In case you can’t tell, the horse at the top, Dunaden, was awarded the victory in this incredibly close photo finish at the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.  The narrow margin between the top two horses resulted in the closest finish during the 151-year history of the Australian horse race.

Although Dunaden’s victory over Red Cadeaux was by the narrowest of margins, the difference in prize money they each earned was not quite as close.  Dunaden was awarded $3.6-million for the victory, while Red Cadeaux’s second-place finish was worth $900,000.

In few sports is tragedy both more instant and prevalent than in horse racing. Corruption and shady characters off the turf, along with inherent dangers on it leave both horses and riders exposed to risk. Here, we would like to focus on nine horses that met an untimely end under extraordinary circumstances. Some are recent, and some are almost a century old. Let’s take a look at eight horse racing (and one show horse) tragedies.

9. Eight Belles
After having placed second in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, the future was bright for this filly. However, she would never get to see success, as she collapsed during the Churchill Downs with two broken ankles, forcing trainers to euthanize her on the track, leaving a haunting image burned into spectators’ minds. While many felt that anabolic steroids (the same type humans use) were to blame for the increased strain on the horses’ bodies, Eight Belles tested negative, causing concerned parties to look elsewhere for an explanation.

8. Barbaro
After a clear-cut victory at the 2006 Kentucky Derby, public perception of Barbaro was not “will this horse be considered great,” but rather “how great will this horse be when all is said and done?” Of course, like every other horse on this list, the death was untimely, but Barbaro put up a fight, being euthanized after a tragic breakdown at the Preakness. Abcesses in Barbaro’s hoofs and laminitis in three of four feet proved far too much, and Barbaro, after months of valiant struggle, was euthanized, leading many to wonder what could have become of this promising horse.

7. Ruffian
The story of Ruffian is one for the ages. In 1975, the “Queen of the Fillies” was running at Belmont when Ruffian participated in a match race against that year’s Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. Ruffian was leading when she snapped two bones in her right foreleg. However, she refused to stop running, further damaging her leg until it was reduced to a flopping mess. Emergency surgeons say Ruffian woke up from the anesthesia and began running in place on the floor, as if the race was still on, causing damage in the operating room, and breaking an elbow in the process. As such, they were forced to put her down.

5/6. Marching Song and Fenix Two
These two horses died in Febuary of this year under rather bizarre circumstances at Newbury racecourse in Britain. The two horses collapsed to their deaths before the races even started. A postmortem indicated that they had been electrocuted from a current running under the paddock, but trainer Graham Thorner thinks foul play was afoot. He said, “I took my horse there and he was killed, he didn’t die. He was killed by something, and that is fact as far as I’m concerned.” There has been no evidence to support this claim, but the unusual electrocution has left many feeling that foul play was involved.

3/4. Dooneys Gate and Ornais
Both these horses perished just months ago in April of 2011 while running the grueling 30-jump course at Aintree. In recent years, critics have claimed that the exhausting nature of the course (many to most of the horses do not even finish) leaves the animals and their riders more susceptible to injury. This case was further made when Ornais died instantly after failing to clear the 20th jump, approaching the fence in fourth place. Dooney’s Gate fell at famed Becher’s Brook, and, in a macabre twist, its body was covered and treated as an obstacle to be circumvented on the second lap. Creepy.

In a race in which only 19 of 40 riders finished, and four horses lost their riders, it’s not hard to imagine that tragedies will occur with alarming frequency, as they do at Aintree.

2. Phar Lap
While the fate of Phar Lap has never been resolved, the popular consensus from a 2000 necropsy is that he was poisoned with a large dose of arsenic. While the circumstances of the death are legendary, so too was Phar Lap’s performance. He won 37 of his 51 starts, suggesting that many frustrated owners would have reason to benefit from the sickness or death. The combination of the horse’s achievement and the suspect circumstances make this one of the most infamous tragedies to take place off the turf.

1. Wild-Eyed and Wicked
In 2003, five show horses at the Double D (hehehe) Ranch were found to bear marks indicating that they were injected with an unknown substance. Wild-Eyed and Wicked was one of the three horses that was subsequently euthanized after suffering injuries assumed to have resulted from the injection. Wild-Eyed and Wicked won the saddlbred industry’s Triple Crown in both 2000 and 2001.

Owners Joe and Sally Jackson have now twice petitioned to have the horse’s remains exhumed so that they may be tested for toxins. The body has since been exhumed, though not enough evidence has been found to prove foul play, let alone make an arrest.

Sources: Scientific American, NBC Sports, BBC, Guardian

The sports that we decry as violent today really aren’t so bad in the context of historical competitions. Sure, a fat drunk Phillies fan threw up on a little girl, but, on the bright side, at least he didn’t ritualistically sacrifice her to the baseball gods. Football might be facing a concussion crisis, but until the sport faces a “people being pulled into a pit of fire to be burned alive” crisis, there really isn’t much comparison between then and now. So let’s examine some ancient sports that will make hockey fights look like shiatsu massage.

9. Mesoamerican Ballgame

The specifics of the ominously-titled “Mesoamerican Ballgame” aren’t well-known, and frankly, don’t matter that much. Two Central or South American teams would try to keep a ball in play in a long alley flanked by walls. Later, hoops would be added to the walls to serve as goals. The ball was moved with the Mayan players’ hips (!), but later their forearms or feet.

The game often served to resolve disputes in lieu of war, so the matches were taken VERY seriously. So seriously, in fact, that human sacrifices were made to the gods before games. Just like in pre-season baseball.

8. Viking Tug-of-War: Skin-pulling

Vikings have never been known for their subtle ways. So learning that they used animal skins to play tug-of-war over a fire pit shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The losing team got burned alive. The winning team got all the losing team’s stuff, including the exclusive rape rights of all the conquered female villagers. Again, just like pre-season baseball.

I don’t know how much I would pay to watch this on ESPN Classic, but rest assured it’s probably in the low five figures. Maybe they will reboot the league. I will watch it in a heartbeat as long as it’s not on Spike.

7. Venatio

This game should have just been called “slaves vs. elephants.” Cause in Venatio, a whole group of Roman slaves would have to hunt a bunch of elephants, many of whom weren’t too eager to be killed. The survival rate here was low, but perhaps not as low as it was for the elephants. Once this game caught on, the North African elephant was hunted to extinction. I think PETA would probably take issue with this game today. And slavery isn’t as popular as it once was.

6. Gladiator Matches

Perhaps the best documented of the ancient bloodsports, Roman gladiator matches served to entertain crowds by pitting two men against each other in a match to the death. Since few sane men would volunteer for these matches where participants had the life expectancy of fruit flies, they would often use captured slaves, promising them freedom should they achieve success in the ring.

5. Pankration

This Greek game’s purpose was to bring your opponent as close to death as possible, without actually killing him. Because it was a bloodsport, the matches involved elements of wrestling, elbows, hand-to-hand combat, and kicking. Because it was Greek, of course both competitors were very naked dudes.

While the goal was clearly to beat to hell out of your opponent to either submission or unconsciousness, going to far and killing your opponent was an automatic forfeiture. Why? Because any fighter killed in the course of Pankration was seen as the ultimate fighter (but not an “Ultimate Fighter”) and thus the winner of the match. So there’s a small upside to getting beaten to death. Nice.

4. Fisherman’s Joust

Two teams were in shoddy boats, cruising down the Nile. Their goal? To beat the hell out of the other boat and its occupants with oars. The losers were the guys that died. Simple and brutal, this sport was a lock to make the list. Of course, should you not get killed by the opposing teams oar-beating, there was always the chance that you could get eaten by an alligator once you fell into the water.

The game was played in front of the Pharaoh, presumably for little more than his entertainment. Nothing has ever made me want to be a Pharaoh so badly in my life. Do I need to go to grad school or something to do that?

3. Naumachia

Oh, this sport is no big deal. They would just take an arena, flood it with water, then toss some boats in there to conduct a small-scale naval battle (complete with sinking ships and drownings) for everyone to watch. I really don’t understand how a sport could be much cooler than this. Again, because it was Roman, there were plenty of slaves available. Which was good, because it was hard to compel free men to play this game.

I’ve been wondering how much collateral damage occurred during these games, as the crowd surrounded all this fanfare. Was there at the very least a “splash zone” in the first five rows like at Sea World?

2. Chariot Races

These aren’t the chariot races that old retirees bet on in the OTB. If you’ve seen Ben-Hur or Gladiator, you know how violent playing the ponies can actually be. Players would get tossed, horses maimed, and even bystanders impaled as these guys hauled ass around the track in their little buggies. Of course, there weren’t exactly regulating bodies here, so contact was not only permitted, but was de rigueur. Better wear a helmet. Better yet, just don’t play.

1. Nguni Stick Fighting

The Zulus’ sport might not have been the most deadly, but it sure does sound annoying and painful. The tribe would essentially just whack each other with soft sapling branches hundreds of times. It sounds like a game I would have played with my dumb friends in high school. They had shields, which diminishes the event a little bit, But the contestants would wear their myriad scars like badges of honor. You know, the honor of getting whacked by branches. This was considered a child’s game, by the way.

Sources: Warthog.co.za, Wikipedia.org, Britannica.com, Atlantamartialarts.com, Cracked.com, Ballgame.org, Associatedcontent.com, Ablemedia.com

For those who have never been to a Preakness infield party, the following gallery should help give you an idea of what you have been missing.  And if boobs, beer and a little bit of brawling doesn’t interest you, then you haven’t been missing much.

Jumps racing is under a new cloud tonight after a riderless racehorse at Victoria’s Grand Annual Steeplechase course went wild, jumping over a fence and into the crowd.

Five spectators were hospitalized due to the incident. Commentators described it as “a hell of a spectacle.” The riderless horse decided to clear a two meter fence instead of a hurdle.

“I screamed and ran and there were people laying over the ground,” said one spectator.

According to protesters, who are against jumps racing, the sport can never be made safe. “I think they should go home, and go to work,” said a protester at the event.

If only Secretariat was named ARRRRRRRRRR! instead.

As the recent Breeder’s Cup has shown us, much like a rabid toddler, a jockey can be small, yet vicious. The throw down that took place after the race is evidence that emotions can run high between jockeys during such intense competitions. However, jockeys needn’t punch each other to prove their toughness. As the following list of horse-riding related accidents and incidents demonstrates, these guys are best-case scenario “tough” and worst-case scenario “insane” for competing in the face of such frequent violent misfortune. Scope it out below.

9. 2010 Breeder’s Cup

Calvin Borel and Javier Castellano poured their little hearts into fisticuffs following the 2010 Breeder’s Cup in which Castellano interfered with Borel’s mount a little more than a quarter of the way through the race, presumably hindering Borel’s progress. Considering the stakes and intensity of the relatively short races, it’s little surprise that the relatively composed and gentlemanly guys often come to blows over the suspicion of malfeasance. Borel and Castellano both made up quickly after the race, despite Borel having to be restrained just minutes prior. They were hit with $7,500 in fines between them and were benched for the next week or so. Time and money well spent in the often-anticlimactic world of horse racing.

8. Chariot Race Blow-up

Because race promoters with a Charlton Heston fetish continue to feel that standard horse racing is WAY too safe for both rider and horse, chariot racing has somehow persevered as a legitimate sport, despite the fact that it offers some of the more spectacular-looking crashes in the world of sports. Take the danger of horse racing, add seated jockeys trailing in what are essentially just tripping mechanisms, and you’ve got a recipe for…this. Fortunately, the horses and riders escaped with minor injuries, but that has to be due to just dumb luck. Right?

7. Philadelphia Park Jockey Fight

This might not be the most compelling fight of all time, but the music and sound effects set the tone nicely. Harking back to the days when guys rode horses with the sole purpose of killing one another, it’s easy to see why jockeys get so physical both after and during races. Imagine if NASCAR drivers could lean out the window of their cars and beat the guy that just pushed them into the wall. It would…well, it would look a lot like horse racing.

6. Horse vs. Horse – Blindside

While it doesn’t take a tough guy or bad ass to get in an accident, it does take one to suit up day after day knowing the risks inherent in their sport or occupation. Factor in the uncertainty of dealing with a 1200 lb. wild animal and you’ve got a profession that rivals any in terms of danger. It’s difficult to ascertain exactly what sport is being played here, as it doesn’t appear to be traditional racing nor polo, but a good rule of thumb when you’ve got many horses in the same space: keep your head on a swivel, otherwise you’ll end up with two dead horses and two critically injured riders.

5. 9-Horse Crash

To run with the NASCAR comparison a little further, in horse racing, as in auto racing, the “packing” of the field often means that what would be a one or two-horse crash often results in taking out many adjacent horses and of course, their unfortunate jockeys. This snowball effect ups the danger factor as this spectacular crash demonstrates. Since this writer speaks only English and Spanish, it’s uncertain how both the horses and riders fared following this accident, but it’s safe to say that none of them were better off than they were before the accident took place.

4. Chariot Horse Collapse

Believe it or not, horses aren’t born with chariots and riders strapped to their backs. Consequently, when instincts kick in for these equine warriors, the dynamic can change to a devastating degree. If a horse is galloping and wants to take a little hop for any reason, God bless it. Hop away, trusty steed. However, when that same instinct kicks in during a chariot race, it would appear there is no internal monologue telling the horse that hopping while attached to an unwieldy apparatus might not be such a good idea. This forward flip demonstrates that when you are riding around in a wagon attached to the back of a mostly-still-wild animal, it’s caveat emptor.

3. Horse Drag Race Catapult

For the thrillseekers that can’t find an adequate level of stimulation in facing death while strapped to only one horse, we offer this little chestnut. Dual-horse drag racing. Well, that’s how I’ve christened this sport. It could be called Deathball or something. Who knows? Anyway, this guy has the misfortune of watching this whole death-defying scenario play out over fifteen seconds, ending with his body being tossed like a rag doll easily twenty feet into the air. What’s the moral of this story? Don’t attach yourself to two horses when attaching yourself to one is plenty stupid enough.

2. Horse Head-On Collision

The title of this entry alone suggests that something went horribly wrong during a race in Arizona on August 26, 2000. While the conditions on the track are abysmal, strangely enough, it seems that the weather and track conditions had nothing to do with the unfortunate incident that took place that day. While the horses left the gate with little fanfare, a horse had lost its jockey at the other end of the track and was racing head on into the pack of racing horses. The rogue horse hit a lagging racehorse head on, instantly killing both horses and tossing the rider a ridiculous distance. Though the jockey survived, it is one of the more disturbing sports accidents caught on tape.

1. Nonchalant Horse Tumble

It would appear that horses have pride too. As a palette cleanser to all the violent crashes you have bore witness to in this piece, we offer you…well, it’s another horse crash. But suave. Much like when you misjudge the curb and take a little stutter step while crossing the street, this horse feels compelled to regain his composure and pretend like the whole thing didn’t happen. Which might be exactly what you want to do with this article if you’ve made it this far and you’re squeamish. Both horse and jockey were fine.

When Spike introduced their idea for a midget wrestling show, I thought they hit the jackpot.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work out all that well, but that hasn’t stopped those in the horse racing business from trying to bring that idea back to life.

Following the 2010 Breeders Cup Marathon, the opening championship race on Friday’s Breeders Cup card, 5’4 116-pound Calvin Borel went at it with 5’1, 110-pound Javier Castellano in the winner’s circle.

Castellano was riding Prince Will I Am, and after crossing the finish line in second place, he was disqualified for interfering with another horse, which almost sent several riders down in a chain reaction.  Borel benefited from the disqualification as it bumped his horse, A.U. Miner, into third place, but a place on the podium was clearly not enough to calm down an incredibly angry Borel.

Just look at the rage in those eyes!

Hat Tip – [Courier-Journal]

In the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, Seattle Slew entered the race as a heavy favorite but would be challenged by Run Dusty Run and would eventually win the race by 1 and three-quarter lengths.  At the Preakness Stakes, Seattle Slew would once again be in a tight race, this time beating out Iron Constitution by 1 and a half lengths.

At Belmont, the final leg of the Triple Crown, Seattle Slew won in more convincing fashion.  He won the race by four lengths to capture the Triple Crown and later that year was named as American Horse of the Year.

Here is Seattle Slew winning the Belmont Stakes

Notable Birthdays

Joe Montana: NFL – Born June 11th 1956 (age 54) in New Eagle, Pennsylvania

Brock Marion: NFL – Born June 11th 1970 (age 40) in Bakersfield, California

Jose Reyes: MLB – Born June 11th 1983 (age 27) in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic

Ever wonder what it may look like when you combine the speed of horse racing with the flair of show jumping?  You do now!

I don’t understand why we don’t see this sport more often.  What can be more thrilling than having a dozen horses race around the track while having to leap over several obstacles throughout the course?  All of a sudden, the Kentucky Derby seems quite dull in my opinion.

I just can’t seem to get enough of these hybrid sports.