Newbury- two horse fatalities, electrical problem in paddock

[deep sensation]

I’ve never seen two horses electrocuted, but they may have happened yesterday. But who knows? Maybe they weren’t?

And you’ve not opened your mind to the possibility of them not being electrocuted, have you?

That would be all well and dandy if the lads and lasses of the horses hadn’t got a shock off the animals on the ground, and if they had not got burns in their mouths around the bit.

I wasn’t suggesting I believed it was natural causes, I just wanted to put out a "what if" to see how people would then think about the decision to abandon. Clearly, Philip Hobbs thought it was the wrong decision.

And as for the burns around their mouths, I’m afraid there has been no evidence to support that rogue report.

[Racing Daily]

Fair enough.
I did think that the ‘burns’ had been verified on the two fatalities but I may be wrong.
I’m also a fan of thinking outside the box, but I thought at the time that it was extremely weird for Kid Cassidy and The Merry Giant to go down like they were poleaxed, followed by the other two unfortunate victims after. Too weird to just be coincidence.

[Gingertipster]

Insult? Blimey, your a sensitive one!

I read your post and still think the question you’re asking is rather peculiar.

"If it wasn’t electrocution that killed the horses but maybe natural courses WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NEWBURY’S DECISION TO ABANDON?"

The fact that Newbury had no clue what caused the fatalities AT THE TIME, gave them no option to abandon REGARDLESS of any martian zapping shenanigans that may come to light, my little flower.

What an odd question to pose!

I think Newbury Racecourse had a pretty good idea what caused it Onthesteal. They just had to keep an open mind. Because had they come out and blamed a certain firm or workmen for the problem; then were found to be wrong; they’d be sued. Anyone in a similar position is best advised to keep stumm until the cause is PROVEN.

Value Is Everything

[Ghost of Rob V]

A few months ago, I watched a repeated programme at my parents house called ‘Nature Shock’ in which a herd of elephants had all died at the same time when the ground got struck by lightning.

Here’s a link about the programme http://www.tvthrong.co.uk/nature-shock/nature-shock-elephant-graveyard

[deep sensation]

I agree. I think the electrocution theory is probably going to proved to be correct. I guess I was just playing devil’s advocate with other theories.

I had also been called "narrow minded" for suggesting "what if" scenarios were ludicrous ie what if it was Sea The Stars that was electrocuted.

So I "opened my mind" and put out a "what if… it was natural causes and how would people then feel about Newbury’s decision to abandon.

I don’t think it worked

[Gingertipster]

If two horses dropped dead simultaneously in the parade ring with other horses acting strangely in Hong Kong, where 9 million pounds is bet on every race (and thus 70 to 90 million per raceday), the races would have been instantly called off by the territory’s highly organized and competent Jockey Club.

What happened was that two horses dropped dead at the same time, and another went to ground on his hind legs… that is an extraordinarily unnatural occurrence. The races should have been instantly called off.
The vet passed horses fit to run but The Merry Giant was "badly traumatised" and tailed out. In hindsight running the race was a mistake, and I believe that even without hindsight they should have called it off.

The What If it were natural causes scenario is ridiculous. Kid Cassidy went down as well before the two horses died, so it would be akin to the martian scenario.

I am surprised The Merry Giant was allowed to run, but there was no reason why the others could not take part in the race. To say what the Hong Kong JC would have done is pure speculation. I dare say even in HK there is sometimes shoddy workmanship (if that is what it proves to be).

Value Is Everything

[quadrilla]

I asked earlier what might have happened had the jockeys been on board when the horses stepped onto the grass.

The cable would have been in a plastic rodding pipe. There was rain earlier in the week – so the pipe was most probably still water logged. If there was a bare wire, then this water was live, together with any ground with a contact. The ground has dried out, so this live area gets smaller and a barrier is created between live and ground earth. With a horse having four points of contact, any one touching the live and any other touching ground earth – creates a circuit. A jockey sitting on a horse is OK as there is no circuit – just like a bird sitting on a 40,000 volt overhead power cable.

[Crepello1957]

Some mention has been made during this interesting thread, about the possible distress/trauma to the two horses that went down to post.
When I was a child my pony was sent to graze at a farm, the farmer used an electric fence. That pony was very distressed & traumatized by his experience there. We suspect the farmer had been using the fence to move the pony on (it was the kind that has a rubber insulation bar on part of it). We couldn’t catch our pony for a week & he was difficult to manage after that & very, very wary of wire fences. So yes I think that the horses may be nervous at the races in the future, horses & ponies have very long memories.

[matrightyeh]

thats true

[moscow05]

In defence of AP – he had gone to start and probably missed most of what happened. From what has been released so far it does not sound like a specific electrical fault has been found…no danger to human life etc etc. It would be comforting to find a precise cause. I presume post mortem will eliminate these

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroshock_weapon
Wireless long-range electric shock weapon

Taser International said they had finished developing a long-range wireless electro-shock projectile called XREP (eXtended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile), which can be fired from any 12-gauge shotgun. It contains a small high-voltage battery. Its range is currently 100 feet (30 m), but the U.S. Department of Defense, which has funded development of the technology, expects delivery of a 300 feet (91 m) range projectile of this type from the company in 2007.[7] An XREP projectile was controversially used by British police during the 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt [8] It subsequently transpired that the XREP has never been officially approved for use in the United Kingdom and the weapon system was provided unrequested to the police at the scene directly by the civilian company which distributes Taser International’s products in the UK. The company’s license to provide Taser systems was afterwards revoked by the Home Secretary Theresa May.[9]

The Leyden Gun is another long-range electrick shock weapon being developed by Nova Technologies in cooperation with Oleg Nemtyshkin. This weapon uses simple needles rather than barbed darts and these do not stick to the target but instead administer a single jolt from a high-voltage capacitor. Range is 30 meters, the same as the XREP.[10]

[Anonymous]

Well this can of worms has certainly been opened and dissected since I last visited.

Just a couple of points of concern/interest –

Newbury Race Club/Officials have been often cited as the scapegoats for any decision to continue and run the first race. Nobody seems to have stopped to ask the question – "Who has the power to abandon the meeting?". Another post suggests HKJC officials would have called off the meeting immediately in similar circumstances. I don’t think either raceclub has the power to call off a meeting once that meeting is in the hands of the stewards. Isn’t the Newbury Race One decision entirely in the hands of the raceday stewards?

I’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by the excellent staff at Newbury in the past. I’ve found them all to be most professional. In particular I’ve always been impressed with the Clerk Of The Course Richard Osgood – a thorough gentleman. I saw him interviewed after the incident. I’m sure this man said he had lived at the course for fifty years and his family history with Newbury extended to around 100 years. This man knows every inch of the course backwards. When asked directly if he knew of any cables running under the affected area his response was clearly negative. Does anyone else know if there actually was any cable running under the affected area or not?

[Matron]

This is from the BBC website:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s … 396568.stm

It seems some cable has been removed for further inspection.

Regards

[ricky lake]

To complicate matter further the BHA are in mid dither …..

talk about the lunatics running the asylum ….

Ricky

[Burroughhill]

From looking at the press today, just the few papers we get at work, I haven’t seen any negative comments about Newbury racecourse, just lot of speculation and concern over what could have happened to cause the deaths. I’ve seen no lynchings ordered over the decision to run the first race yet, but then I haven’t read all the papers. Presumably it’s only an issue with certain people *cough* who shall remain nameless….

[cormack15]

Issued earlier today by the BHA –

BRITISH HORSERACING AUTHORITY UPDATE FOLLOWING NEWBURY INCIDENT

Paul Struthers, Head of Communications for the Authority, said:

“We can confirm that we will not be in a position to announce the results of the post-mortem examinations today. Our investigation, which is running in tandem with the investigation being undertaken by Newbury Racecourse and Southern Electric Power Distribution, has a number of other aspects. It is therefore only right and proper that we do not make any announcement until we have received and thoroughly reviewed the results from the post-mortem and other analysis.

“With regards to the possible rescheduling of the meeting, we have been in discussions with all relevant parties and will make an announcement as soon as we are able. As the independent regulator of the sport, the safety and welfare of the horse is paramount, as it is for Newbury Racecourse and for all of those who work in and follow racing. We must therefore ensure that, ahead of the meeting, we are satisfied from the post-mortem and our other analysis, and from Newbury Racecourse, that there are no outstanding issues.”

[cormack15]

Another update today from the BHA –

UPDATE ON NEWBURY INCIDENT – TUESDAY 15 FEBRUARY

Statement following analysis of post-mortem findings and samples to be made no later than Thursday

Paul Struthers, Head of Communications for the Authority, said:

“Post-mortem analysis of a horse and associated samples takes a certain amount of time and this work is proceeding as a matter of urgency.

“Forensic laboratory tests are proceeding with a similar urgency and we expect to know the initial results no later than Thursday. Only once we have these results will we be able to make a more detailed statement.”

The Authority will be making no further comment on the post-mortem or other analysis today. If these results are not available tomorrow a further update will be issued.

[bucketnut]

Not what a budding Dick Frances wanted to hear, just a tragic accident.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s … 400599.stm

Stu

[Author]

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