Newbury Tragedy: Right Decisions?

[kerilli]

two horses dropping dead in the paddock, obviously affected at exactly the same spot, and other staggering, is not normal at all. hindsight is a wonderful thing, obviously. in retrospect i believe the race should not have been run. 10/10 to Nicky Henderson for pulling Kid Cassidy out of the race, a brave and very sensible caring move.
i read somewhere that some of the horses who survived had burn marks in their mouths from the bits. i hadn't heard about the horses making noises but i can quite believe it, unfortunately. very traumatic for all involved, and not surprising perhaps that some decisions made might not have been the best, in light of what we now know.

 

[Persephone]

I can't believe they allowed the race to continue! Three horses go down in the parade ring, two die. There is nothing ordinary about that, and I would have been extremely concerned as to whether whatever caused the collapses had also affected the other horses. To turn the situation round, I'm more shocked any of the owners/ trainers were willing to let their horses race than at the fact that the officials let the race continue.

That sums it up for me!

 

[Ninfapaola]

Couldn't agree more HashRouge and Kerilli

 

[georgie256]

Definitely should have been cancelled. Two horses dropping dead before the race is not normal and needed investigating. The audience were obviously distressed that there were two bodies near the track....I would be.
The horses did have burn marks and head grooms who took off the bridles got electric shocks from doing so.

 

[Maesfen]

So judging by your theory Maesfen Nicky Henderson should not have withdrawn his horse because it was acting oddly. *shakes head*

From the footage I've seen, I presume you are talking about the one that reared up then almost fell then walked away; that's certainly the one I was talking about. I don't know whose it was and if it was Nicky's and he deemed it 'odd' then I wouldn't for a minute doubt him, or expect it to run but many will have seen a lot worse happen in paddocks before (talking about this horse now, not the other two) and the horses have been deemed fit to run afterwards, have run and have run well. One I know reared up in the paddock, slipped and crashed over, scrambled up, shook itself, was checked over by the vet, deemed fit to run, was resaddled and won. It later won many other races too.
There were still horses walking over that bit of ground, several had walked over it before so it was unclear whether something 'strange' had affected those others or not; it was not clear cut that the other one had been affected or just been unruly at the same time.

I still agree that Newbury did what was feasible at that time.

If you want obvious doubtful conditions look at the Tanatside point to point yesterday. It should never have started at all with water standing on the course in parts; the doctors and vets being unhappy that they couldn't get around the course quickly enough owing to the ground. second race a horse went down which took the vet 15 minutes to get to because of the ground conditions, even his 4x4 couldn't cope then an hour to get it off the track in the horse ambulance because that was stuck up to the axles and needed several vehicles to pull it out, even tractors were struggling. That delay and lurching about could have cost that horse its life. Even before that accident it was an obvious postponement case only they were too pig headed to agree to it. They still ran another race before sense kicked in and they listened to the professionals.

 

[Wishful]

I was at a p2p where one of the runners went up and over in the entrance to the paddock, got its foot stuck in the fence for a second or so. Vets had a look, it looked maybe a fraction stiff, but sound (and tbh quite a few racehorses don't have amazing actions in walk). Anyway it loosened off, looked fine on the way to the start and won, so racehorses being idiots and misjudging a rear and going over isn't particularly unusual - I highly doubt Maesfen was at the same p2p as I was...

One of the p2pers OH used to do used to go up regularly when balked (i.e. not wanting to go in stable/out of stable/wait for 2 seconds). Up meant up and take at least 2 steps back to keep balance - easy enough to misjudge, so racehorses rearing and being toerags in the paddock isn't unusual - watch the vets checking tongueties at p2ps for some bad behaviour...

 

[Flir]

100% should have been cancelled! poor poor horses

How thick were the officials to let it go ahead! just proves that they dont care about the horses welfare and are just interested in making money

And if it was a malicious act I hope they catch the b@stards behind it and they zap them - taste of their own medicine - id be happy to hand them their dose

 

[WoopsiiD]

Also my mum buys the daily mail (I know have told her they spout tripe in it lol) & the report said that the horses in the paddock were screaming in pain, does anyone know if that was the case?? If it was it must have even more horrifying to hear the horses screaming

As stated in my previous post...sadly its true about the 'unnatural' noise that came from the effected horses.

 

[cyberhorse]

I personally feel ashamed that horse owners would still choose to run their animals, this is where I feel the problem is. The racing horse for most is a commodity, asset, status symbol etc..not a sentient being. No horses at the start gate = no race; decision made.

If I get to a show and do not like the ground, or my horse is acting out of character, or has ANY welfare doubts however minor he goes straight back home.

The industry already has "issues" with its image and no doubt this will put the spotlight on it further.

 

[WoopsiiD]

I personally feel ashamed that horse owners would still choose to run their animals, this is where I feel the problem is. The racing horse for most is a commodity, asset, status symbol etc..not a sentient being. No horses at the start gate = no race; decision made.

If I get to a show and do not like the ground, or my horse is acting out of character, or has ANY welfare doubts however minor he goes straight back home.

The industry already has "issues" with its image and no doubt this will put the spotlight on it further.

Hear Hear.
Ultimatley the decision lies with the owners. They don't have to race them....

 

[use a name]

Sorry to just post this randomly but id just like to make a point,the amount of horses that die simply because of racing.Through injuries,accidents,damaging their bodies because of the sport.And yet everyone talks about how awful this one freak accident is,but what about the race horses that die simply so that people can have a grand old day.All for nothing but a stupid sport.What about them?Im probably putting my neck on the line and will soon recieve loads of hatemail!But i had to say it.And of course this was a tragic accident.So sad for those horses.

 

[Dowjones]

Sorry to just post this randomly but id just like to make a point,the amount of horses that die simply because of racing.Through injuries,accidents,damaging their bodies because of the sport.And yet everyone talks about how awful this one freak accident is,but what about the race horses that die simply so that people can have a grand old day.All for nothing but a stupid sport.What about them?Im probably putting my neck on the line and will soon recieve loads of hatemail!But i had to say it.And of course this was a tragic accident.So sad for those horses.

It is ok to have an opinion

But most horses enjoy racing, cross country fences cause accidents, in showjumping poles can get caught between legs, even hacking down roads can be a danger, it's our jobs to make the equestrian sports/activities as safe as possible for both rider and horse which is why in this case a lot of people see it as apple decision to have let the race go ahead.

 

[fburton]

Well it was the jockeys and stable people who would be taking the tack off that reported the burn marks, it was said on channel 4.

Hmm, I'm very sceptical about that. I know about electricity and its effects on the body (especially the heart), and if there was enough current to burn the tack - and it would have taken a heck of a lot - there would be more than enough to burn flesh (because that would have provided the more direct path for the current). Anyone nearby would have smelled burning.

 

[pastie2]

Sorry to just post this randomly but id just like to make a point,the amount of horses that die simply because of racing.Through injuries,accidents,damaging their bodies because of the sport.And yet everyone talks about how awful this one freak accident is,but what about the race horses that die simply so that people can have a grand old day.All for nothing but a stupid sport.What about them?Im probably putting my neck on the line and will soon recieve loads of hatemail!But i had to say it.And of course this was a tragic accident.So sad for those horses.

I think that this thread is about the decisions made by Newbury racecourse. It was a dreadful tradgedy, and yes racehorses have catastrophic injuries, so do many horses involved in sport. But to call racing a stupid sport so people can enjoy a grand day out is completely out of order. Racing is an industry that employs thousands of people and brings an enormous amount of money into our economy. A stupid sport, I think not. Horses die in a field of neglect, horses die with people that dont know what they are doing. I could go on forever how horses die. Yes, you have put your uneducated neck on the line. As for hate mail, I dont think so.

 

[angel01]

The race should of been cancelled imediatley,

I have an ex racer and was very very distressed to hear of this tragedy was very upsetting, my thoughts go out to the owners and everyone who had responsabilities towards both the horses xxxxxxxx

 

[amage]

I actually think they were right to run. They had a horrific situation on their hands and the quickest way to distract the crowd and clear the area around the parade ring was to run the race. It has been stated that there were no burn marks....that is a stupid rumour. As for the person saying it's a stupid sport....what about the thousands of jobs and the millions it puts into the country coffers every year. That is certainly not to be sneezed at and written off as a stupid sport. Come visit our racehorses sometime...they are happy and thrive on their races. We recently lost one as he spooked and tripped over his own legs and broke a leg....he was standing in the yard when it happened. Accidents happen...horses die week in week out for any god's amount of reasons.

 

[pastie2]

Well said, amage!