King Of Tomorrow

[Prong]

Broke down on the home straight in the 5pm at Pontefract on Wednesday. De Sousa decided to ride him to the line anyway to finish 2nd. Now listed as deceased

[Ex RubyLight]

Pathetic. Jockeys seem to be free of guilt no matter what. If a horse has a minor incident prior to the race, the vet always takes a good look at it. Sadly, it rarely happens during the race. At least he picked up some place money for his owner.

May he rest in peace.

[lochinver]

I heard there was a delay at Pontefract whilst the vet was treating him … sad to hear it wasn’t successful … I wouldn’t consider any prize money any compensation for his loss …

[Tonge]

Racing Post report “Raced in last, went second and close up over 4f out, pushed along 3f out, ridden and lost ground from over 2f out, well held when lost action and eased over 1f out, dismounted after line (an enquiry was held to consider whether jockey had continued in the race when his horse appeared to have gone lame in the home straight; vet said that a post-race examination revealed that the gelding was lame behind; jockey said he felt the gelding lose its action behind and attempted to pull up over a distance of approximately half a furlong, at which point jockey felt the gelding regain its action and appeared sound, therefore he allowed the gelding to complete the race) (op 6/5 tchd 5/4)”

Poor from De Sousa. Not as if Godolphin need the £1521 for second place

[Illavim]

Disgraceful. Was watching the race and couldn’t believe SDS didn’t pull up immediately and dismount, cameras showed him after the race and poor horse was obviously hopping lame.
RIP King of Tomorrow, you deserved better treatment than that.

[Kristaltips]

So sad. The house should’ve been pulled up immediately. I appreciate it’s not always possible to stop a running horse, but it doesn’t say much for the third horse of it couldn’t run past a horse that was effectively on 3 legs. I have to say though, having just watched the race replay, on crossing the line the horse didn’t appear to look as bad as when the incident first happened which is very strange. Maybe SDS was telling the truth in his description? Either way, nothing alters the fact that’s another horse lost. RIP King Of Tomorrow 😪

[Triptych]

Poor King Of Tomorrow..he deserved so much better than that and hope Godolphin put the prize money into horse welfare in his memory.
RIP King Of Tomorrow ⚘

Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...

[Marlingford]

I’m surprised the horse was able to run over the line as he lost his action very noticeably early in the straight. I also struggle to understand how the stewards did not find anything wrong. Section F26 of the Rules of Racing says:

A Jockey must pull up their horse whenever:
it is lame or injured;
it has no more to give or has tailed off through fatigue; or
has a problem which is materially affecting its performance.
A Jockey must dismount as soon as reasonably possible to do so from any lame or injured horse.

As I’ve said on other threads it is a risky sport and I am very hesitant about blaming people when these sad events happen. I think a wrong decision was made here, but jockeys have difficult decisions to make and I can’t imagine Mr De Sousa is happy about the tragic outcome. Possibly some form of reprimand is in order, but I think we should be cautious about painting him as a villain who willingly sacrificed a horses’s life for a grand or two.

RIP King Of Tomorrow, a very sad loss.

[SpaceProject]

Another very sensible post, Marlingford.

[Marlingford]

Thank you SpaceProject. Always good to hear when your thoughts chime with those of others.

I know the way that everyone reacts on these memorial threads comes from a good place of caring about the horses, and that this is an emotive topic. My comments are not intended to be critical of any other posters, but I’m uncomfortable with the rush to find blame. These things are often much more nuanced, and deaths are unavoidable in a sport that asks demanding questions of its equine athletes and where jockeys have a difficult balancing act to perform. I am though very keen to focus on the many things that can be done to improve equine welfare both during and after racing careers.

[Author]

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