $2 million purse that was at stake.

The Derby always takes place on the first Saturday in May, and is the first of the Triple Crown races. The race took place at the Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, Kentucky, and boasted an audience of 157,770. After a wet and miserable day on Friday, the weather was ideal for the start of the race. The track was dry and temperatures reached around 70 degrees. With perfect conditions like this, it was sure to be a good race.

At the beginning of the race the starting gate was full with a selection of the world's best three year old colts, including a single filly. The 5-2 favorite coming into the race was Big Brown who had gained a lot of recognition after his win in the Florida Derby. Having only won three prep races, ...
... Big Brown was looking to make history with a win at the Kentucky Derby. His competition was Colonel John as the 9-2 second choice, who had just won the Santa Anita Derby and was looking to make his very first start on a dirt track. Coming in as the 6-1 third choice was Pyro, who had won the Louisiana Derby. Eight Belles rounded out the top four as the 13-1 fourth choice and was the only filly to race.

At the opening of the gate the horses broke out and vied for top position. Bob Black Jack (under jockey Richard Migliore) quickly raced to the front of the pack to set a quick pace. Right behind him was Recapturetheglory and Cowboy Cal. With these three horses leading the way around the clubhouse, Kent Desormeaux aboard Big Brown continued to stay on the outside of the field. As the horses rounded the big turn, Bob Black Jack got tired and dropped out of the pack. This provided the perfect opportunity for Big Brown to move into the lead. After about a mile, Big Brown moved up next to Recapturetheglory and moved ahead of him. At that point, Eight Belles tried to weasel in-between the two horses but Big Brown had already started moving ahead of the pack.

Down the final stretch, Big Brown ended up pulling ahead by 2 1/2 lengths and won the race. Eight Belles finished in second place but ended the race tragically. At the 7/8 pole she fell down and broke both of her front ankles. Her jockey, Gabriel Saez, was thrown off of her but escaped any major injury. The horse was quickly euthanized by the track vet but it was a sad way to end the race. Coming in third place was 27-1 Denis of Cork.

About Author:-

Kellen Sears writes reviews on various sporting events including the online betting websites. In this piece of write up the author highlights on online horse racing. The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on horse racing.