by Jeff Apel

Trainer Larry Jones returned to his Churchill Downs barn on Sunday mourning the loss of Eight Belles, the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) runner-up who was euthanized after shattering both front ankles.

Eight Belles fell about a quarter-mile past the finish of the 1 1/4-mile race. What caused the fatal injury is a mystery to Jones, who did not see the Unbridled’s Song filly fall.

Jones said there was no indication that Eight Belles was hurt as she galloped out. Jones previously trained Hard Spun, the runner-up in the 2007 Derby.

“We have some photographers that we really got to know last year with Hard Spun that were on the first turn taking pictures as everybody was galloping out,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of great pictures they say of her, and she’s got her ears up and was not in any kind of distress galloping out around the turn. I don’t know what happened and when. Just all of the sudden, it just went.”

Jones held an emotional press conference approximately two hours after the Kentucky Derby to answer questions about Eight Belles. He understood the intense media interest in Eight Belles, the first filly to run in the Kentucky Derby since 1999.

“Everybody meant well,” Jones said. “I can understand everybody wanting to see what was going on here. The filly in the last week had won a lot of people, and I think she won a lot of people over with the way she ran in the race.”

Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms owned Eight Belles, a career earner of $708,650. The Unbridled’s Song filly out of Away, by Dixieland Band, was unbeaten in four previous starts this season, including consecutive wins at Oaklawn Park in the Martha Washington, Honeybee (G2), and Fantasy (G2) Stakes.

Jones said Eight Belles would be cremated, but was unsure of Porter’s plans for the interment of her remains.

“We couldn’t be more proud of her, believe me,” Jones said. “She had trained so well coming into this.”

Eight Belles’s fatal breakdown occurred one day after Jones saddled Proud Spell to victory in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on Friday. Jones planned on Monday to ship Proud Spell to Delaware Park, where the rest of his stable is based.

Three horses that were entered on Sunday raced, with the majority of the rest of the stable enjoying an easy day.

“Your first impulse is to be overprotective of everything you’re around, but with them being athletes you’ve got to still do the business and do it right,” Jones said. “I have 48 horses at Delaware. We’re actually sending eight to the track [Sunday]—the other 40 are walking.”

Jones said he never considered scratching the three horses that were scheduled to run on Sunday.

“You’ve got to get to business as normal. We’re not scratching those other three, afraid to lead them over,” Jones said. “Are we going to be over-jubilant at all? No, it’s going to be very depressing for several days around here. We’re going to do the work because we have to, not because it’s going to be fun to do.”

Jeff Apel is a Thoroughbred Times assistant daily news editor