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According to an Associated Press survey of racetracks in the United States, more than three horse deaths occur every day, most of them a direct result of devastating injuries sustained on the track. At least 5,000 horses have died since 2003. And those are just the reported fatalities. Because of sloppy record keeping at many tracks, the actual number of horse deaths is certain to be significantly higher. The breakdown and death of Eight Belles in this year’s Kentucky Derby brought to the forefront this ugly side of racing, just 10 months after last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Barbero also sustained injuries from which he could never recover. The problem as I see it is that thoroughbreds are being bred for speed and not strength. The horses are incredibly fast, but they are also incredibly fragile. Here’s what Larry Jones, trainer of Eight Belles, had to say on the issue: “Those that do get hurt maybe get hurt worse because of their speed and size. A good big horse will outrun a good little horse, and they can be more fragile because their legs and joints have to hold a lot more.”

Big Brown’s hoof is healing and the big thoroughbred will be ready to rock and roll next Saturday (June 7) in the Belmont as he tries to win the third leg of the triple crown, something that hasn’t been done for 30 years. I think Big Brown has a great shot at it, better than many of the other three-year-olds who have tried to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Affirmed was the last horse to win the triple crown and that was back in 1978. Since then there have been 10 horses that won the Derby and Preakness only to fail in the grueling Belmont. So who were these horses> Well here’s the list:

• 1979—Spectacular Bid finishes third after steppling on a safety pin in the paddock just before the race.
• 1981—Pleasant Colony, finishing third.
• 1987— Alysheba, finishing fourth.
• 1989—Sunday Silence, finishing second.
• 1997—Silver Charm, finishing second, losing by less than a length.
• 1998—Real Quiet, finishing second by a nose.
• 1999— Charismatic, finishing third.
• 2002— War Emblem, after stumbling at the start, he finishes eighth.
• 2003—Funny Cide, finishing third.
• 2004—Smarty Jones, after leading by six lengths coming out of the far turn, Smarty loses by a length.

In a little less than two weeks, undefeated Big Brown will walk onto the track at Belmont Park in an attempt to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown of horseracing in 30 years. Big Brown is heavily favored to run away from the field in the grueling 1 ½-mile Belmont, the final leg of the trifecta. The horse easily captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. But hold on, let’s not crown our champion just yet. Which brings me to what I was referring to with this post’s headline. The 1970s were the decade of the Triple Crown, starting with the great Secretariat, who ended a 25-year Triple Crown drought in 1973. Four years later, another great, Seattle Slew won the three-race combo. And the very next year it was Affirmed winning it all. So what about the safety pin? Well I’m coming to that. In 1979, the truly phenomenal Spectacular Bid rolled over the competition in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. The horse was a prohibitive 3-10 favorite to win the Belmont. He couldn’t lose. But then the unthinkable happened. Spectacular Bid stepped on an open safety pin that someone had dropped. With tender hoof, Spectacular Bid gave it everything it had, finishing third. Hence the costliest safety pin in the world. In sports, as in life, anything can happen.

Welcome to InsightSports, where your opinion counts.  Whether it be the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, horse racing or whatever, here’s the place for spirited debate. No subject is too controversial, let’s hear what you have to say. Here are a few topics worthy of comment:

• Barry Bonds — superstar or super loser. Ditto for Roger Clemens, Michael Vick.
• Kentucky Derby — sport of kings or animal abuse? Did Eight Belles really take steroids? Wouldn’t be a surprise to me.
• NASCAR or open wheel racing? Personally I find NASCAR incredibly boring, but the Indianapolis 500 is another story. I love Memorial Day racing at Indy. And NASCAR is on practically every week (yawn).
• Show me the money. Professional athletes keep getting larger and larger contracts the size of which it is hard to comprehend. But if they didn’t get the money, it would just go to the already wealthy owners who deserve it even less. How about giving it back to the fans with lower prices for tickets and concessions. Ten bucks for a beer and hot dog is ridiculous. What’s wrong with this picture.  These are just a few of my thoughts on a wide variety of sports. I’ll be posting more as wel move ahead and I look forward to hearing from all of you too.