a race turned into a tragedy

I know we all aren't too concerned about horse racing but in the minutes following the Kentucky Derby, the horse Eight Belles collapsed from injuries to both if its legs. In the following minutes, vets had to put the horse down and out of its misery. There has been lot of speculation and criticism to the sport because of the death of this horse. Many animial rights activists say that this sport is becoming too harsh on the horses involved. I disagree with this because this is the first time that a horse has died right after the race due to injuries received during the race. There have been other serious injuies to horses during big races but this is very uncommon. Ahletes get hurt following games, races and matches. This is part of the sport and I think it shouldn't be a reason to ban horse racing altogether.