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Captain Dimitrios was only 4 years old and collapsed and died in the stalls at York today. This lovely horse was very special to me and it was devastating to see. Deepest sympathies to his connections.
Gosh that’s awful. RIP
Why would a seemingly fit horse collapse like that before the race actually even starts???4 year old that had 44 races.
in the last 8 weeks this horse had 4 runs for Alastair Lidderdale, sent out each time to make all, you can imagine how hard this horse was worked at home before being transported 200 miles.
disgraceful!
RIP Captain Dimitrios
Shame on you Alastair Lidderdale
I have just looked him up and was about to comment on the number of runs he’s had – actually double checked it was the right horse as when I saw 44 races I thought it can’t be only a 4 year old … that must be virtually a record surely? Why would you ask a horse to run so many times???? When you think of the likes of Best Mate – 3 runs a season … yes I know he was a chaser … but even for the flat it seems an excessive amount of racing – obviously no rules about that but maybe there should be???
Is it that unusual? I notice the Easterby horses (for example) run a lot of times as 2 yr olds. And old Dvinsky – yes he’s 11 but he’s run something like 209 times. I’m not even sure what happened to Captain Dimitrios because he just seemed to collapse and lie flat in seconds so I assumed a heart attack because I missed the commentary, but the RP says he was fatally injured suggesting he’d been hurt.
I just wish it hadn’t happened.I wouldn’t say it’s particularly unusual. It’s just that we’re getting used to trainers being more selective about running their horses, especially the high class flat and chase ones. The lower rated ones run much more often.
Unfortunately, a heart attack can happen at any time.
RIP, Captain Dimitrios.
Edit: Just seen in the thread in the Horse Racing section that he broke his neck. Tried to rush the gate and his head got wedged in the stalls. As he tried to free himself his neck broke.
Thanks BlackGold, I’ve now looked at the postings. I feel absolutely desperate about this and can’t begin to imagine how his connections must feel.
I just hope the Captain truly didn’t feel any pain.
I understand this horse was loved and imagine his owner and trainer must feel pretty awful.RIP Captain Dimitrios – I’m sorry I’ll not see you again.
The owner is on Talking horses and is, understandably devastated. What a tragic thing to happen.
Ive followed captain dimitrios since the beginning of last year when he was with David Evans and he’s done himself proud, i backed him when he came 6th in a seller at Leicester last year and i never thought he’d progress as far as he did, he was one of, if not my favourite horse and i was so sad to see what happened.
He didnt run that reguarly to be honest, only when the lingfield sprint series was on did he run every saturday, and before that he had a good 100+ day break, these things just happen.
RIP: Captain Dimitrios
, you were much loved by all the postings here and from the video produced by your owner.
If only there was something to make these stalls a safer place for horses, this following so swiftly the accident that happened to Gray Pearl on 1,000 Guineas Day.
They had about 6 stalls out for the general public to inspect on that day and they must be daunting places for a horse to be in prior to the off. Narrow, creaky and although padded to the sides the front opening gates are solid metal and this is what, I believe, did the damage to both horses.
Could not the opening gates be plastic like the running rails, where so many injuries have been avoided over the years. That way if a horse hit them violently or became stuck under them and panicked trying to get up, thus doing spinal damage, they would shatter.
Anything that can save the life of a horse must be worth looking into.Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...Have to agree about how unnatural a place for a horse a starting stall must be. I suppose they have to be made of metal because of what they have to withstand, being moved around so much and horses kicking out etc.and horses would be more likely to get stuck in them if they tried to crawl out underneath if they were made of a substance that gave way under pressure.
, you were much loved by all the postings here and from the video produced by your owner.- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.