- This topic has 83 replies, 33 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 3 months ago by
.
- Posts
It was unfortunate what happened to GW, but these things have happened before and will happen again. Having read some of the OTT posts on his demise makes me despair sometimes, the hypocrisy is overbearing, if a 3 mile chaser with limited abilty breaks his neck there is hardly a word about it, but when a headline horse like GW breaks down you even have guys in tears and more brandy please, Reality check.
GW was humanely put down so didn’t suffer too much, what do you think a wilderbeest feels like been eaten alive by the biggest bonecrushing jaws in the animal kingdom the Hyena at least the Lion sufficates them first before dining. I have mentioned this before, but there is absoluetly horrible human suffering going on in what is suppose to be a civilised world, but yet the death of a relatively dumb animal gets the headlines. I rest my case.Well firstly, you really should go straight to bed when you have had a heavy night out.
Maybe its to do with sentimentality? Maybe its sorrow at the loss of an animal that injected much need charisma and personality into the sport?
Or maybe people actually care about the horse? I suspect thats not something that affects you too much.
Well firstly, you really should go straight to bed when you have had a heavy night out.
Maybe its to do with sentimentality? Maybe its sorrow at the loss of an animal that injected much need charisma and personality into the sport?
Or maybe people actually care about the horse? I suspect thats not something that affects you too much.
When I hear you all showing the same sentiment to the talentless 3 mile chaser, I might shut up, just another example of the hypocrisy that is so evident in horse racing, if your a useless horse nobody gives a rats ass, but if your a headline maker the bloody world has just ended.
I think the 3 mile chaser has the same feelings as GW, don’t you think ? their both horses, same flesh and blood, move on please !.You have the beginnings of the basis of an argument from a philosophical viewpoint MM.
However, the difference between a horse like GW and a ‘talentless 3 mile chaser’, while they are both animals and both likely to suffer the same pain as a result of a similar injury, lies in the fact that we humans develop an emotional involvement with a horse such as George Washington that we don’t tend to develop with the unheralded chaser.
It’s colloquially known as ‘having feelings’ MM.
not true, MM, we did say something similar about a poor old chaser who never got above a jumps rating of 95 but you told us to take it elsewhere as well :
https://theracingforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=47600&highlight=#47600[/color:otjbvhij]at least you’re consistent and you have as much right to express your opinion as anyone here
MM. I have a brandy when Chelsea lose, when I argue with my wife, when I look at my bank statements, when things go wrong and I want time out…those things that matter to me. It’s called feelings. So the fact I had a brandy last night in the wake of George W’s death, I think is fair enough. As for the 3 mile chaser comment???…..
Posting, or not posting, on a forum on a particular subject is not an indicator of whether one cares. Gorgeous George was very much in the public eye – it’s natural, therefore, that people should post a comment on his death and express their feelings about it. Just because they do not post about every horse unfortunate enough to lose its life on a racecourse (or, indeed, anywhere else) should not be taken as an indicator that it does not matter to them.
if a 3 mile chaser with limited abilty breaks his neck there is hardly a word about it, but when a headline horse like GW breaks down you even have guys in tears and more brandy please, Reality check.
Think about that one this way: when you die, will you have a massive funeral with thousands lining the streets? Unlikely. But when, say, George Best died, the mourners poured out in force to pay tribute and offer sympathy to a man who many believed squandered several opportunities that the average punter would kill for.
Why is this? Because some people just capture the public imagination, and their every move is revered. The self same applies to horses. Horses with character, spirit, or any great story behind them will always be thought of fondly by more people than the rest.
You have the beginnings of the basis of an argument from a philosophical viewpoint MM.
However, the difference between a horse like GW and a ‘talentless 3 mile chaser’, while they are both animals and both likely to suffer the same pain as a result of a similar injury, lies in the fact that we humans develop an emotional involvement with a horse such as George Washington that we don’t tend to develop with the unheralded chaser.
It’s colloquially known as ‘having feelings’ MM.
I agree. If a horse has at some point inspired a positive emotion within us, then when that horse dies, it will be far sadder than when a horse dies that we’ve never heard of before; and particularly because of the juxtaposition between the joy we felt when the horse, say, won the Guineas and the sadness when we saw the screens.
I felt sadder when my granddad’s pony died than when a human I’ve never met dies; even if I do recognise that a human’s life should be valued more than a pony’s… but how can you comprehend the tragedy of a death when you didn’t know them when they were alive, or miss someone when you didn’t know they existed?
Far from not having any feelings guys, I just thought that some of the reaction was way OTT, take the guy that emailed Get On, and said he was going to close his account and get out of the game just because of what happened to GW, why didn’t he close his account when One Man had his horrendous fatal fall, "Spare Me Please". I could understand if you had a personal connection to the horse, like the lad that looks after him who would obviously build up a closeness and understanding of his charge, he is fully entitled to shed a tear or two, same would go to the lad/lass that looks after the talentless 3 mile chaser.
Paul Nichols in his column in the RP yesterday probably sums it up,
"Sad Loss of two of our string"
"While things have picked up nicely for us in recent weeks there’s always a downside, we lost Paulo Dancer in a fatal fall at Cheltenham eight days ago. A couple of weeks earlier, Phar Bleu dropped dead at home. I hope not to be bringing you too many pieces of bad news during the winter, but I’m afraid in jump racing its something we all have to face up to."I know George Washington was a flat racer, but Paul Nichols last sentence was common sense, he knows the risks and doesn’t get over emotional about something that is usually beyond his control.
I remember just after the Omagh Bombing I was watching the news, and I started to cry, and my then 4 yr old son asked his father what he was crying for, I couldn’t explain because he was too young to grasp the reality and senselessness of what had just happened, but to hear guys with absoluetly no connection to GW apart from a few betting slips shedding tears, I just throw my eyes up to the heavens and despair.
I get upset when any horse dies or is injured on a racecourse – be it an enigmatic star like George Washington or some "third rate chaser" running at a gaff track. And yes – on occasion I have shed a tear when it has happened, especially when it had happened in front of me at the course. I, like most racegoers, also applaud and cheer when a horse gets back onto its feet after having taken what appears to be a fatal fall
I make no excuse for for doing so, I would like to think it is because I have some feelings and humanity.
Likewise I get upset and, again can be moved to tears, by human suffering and death I have seen on television. Even if they are people I do not know or have never met. Again I think it is basic humanity.
I would never criticise anyone for showing genuine emotion over a death, be it human, equine, canine, feline or whatever. Then again perhaps I am just a big softie
(Note I use the expression "genuine emotion" – there is also the mass hysteria shown over some events, which is something different and, IMHO, somewhat distasteful)
(Note I use the expression "genuine emotion" – there is also the mass hysteria shown over some events, which is something different and, IMHO, somewhat distasteful)
I’ll take it the mass hysteria Paulo you mean is the ridiculous reaction to Diana’s death, but to be honest the death of GW is bordering on hysteria.
If your life long family pet dies, who you built up years of emotional attachment, I would probably shed a tear or two, but I will quickly come back to reality, and realise that the death of a pet pails into insignificance to the death of a relative. The death of a racehorse where I have absoluetly no emotional connection is to me unfortunate and thats the only word that I would use, I certainly won’t be shedding any tears.I’m not a great fan of flat racing, although some horses do capture my imagination,Ouija Board, Persian Punch for example. George Washington wasn’t one of the aformentioned; however, when I heard of his death on Saturday I couldn’t stop crying [yes, I am someone who still sheds a tear over the death of my pony two years ago even though I know she wasn’t a person and I know that terrible things are happening to people around the world].I can’t actually explain why it upset me so much, but it did.Maybe it’s the fact that he should have been at stud and not still racing ,maybe it’s that 2 years ago there was so much to look forward to with him; maybe the fact that the racecourse was a depressing quagmire, not a fitting place for so glorious an animal to meet his end, or maybe it’s the fact that we called him George and anthropomorphized him because of it – I really don’t know why it upset me so much, but it did… those of us who love racing mainly because we love horses feel a sense of responsibility towards them…
I think the death of any animal, especially one we would look upon as a pet, is always upsetting.
That said, and taking into consideration how revered a horse like George Washington was, I do think (even as an animal lover myself) that madman marz has made a good point.
I am always saddened to see a racehorse floundering on the ground, apparently having broken down, and knowing full well that the poor animal has run its last race or in many instances, breathed its last breath. We would need to be made of steel to not at least show a modicum of compassion.
Ironically, the one time when I can recall becoming overly emotional; vis-a- vis a racehorse, was not due to the injury or death of said animal, but rather through a great champion (Nijinsky) succumbing to defeat for the first time in France. I freely admit that I welled up with sadness and deep regret, shed a tear at this unforseen "tragedy."
Yes, we’re a peculiar lot us humans.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Hysteria!! LOL .
Well, my mum hasnt phoned me with the condolences yet so it certainly hasn’t and never will reach that level. I cant recall the death of any animal causing ‘hysteria’, George Best being the nearest thing to it.
Humans are quite strange in the way that we seem more attracted to enigmatic rogueish figures, man or beast, than the normal more reliable types. The outpouring over GW’s sudden death was totally predictable.Could have been prevented by simply not running a horse who had no chance with the conditions like they were.
Yep could have been prevented by not running, but
Did you do a pedigree analysis regarding the horses capability to handle slop, did you also do a pedigree analysis as to whether the sharper Monmouth park track would be more suitable to him than Churchill Downs, did you do pace analysis as to how this race would be run to find out if GW would be able to cope with the fractions that may be set
If you didn’t, you cannot say he had NO chance with the conditions, when in fact, he did, albeit a smaller one than the market suggested
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.