LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A quarter mile past the finish line in the Kentucky Derby, a gallant runner-up effort by the filly Eight Belles was forgotten in an instant.

In a freak accident that one experienced racetrack veterinarian said he had never seen before, the 3-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song apparently snapped both of her front ankles simultaneously as she galloped out after the race, sending her crashing hard to the Churchill Downs dirt racetrack. She was euthanized moments later, after vets determined there was no chance to save her.

“She had finished the race and was around the turn at the start of the backstretch and right near one of the outriders as they were watching,” said Dr. Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian for the race. “He saw both front ankles just collapse.”

While such an injury on only one leg might have given her a fighting chance to survive, “she didn’t have a front leg to stand on to be splinted and hauled off in the ambulance, so she was immediately euthanized,” Bramlage said.

He said such a double simultaneous break is an extremely rare occurrence.

“In my years in racing, I have never seen this happen,” he said. “... There was no possible way to save her.”

Jockey Gabriel Saez, who was thrown when the filly went down, walked away, apparently uninjured.

Trainer Larry Jones, who a day earlier celebrated winning the Kentucky Oaks with Eight Belles’ stablemate, Proud Spell, went to his barn immediately after the accident and could not be reached for comment.

Owner Richard Porter of Hobe Sound, Fla., who races as Fox Hill Farms, also was not available for comment.

The death of the filly moments after she had run a tremendous race to be second to Big Brown cast a pall over the stunning victory.

Rick Dutrow Jr. and Kent Desormeaux, trainer and rider of Big Brown, respectively, extended their regrets to Eight Belles’ connections at their post-race victory conference.

“We love horses; all of us do,” Dutrow said when asked how the incident had affected him. “If you don’t love horses and you’re in this game, get out.”

Horse racing’s marquee events have been marred by a series of heart-wrenching disasters since Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro fractured his right rear leg in the 2006 Preakness Stakes. Despite successful surgery to stabilize the injury, the beloved colt ultimately succumbed to complications of the injury.

Six months later, in the 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff, Pine Island broke down and was euthanized and Fleet Indian sustained a career-ending injury at Churchill Downs.

In last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, European champion George Washington broke a cannon bone in his right front leg in deep stretch at Monmouth Park and had to be put down.

The high-profile accidents have increased pressure on racetracks to try and address the issue of fatal breakdowns in the sport and has given momentum to the adoption of artificial racing surfaces designed to reduce the wear and tear on horses from training and racing.

At least eight major racetracks have installed such surfaces in the past several years, and preliminary evidence suggests that, if properly installed and maintained, they may cut down on fatal injuries.

But Bramlage said that an artificial racing surface would likely have made no difference in Eight Belles’ case.

“I don’t think you can blame the injury on the racetrack or say that the (artificial) track would have prevented it,” he said. “… She was done with the race … and I don’t think the forces on her legs pulling up would be any different on dirt or artificial surface.”

He also said that it would be unfair to blame the injury on the fact that the filly had been put in the position of competing against males for the first time in one of the sport’s most demanding races.

“One injury is not an epidemic,” he said. “As bad as it seems right now, it’s one incident.”