After the injury and subsequent euthanizing of Eight Bells at the Derby two weeks ago, there hasn’t been much fanfare heading into this year’s Preakness, which runs today.

Thoughts of Big Brown winning the Triple Crown have been replaced with a general uneasiness about the race — and the entire industry of horse racing.

The BOSTON HERALD suggests that the sport of kings is in bad shape:

The PETA pickets, who are expected Saturday, will eventually move on to another cause, but horse racing’s problems are not going away. What ails this industry goes far beyond the Triple Crown tragedies.

“It’s the most dysfunctional industry in sports,” Hall of Fame jockey turned ESPN analyst Jerry Bailey, who obviously doesn’t know much about boxing, was saying Thursday morning not far from Big Brown’s stable, where trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., was telling anyone who would listen how good his colt is.

Horse racing has a steroids issue that makes baseball’s pale in comparison. Although, is it such a problem if everyone’s doing it? Breeding has also been mentioned as an issue.

While not necessarily referring to steroid use, Bailey feels everyone in the industry has been willing to give. If the jockeys give up whips, the trainers have to give up the drugs.

Then there are the owners and the breeders. Responding to the wishes of the owners, breeders are producing yearlings who are bred for speed, not durability. Today’s thoroughbreds are brittle and race a lot less than horses in the past.

It’s especially interesting that all 20 entrants in the Kentucky Derby were descendants of the same horse, which may be the first time we’ve ever seen a sport with an issue that may be related to incest. Seriously, it’s not like NASCAR where you can just change the tire or hammer the fender back into form. Although painting ads on the horses might be a fun twist, at least until they figure out how to breed horses that can crash into each other.