- This topic has 41 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 4 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Agree with all that Tonge; I hate it when fatalities and injuries go unmentioned, or updates are not provided where there is an obvious cause for concern.
I didn’t watch RTV, and perhaps San Antonio’s sad fate went unmentioned. Obviously that is not the same thing as removing the footage of the injury, which I think is understandable.
RTV did mention the injury, both during and after the race.
Their replays nearly always edit out these unfortunate incidents; injuries are part of sport, and I find the deletion of fatalities puerile.
There is this version from Dubai Racing:
You don’t have to watch the breakdown, but there is some extended head-on coverage where you can see how strong the winds were in the straight.
Thanks for the reply Gladiateur.
It seems to me that the editing out of injuries from race replays has become much more common in recent years, with it happening increasingly in the various video archives of races as well as in broadcast footage.
ITV sometimes seem wary of even replaying falls where no obvious harm has occurred.
I think we need to be honest about the risks of the sport, and should not attempt to sanitise it completely. That said, I can well understand why broadcasters would not want to replay an incident like San Antonio’s.
“I think we need to be honest about the risks of the sport, and should not attempt to sanitise it”
Agree completely.
Once seen never forgotten, though. I can still see Roll a Joint falling fatally in the Grand National years ago and, try as I might the image won’t go away. When an animal rights supporting ex friend of mine put footage of a breakdown ( it was one of Colin Tizzards horses and it was horrendous) on Facebook I had to warn a mutual friend not to click onto it because I knew how much it would distress her ( she suffers from ptsd). I don’t think it’s brushing injuries and fatalities under the carpet to remove them from replays. ITV racing are very open about these things happening and are very good at informing people of what’s happened as soon as they know.
Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s kitchen says
” that shrimp tastes like chicken and it’s so good we’ll feature it in the special dinner menu tonight and we’ll save this place ”
Tears from the staff
but then two hours later…
“Hang on – I ordered chicken !!!””
It’s all about perception Moe really, and I’ve watched enough cooking shows with the disaster blow up fookin cake and I am a regular lurker in the memorial section, that I am endured to death and disaster, and, when I recently went to the doctor about a back problem he said your back has the same formation as a duck’s.
“What’s the remedy then doc ?
” First thing to tell you is don’t tell anyone ! “
I’m glad, not only to see so many views on this, but to see a broad, informed consensus.
I maintain it’s not the ground, but the increasing fragility of the breed, that is responsible.
Artificial watering is simply pandering to this gross trend of inbreeding closer than the fourth remove and, as intelligently pointed out by others, the vast number of mares a sought-after stallion can cover each year, again contributes to inbreeding further down the line and needs capping.
And yes, the breeders are chasing the desire for the instant return – precocious, fast (though ironically clocking ever-slower times on watered ground).
What’s needed is a return to natural fast summer ground and Group 1 races on Good to Firm, or even Firm, ground being won by horses with robust conformation, great bone, legs like iron, who then go to stud and reproduce.
But are there any quality top-of-the-ground horses left?
Is it already too late?
It’s yet another big issue the racing media won’t touch because of money – they fear upsetting bloodstock advertisers.
Instead all we hear is how hard it is to be a Clerk of the Course and how great it is that watering is producing “safe” ground.
And so, slowly but surely, it continues.
Inbred horses with poor conformation win Pattern races, or if fillies/mares obtain black type, then go off to stud to breed yet more poorly-conformed inbred horses.
Racing will end up with thousands of inbred borderline cripples in training each year.
Self regulation never works – the breeding industry will never self regulate because the short-term solution to this is everyone starting to breed a different type of horses, one less appealing to the instant-gratification merchants.
Inbred horses need to be banned from racing – it’s the only way.
Finally, it’s the Stanerra Stakes this week – that mare ran twice at Royal Ascot the same week on proper Firm ground in her heyday.
So robust.
That’s what the game has lost.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"I read years ago that, in France they’re more careful about which mares they breed from eg over here a mare stops racing from injury so she goes to the paddocks. But it was many years ago that I read it: wish I’d kept the article now ( I keep most articles….)
Ballydoyle has lost The Cliffs of Moher and Anthony Van Dyck in the Melbournne Cup and The Pentagon and Witchita to trackwork injuries in OZ . A lot has been written about those . Some say its the training on a tight turning track at Werribee that rides fairly quick , compared to at home generally up a straight gallop and their bones and joints not strengthened enough for it .
They race their horses a lot so i guess more chance of injury percentage wise .
Spot on ID.
I have been thinking along these lines for a while. My concern increased when Coolmore bought Calyx to stand as a stallion. A fragile horse that could barely stand up to training. Why would anyone in their right mind want to breed from him?
The racing media has too many people who are involved with the bloodstock industry. They will never raise the issue and probably do not even recognise there is an issue.
In Germany they have approved stallions and non approved . Offspring of approved race for 30 pc more prizemoney . Not sure if thats all races . Approved must pass soundness , and other set criteria .
I have long been mentioning the shrinking thoroughbred gene pool. I manage a Facebook group called Fine Thoroughbreds which is about 20thc racing. There is a marked deteriorate of racehorses, the Northern American thoroughbred has dominated in the late of the Mid Century. The horse has become almost a composite animal. They are looking all alike, especially from Coolmore.
Pick up a Timeform Annual from the 1960s and you will see different types of horses. More bone, less pretty heads, more browns and less bright bays. You never saw silver tails (these must be a trait of Natalma), white legs and blazes from Northern Dancer. So many crosses from N D and his sons and even now they are crossing mares.
It were inevitable that thoroughbreds are going shatter on grass.
What can we do? There are so few lines to use apart from using arab and they are pretty inbred as well.What I’ve noticed in the past 4-5 years is that a lot of turf bred horses start their careers on the AW. When asked to run first time on turf quite a lot of them perform rather poorly. And are reverted to the synthetic surface after one or two starts.
Could also be breeding related imo.
Interesting we are losing diversity from the beginnings.
Some very informative posts and links here. Thanks to all who posted them.
I am particularly pleased to see someone in racing cares about the Godolphin Arabian and Byerly Turk lines. The dominance of the Darley Arabian line is not something that should be celebrated. It is an obvious narrowing of the gene pool.
It is an interesting point Crepello makes about the appearance of horses. I am sure there used to be a lot more chestnuts when I started watching racing.
Pearl Secret is a son of Compton Place. He won the July Cup for James Toller and the Duke of Devonshire. He was a 50/1 chance and I was going to back him but then thought “I can’t back him at that price – they don’t win”.
That was a harsh lesson to learn! I have never been put off by a price since.
“Some very informative posts and links here. Thanks to all who posted them.”
Ditto.
I am "The Horse Racing Punter" on Facebook
https://mobile.twitter.com/Ian_Davies_
https://www.facebook.com/ThePointtoPointNHandFlatracingpunter/
It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.