Laura Vecsey is a former sports columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Baltimore Sun. She has lived in Seattle since 1994, which does not qualify her as a resident, according to unwritten rules of local citizenship. She lives in Magnolia, studies at the University of Washington and is the Local Content Director in Seattle for Examiner.com.

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31 years after Seattle Slew's win, tragedy at the Derby

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May 4, 5:12 PM

by Laura Vecsey, Seattle People Examiner

Terrible scene on the track at the Kentucky Derby this weekend when the filly Eight Belles went down after the finish. The awful truth of horse racing is that indeed, these majestic animals are asked to carry two tons of muscle and flesh on fragile legs.

One can hardly imagine the heartache being experienced by everyone connected to the horse. While PETA and other animal rights groups want to charge the Bastille and make off-kilter charges against Eight Belles' rider, it's hardly as if the riders and trainers and owners of these horses would ever ask them to run when it was not safe.

Six years ago, on the 25th anniversary of his Kentucky Derby win, Seattle's own Seattle Slew (right) died at the ripe old age of 28. The Triple Crown winner had enjoyed a wonderful post-race life, kicking it with brood mares in the Bluegrass State of Kentucky. But don't think for a moment that owners Mickey and Karen Taylor were not devastated by the loss of Slew.

"He was our child,'' the Taylors said the day Seattle Slew died, heartbroken. In the last two years of Slews' life, the Taylors had moved from Washington state to Kentucky to be near Slew.

Horse racing will answer questions about safety of racing and the fragility of the thoroughbred stock, especially after the losses of Barbaro and George Washington and now Eight Belles in the past three years. Tough days for horse lovers everywhere.

Topics: Eight Belles , Derby , Seattle Slew

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31 years after Seattle Slew's win, tragedy at the Derby

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