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Fatally injured yesterday at Punchestown in the worst fall I’ve ever seen on a racecourse. Full somersault over one of the grass banks.
Very sad to see this, but not surprised. Likewise, never seen a fall as bad as that before. Poor boy had been off the track for 2 years, first run back.
RIP beautiful boy.O’Connor should have pulled him up after he lost his hind legs two obstacles before his fatal fall. He was tiring at that stage and with three other horses slipping up and unseating and others losing their balance at almost every bank, the only logical thing to do is to pull the horse up. Especially after a 550+ day layoff….
Why he failed to do so, is something I can’t understand, but his fall was from a height of about 5-6 feet right on his back. What else can you expect other than a very painful and fatal fall?
May he rest in peace
My God. That was utterly shocking to see, likewise, I’ve never seen anything like it. I agree with Ruby, the house should’ve been pulled up after doing the splits two fences earlier as he must surely have pulled/torn muscles doing that. I’m surprised the horse was able to get up after the fall, if it can be called a fall at all. What actually happened to the horse, does anybody know? Just horrifying. RIP you poor, poor boy 😪😪😪
The banks races at Punchestown have not been a pretty sight this week with horses slipping up on both Tuesday and in today’s La Touche Cup. I don’t recall this being a common problem in previous years, does anyone have any idea what the cause could be?
Poor Youcannotbeserious took a horrible fall and a couple of others came perilously close to the same fate at that obstacle. I’m uneasy about blaming his jockey for the sad outcome though. The horse had been in the lead and was still in contention. He jumped the fence after his first mistake without issue and had not lost further ground since then. Unless we have a rule that as soon as a horse makes a mistake then they must be pulled up, then I’m not sure the jockey did anything wrong.
Obviously the jockey’s first priority should be the welfare of their horse, but they also have a duty to do their best to win, and this creates a conflict of interest that requires delicate judgement. Given the unavoidable element of risk and that split second decisions need to be made, I am not sure it is fair to say the horse should have been pulled up and imply the jockey was negligent. In other circumstances the horse might not have fallen and gone on to win or place, and the jockey would be being acclaimed for a brilliant ride.
RIP Youcannotbeserious, a very sad loss.
Like has been said a totally awful awful fall – a somersault from a height – I was so relieved to see him actually get up but that was tempered by the fact of what he might have done to himself … I didn’t hear anything said subsequently and lived in hope that by some miracle he was battered and bruised but OK … but unsurprisingly had to be pts due to head injuries… sad end for this brave lad …
I hope I’m wrong but I have a feeling of foreboding ahead of the first at Punchestown today (3m 1f cross country chase). Five of the runners ran in the La Touché on Thursday and one ran on Wednesday. Of the five that ran on Thursday, Classic Concorde’s RP racecard comments are “Jumped badly and pulled up in the La Touché. Clearly not a natural over varied obstacles”, Call It Magic’s are “Had a hard race in the La Touché” and Blue Templar’s are “Got tired when sixth in the La Touché”. Add in the fact Stand Up And Fight finished third in the race and Ballybroker Bridge slipped up, it seems crazy these are being allowed to run again today.
I do share some of your concerns Cymro, but start to struggle when I try to think of a simple rule that could be introduced. Some horses have very different constitutions to others, and saying something like there should be at least a week between a horse’s races would seem too broad, especially for shorter distances, but then where should the line be drawn?
The decs for today were on Thursday before that race. Classic Concorde is a NR. It is possible to run well twice in a short space especially on good ground as Singing Banjo proved (and One Cool Poet in recent times at Galway).
Totally disagree with horses being run again so soon, but amazingly, Call It Magic has just won followed by 14 year old Ballybroker Bridge. Remarkable performances
My post looks silly now! I’ve not seen the race yet but a quick glance at the RP comments would suggest all horses came home safely?
A very cheering result, and glad to hear there was no slipping.
I don’t think your post was silly at all though Cymro. I remember Martin Pipe turning out a horse called Sindapour in a hurdle race less than 24 hours after he’d had a heavy final flight fall the previous evening. Possibly there was all to play for in the trainers’ championship at the time. That left a very bad taste though.
Some horses are capable of running well in consecutive races very quickly, but if they’ve just had a fall or a hard race it seems entirely reasonable to have some concerns.
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