Maybe it 's because I was at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, celebrating with my mother her 75th birthday.

Or maybe it 's because the Internet made it easy to follow Eight Belles as she trained last fall and winter, making her second place finish ahead of 18 "boys " even more triumphant and memorable. Or maybe there 's just something about horses.

Whatever the reason, I can 't get the beautiful filly and the questionable "business " of horseracing out of my mind.

Since her breakdown there has been much speculation as to why so many racehorses are dying at the track. The week before Eight Belles broke her ankles, two horses were euthanized at the Rolex Kentucky Event.

Barbaro was euthanized several months after breaking his leg at the Preakness Stakes in 2006. Pine Island died at the 2006 Breeders ' Cup at Churchill Downs, as did European champion George Washington, at the 2007 Breeder 's Cup.

The causes of breakdowns run from track surfaces, to training too young and too soon between races, to breeding tactics that aim for speed and strength, but sacrifice the skeletal framework that holds it all together.

According to Wikipedia, "One tenth of all thoroughbreds suffer orthopedic problems, including fractures. Current estimates indicate that there are 1.5 career-ending breakdowns for every 1,000 horses starting a race in the United States, an average of two horses per day. "

In May 2006, Bill Finley of ESPN.com raised awareness of the fate of excess "inventory " when he wrote of Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby and Breeders ' Cup Classic winner, who ended up in a Japanese slaughterhouse in 2002, and Exceller, who beat two Triple Crown winners in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and died in a Swedish slaughterhouse in 1997.

Though horse slaughtering is illegal in the United States, it is legal to ship horses to other countries that still do. In October 2006, Antony Barnett, a British journalist for the Observer, went undercover to Cheshire Equine Services, where up to 3,000 racehorses are destroyed each year.

But change is possible. On May 9, Bloodhorse.com reported that Rick Porter, owner of Eight Belles, "approved a wristband manufactured in memory of the gallant filly, with proceeds to benefit Midlatlantic Horse Rescue. ' "

Another rescue operation is the "Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, " which has been saving thoroughbreds from abuse or slaughter for more than 20 years.

Besides adopting from or donating to rescue organizations, the racing industry itself could raise the ethics bar and stop over-breeding fragile record breakers. Further research could determine whether the cushioning effect of polytrack actually decreases the severity of injuries.

And if the business does not move to make horseracing less deadly, we could stop participating until they do. Horses have been carrying, working for, and inspiring us for centuries. Isn 't it time to show them that we can be "large-hearted, " too?

Maier lives in Blue Mounds.