Trainer orders drug testing for Eight Belles
Horse euthanized, after finishing second in Derby
Written by:
Associated Press
May 07, 2008
Larry Jones, the trainer for the fallen Eight Belles, yesterday ordered drug testing as part of a necropsy to prove his horse was not on performance-enhancing drugs.
Jones left little doubt that he believed tests would come back negative on Eight Belles, who was euthanized on the track after breaking both front ankles following her second-place finish in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
"I guarantee there were no steroids ever on that horse," Jones said from Delaware Park.
Jones has come under criticism since the ill-fated race with some suggesting his horse, because of her large size, must have been on steroids.
The organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also has been critical of jockey Gabriel Saez, calling for his suspension. The group has claimed Saez should have known that the horse was in trouble and that he went to the whip too often.
"I think that it is really the most ridiculous thing I've heard of," Jones said.
PETA conducted a protest in Lexington, Kentucky yesterday, claiming horse racing was a cruel sport. There protest was met with opposition from supporters of the sport.
