Life shows a broken down Ruffian in slideshow about cool horse names

As a journalist, I certainly respect the role photographs play in telling a story--a picture is worth a thousand words and all that.

Every photograph has the ability to tell a story, but that does not always mean it tells THE story. Maintaining balance in this symbiotic relationship is essential, yet things managed to get slightly off kilter in image 12 of Life's "Weird Wonderful Horse Names" photo gallery when a fun note about Foolish Pleasure's name included the macabre image of Ruffian broken down on the backstretch as the Derby winner raced into the far turn during their infamous match race.

It doesn't bother me that Sports Illustrated devoted a full-page spread to Go For Wand's broken leg or that publications published pictures of a broken down Barbaro fighting for his life or Eight Belles being euthanized on the track. Those images told the story better than "Barbaro broke down in the Preakness" ever could.

But the above just seems tasteless. If Life has any out here it's that the caption states that Foolish Pleasure is racing "in the Belmont" rather than at Belmont Park. It's entirely possible that the editor who put this together didn't even know what was going on in the background, but it's still a poor choice especially considering the subject of the photo won the Derby.