A tarnished Triple Crown

USA TODAY, June, 2008

For horseracing fans, this year's Triple Crown season came to a disappointing end Saturday with the stunning defeat of popular favorite Big Brown. But it could prove historic nevertheless for the way it exposed the racing industry's seamier side.

The first jolt came at the Kentucky Derby, when the filly Eight Belles suffered devastating ankle injuries and was euthanized on the track. Her fatal breakdown underscored racing's penchant for inbreeding horses for speed at the expense of durability.

Then, as Big Brown repeated his runaway Derby triumph at the Preakness, the checkered past of his co-owner, Michael Iavarone, drew unwanted attention. Iavarone, billed as a "high-profile investment banker on Wall Street," had been fined and suspended for making...