Tragedy At The Track

Eight Belles (r) Mars Derby

The hometown Louisville COURIER- JOURNAL’s Eric Crawford may have put horse racing’s lost weekend in context when he wrote, “It’s tough to have fond feelings for any sports event that ends in death.” That seems to be the prevalent theme after the tragedy of Eight Belles on Saturday. The coverage from the weekend and this morning focuses on the safety of horse racing after another fatal accident occurs on national TV. Meanwhile, NBC is in the middle of the debate about how to cover such an event. USA TODAY’s Michael Hiestand believes NBC made the “correct call, albeit a safe one” in not focusing on Eight Belles while she was in pain. The L.A. TIMES’ Larry Stewart wrote NBC “failed to provide many details of what happened" before signing off. The WASHINGTON POST’s Sally Jenkins wrote NBC “flitted away, cowardlike, from the sickening picture to the more appealing image” of race winner Big Brown. And the WASHINGTON EXAMINER’s Jim Williams writes NBC “mishandled the story of the year thus far in sports."

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