"She had all sorts of fans - truck drivers, grandmothers, nuns and Girl Scouts," said Hanna, a professor at West Chester University and the author of a new book titled Barbaro, Smarty Jones & Ruffian, The People's Horses. "A lot of those people have never looked at another race again."

Is the sport of thoroughbred racing back at a similar juncture? In the days since the filly Eight Belles died after finishing second in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, her death has overshadowed the romp of the winner, Big Brown, a legitimate threat to win the first Triple Crown in 30 years.

Track regulars know that horses break down, but even many of them admit to being traumatized by what they saw. And the casual fan who tunes in a couple of times a year obviously doesn't do it to see a filly go down after the finish of the Derby, to be euthanized minutes later, before the telecast cuts to the winner's circle.

The issues being raised this week all came up after 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro broke down two weeks later in the Preakness - but Barbaro wasn't put down on the track at Pimlico. So the episode still offered some hope.

On Sunday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, seeking the suspension of Eight Belles jockey Gabriel Saez, faxed a letter to Kentucky's racing authority contending the filly was "doubtlessly injured before the finish" and asking that Saez not be allowed to ride while the horse's death is investigated.

This week, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issued a more generic condemnation, stating that the sport is no different from other forms of entertainment where animals are forced to perform, "often times in stressful and inhumane conditions. These include being raced too young before reaching physical maturity, being raced excessively, being forced to run on hard or slippery surfaces, or being injected with drugs to enhance performance."

Of the fans who were pulled in by the feel-good Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex stories and stayed tuned to Barbaro's saga, some are saying they can't keep following the sport, whatever the circumstances of the horse's death. Owners and trainers say the Smarty and Barbaro fans don't have much to do with their industry, and certainly don't sustain it economically.

As for those who call for the abolition of the sport: "I don't think they understand what thoroughbreds are bred for," Hanna said.

Larry Jones, the trainer of Eight Belles, fired back at PETA. He said of PETA's call for a suspension of the jockey: "I think it's really and truly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. . . . When that started with PETA, I feel like maybe their heart was in the right place. I think maybe they were genuinely concerned. But now that I am kind of becoming the same expert on PETA that they are on horse racing - which isn't great, but enough to get my foot in my mouth, which [is] where they keep theirs most of the time. . . ."

"I hate the fact that they're using this to be a fund-raiser for them," Jones said of PETA's attack.

Rick Porter, the owner of Eight Belles, said a preliminary autopsy concluded that Eight Belles broke down because of the fractures in her legs.

"It was not an aneurysm," Porter said. "It didn't have anything to do with the heart."

But many fans weren't waiting for autopsy results to express their dismay.

"I will never ever ever ever watch another horse race or read any articles about same," e-mailed an Inquirer reader named Sharon Breen on Sunday morning. "It seems to me that this is an absolutely cruel sport for these magnificent animals. . . . Have these things always happened and I just didn't know about them? I only started paying any attention when Smarty ran."

Breen, who lives in Montgomeryville, continued: "Believe me, I just lost all interest. God bless these horses who have no idea what jeopardy they are in while trying to please their jockeys/owners/trainers. Horrible!!!!! At least football players make their own choices - these horses are slaves in my opinion."

Alex Brown, currently exercising horses for top trainer Steve Asmussen at Woodbine outside Toronto, maintains the Web site that offered daily medical updates on Barbaro before the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner was put down. The Web site has continued with a sizable online community checking in every day.

"I see a lot of anger. I try to eliminate any of the rhetoric that is clearly looking to ban racing, because this is a horse-racing Web site," Brown said yesterday. "The rest of the rhetoric is all fair game. Certainly the rhetoric that is trying to improve areas of horse racing, that I'm all for."

Brown doesn't think the jockey was in any way responsible for the death of Eight Belles, but he said this country needs to follow Europe's lead and adopt more stringent whip rules, limiting the number of times a jockey can use a whip in a race.

Brown also said: "I just think this idea of making the racetracks as fast as you can on big race days, that's something that's easy for us to make a conscious effort not to do. Every racetrack does it for its major stakes."

In fact, the sport has been experimenting with all sorts of changes. Last year, California banned dirt tracks after a rash of breakdowns. The jury remains out on the effects of artificial surfaces. Many trainers have come out against them.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania and Delaware have banned steroids. Many feel this is a significant advance, but also suggest that it is resulting in short fields in Delaware in particular since trainers in states that allow steroids would be reluctant to ship their horses to a state where it is banned.

These changes illustrate how specific jurisdictions can enact changes, but it is difficult to do industry-wide.

Small measures already have been taken. Brown said a group that gathers at his Web site, AlexBrownracing.com, saved a racehorse from the kill pen at the New Holland Auction this week, raising the money in the name of Eight Belles.

"My personal goal would be something as horrible as this incident is, it's not for naught," Brown said. "I think it's important that it doesn't become business as usual in the next week."