“In the heat of the moment he wouldn’t have been expected to do a full veterinary check up before proceeding.”
Remember, it is not so long ago that jockeys were able to remount, when they couldn’t have possibly known if the horse was sound or not.
The incident with Gold Dancer was a very unfortunate accident. I think racing has to recognise the “optics” look bad but I am hopeful the public will realise it was an accident and see through the obvious attempts by animal rights groups and sections of the media to use it to advance their anti-racing and betting agenda.