Eight Belles To Be Buried at Kentucky Derby Museum

The filly who came in second in the Kentucky Derby but had to be euthanized shortly after the race will be buried at the Kentucky Derby Museum. Eight Belles is one of only five fillies to win or place in the Derby. She had to be put down after suffering compound fractures in both front ankles.Churchill Downs spokesperson John Asher says Eight Belles’s owner has agreed to have her remains interred at the museum, adjacent to the racetrack."That is a rare honor for thoroughbreds. Only four Derby winners are interred there at this point, interred in the courtyard there at the back of the museum. So four winners of the Kentucky Derby are buried there right now, and Eight Belles's remains will go there as well and there’s going to be a tree planted in her honor as well. So fans of this wonderful filly will be able to visit her when they come to the Derby Museum," he said.Churchill Downs has also donated 25-thousand dollars to the Eight Belles Memorial Fund – which helps provide research into the treatment and prevention of equine injuries.They’ve also renamed a stakes race – ‘La Troienne’ – in Eight Belles's honor. It’s a Grade III Stakes Race for three-year-old fillies run on Derby Day.