Jones acknowledged changes could made to make the sport safer, although he doubts any would have saved his filly from what he called a freak injury.

Stewards could, for example, mandate lighter whips or riding crops, Jones said. However, he said his training program takes great care to make sure no horse is abused, even in a rush for the finish.

“My horses don’t come back from races with welts on their body,” Jones said. “Very seldom do we find a mark on these horses. I don’t think we need to make (the whips) out of foam rubber, but you could get to a happy medium where you know it’s not going to hurt them and the horse would still know what you want them to do.”

Jones said some of his horses don’t respond to the whip at all. In fact, this year Jones petitioned officials at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas to let him send out a jockey without one. Jones’ petition was accepted despite initial concern the jockey wouldn’t be able to control the horse.

Waldrop said one of PETA’s suggestions, that whips should be banned, would cause horses to be out of control on the track, producing far more injuries.

“Forcing a jockey to give up a whip would be like forcing a NASCAR driver to give up his steering wheel,” Waldrop said.

As for the prospect of changing dirt tracks to synthetic ones, Jones said he supports continued research on how that will improve safety. He insisted, however, the track at Churchill Downs was not to blame for the loss of Eight Belles.

“Churchill’s track was as close to perfect on Saturday as it could be,” he said. “The moisture in it was wonderful.”

Jones said he hadn’t yet decided where Proud Spell would run next but acknowledged the loss of Eight Belles has taken a toll on his team.

“I’m sure the way this affects us mentally, we’ll probably bounce too far to the conservative line for a little while, being probably too safe on our horses,” he said. “We’re having a hard time getting this in perspective and behind us. These horses are very dear to us. I never got to say goodbye to her.”

Emotions were still running high at Churchill Downs on Monday, where the Kentucky Derby Museum was considering putting up a card for visitors to sign, museum spokeswoman Wendy Treinen said. A vase of flowers had been left at the museum, with a card that read, “Eight Belles, you were courageous and beautiful and we will miss you, but never forget you.”

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