the greedy trainer needs to be publicly-censured for running a twee two-year-old filly in such a race ... that's why there are age minimums!

No 2 year old horses are allowed to run in the Derby. By definition it's only 3 year olds.

Fillies race against the colts all the time in Europe with no bad consequences. At 17 hands, she was bigger than most of the colts racing in the Derby. It's ridiculous to blame the Jockey using the whip for the incident. If anything, look into the genetic pool of horses running today. Most of them trace back to the Godolphin Arabian--Very few show any blood from the Byerly Turk or the Darley Arabian--founding sires of the modern Thoroughbred. Look for the answer in the breeding shed.

Actually all horses birthdays are considered to be Jan. 1st regaurdless of their actuall birth date. So a horse who was born in November 2005 would be considered 3 years old by the rules as of Jan 1 2008. It isn't fair but that is how the rules are written, so yes horses younger than three do compete.

While "all" horses birthdays are considered Jan 1,not many Throughbred race horse breeders are going to make the mistake of having a Nov. foal.Especially one that is breeding for a Derby entry,which is originally done when the foal is born.It is a pretty safe bet that all of the Derby horses were born in Jan,Feb,or Mar.