Towleroad Guide to the Tube #333

BRITNEY/PARIS: The ladies of The View school Elizabeth Hasselbeck.

JOHN MCCAIN: We're proud of that commercial.

EWAN MCGREGOR: McGregor's documentary series about his motorcycle trip through Africa, Long Way Down, begins tomorrow night on the Fox Reality Channel.

ARRRRRR: A Saratoga call from Tom Durkin.

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A Sad Day at the Kentucky Derby

Big Brown won the 134th Kentucky Derby over the weekend, but overshadowing the win was the collapse and euthanization of second-place finisher Eight Belles. The horse's death has many calling for research, reform and investigations.

Sports Illustrated reports: "PETA faxed a letter Sunday to Kentucky's racing authority claiming the filly was 'doubtlessly injured before the finish' and asked that Saez be suspended while Eight Belles' death is investigated. 'What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?' PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. 'If he didn't then we can probably blame the fact that they're allowed to whip the horses mercilessly.' Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones said the filly was clearly happy when she crossed the finish line. 'I don't know how in the heck they can even come close to saying that,' Jones told The Associated Press on Sunday. 'She has her ears up, clearly galloping out.'"

AFTER THE JUMP, Eight Belles' troubling final moments...

Experts Refuse to Say War Emblem Might Be Gay [tr]
Barbaro: Death of a Champion [tr]

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Experts Refuse to Say War Emblem Might Be Gay

The rumors have been around for years about 2002 Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem, given his disinterest in mares. The NYT explores the topic but concludes that War Emblem just has "finicky taste." Others call him quirky or temperamental:

"He is isolated from the other studs at Shadai Stallion Station in the hope that he will feel safe and more confident in his sexuality. Mares surround him in an effort to revive a long-dormant libido. In nearly five and a half years of contact with hundreds of mares, War Emblem, now 9, has managed to mate with only 70 of them, which is half of most stallions’ yearly output. He has not produced a live foal since 2005, and the last time it was confirmed that he ejaculated in the company of a mare was in 2006. He did it once. 'We know he is fertile, but he has no interest in mares,' said Dr. Nobuo Tsunoda, the director of the farm."

Said Anne Peters, the matings adviser at Three Chimneys in Midway, Ky: "It’s very abnormal to have no sexual interest in mares."

Unless, of course...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #126

GAGE WESTON: Colt Model and Iraq war veteran appears on Bravo's Work Out.

TORNADO: Storm chaser video shot last Friday in Ellis County, Oklahoma.

SEAN PENN: On Bill Maher. Tenet, Bush, Rice, and Cheney should be in F-ing jail.

STREET SENSE: Comes from 19th in an amazing rail move to win the 133rd Kentucky Derby.

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Barbaro: Death of a Champion

Since we're on the topic of horses today, there's nice piece about Barbaro, euthanized yesterday after an eight-month ordeal, from Jane Smiley in the Huffington Post.

"Some observers have been angered by the outpouring of sympathy toward Barbaro, but there is something extra large about the death of a horse...

...I watched the Preakness with some lifelong racing people. When Barbaro got injured, we turned the TV off. All of us had seen it before; everyone who loves racing has seen it all too many times. It is the paradox of racing. His dynamic beauty and his exceptional heart were gifts Barbaro inherited from his racing forebears, who had the luck and toughness to run and win and prove themselves worthy of reproducing. Subsequently, during his medical saga, he showed that he was intelligent, too. According to a friend of mine who talked to trainer Michael Matz in the summer, Barbaro knew when he needed some pain relief--he would stand by the sling and shake it until they put him in it, and when he was tired of it, he would shake himself so that it rattled, signalling he was ready to be taken out. And then he would go to his stall and lie down. Did he want to survive? It seemed as though he did.

In a great race horse, the heart and mind do the running, and the body tries to hold up..."

Barbaro's painter recalls horse's strength [evening sun]
Site of Barbaro's greatest triumph could be final resting place [cbc]
Rest Well, Barbaro: Derby winner was a classic story of hope [daily times]

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