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At the end of ATR’s broadcast, I’m sure Gary O’Brien mentioned that two horses had died at Leopardstown yesterday; Gamede was one of them but I can’t remember the name of the other one he mentioned.
I was at Worcester yesterday.
Sadly Troy Tempest was a fatality; it appeared to be a broken neck and he died instantly, but at least he didn’t suffer. RIP
Danny Cook was fine after his fall from Kirkhammerton in the same race; he played in the National Hunt jockeys’ charity football match after racing. The only sign of injury was a plaster on his chin! Although tweets suggest that he was a little mad to take part in the match following his ‘pasting’!
Marleybow suffered an injury to his near fore; connections took off his bandage and felt the tendon at the back of his cannon bone. He was loaded into the horse ambulance to be transported off the course because he was very lame.
I run a fan website dedicated to Choc Thornton, so before the football match (which he spectated) I asked him if he thought Marleybow would be okay, and he thought that he would be, although will probably be off the racecourse for a year.
Jane
Promising hurdler Old MacDonald (McDonald?) died as a result of a freak accident at home:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Glynn+dev … 0251349988
Very sad. RIP
I think everyone accepted very well the fact that racing had been abandoned; apart from a few ‘drunks’ who seemed to want their money back there and then.
Up to the point when racing was abandoned, I think it was a matter of confusion more than anything. Initially (I think when the surviving horses were at the start of the first, and only race) it was announced that the races were just going to be rescheduled – presumably swapping them around to satisfy terrestrial TV coverage on Channel 4.
I left the Parade Ring when the dead horses had been covered over, and the five ‘survivors’ who hadn’t already gone to the start were led out via the entrance near the ‘closed’ saddling boxes. These runners were then taken to the pre-parade ring to be checked by the vets and mounted.
I then went to stand by the course-side rails and I could hear people discussing the fact that one or other of the horses they had bet upon had been withdrawn; together with what sounded like rumours about a horse being dead.
Shortly afterwards there was an official announcement giving the numbers of the withdrawn horses; but no reason was given, presumably they didn’t wish to upset anyone in the crowd who didn’t already know of the deaths. Fortunately the remaining horses must have been checked thoroughly by the vets, as it seemed like ages before the last five horses joined those at the start.
On the big screen, they showed Nicky Henderson being driven down to the starting gate to speak with AP and subsequently withdraw Kid Cassidy. The betting market was then re-formed. It just seemed so wrong to run the race; two horses dead, one affected and withdrawn, and a fourth (No.9) very jittery and unsettled. Four of the ten runners affected … it was ridiculous.
And what if something untoward happened during the race to one of the 7 remaining runners, or a jockey was hurt or worse because their mount wasn’t 100% and no-one has picked up a problem?
When I arrived back following the race, the western end had been cordoned off with flimsy hazard tape and security guards posted. One horse-box was still at the Parade Ring exit point, presumably with one of the dead horses inside.
The 7 runners were directed into the pre-parade ring to unsaddle, and all spectators wishing to enter this area were permitted to do so, regardless of whether they had a premier ticket or a grandstand ticket. But it’s very close to the Parade Ring exit point and was presumably still a hazardous area, considering the cause of the deaths was unknown at this stage.
I believe the first plan was to continue racing but re-locate everything to the pre-parade ring but, regardless of the circumstances, there’s not enough room available in that area to accommodate the spectator numbers on Newbury’s second busiest day of the NH season.
It was around this time that I heard rumours that electrocution was probably the cause of the deaths. And, reflecting, I knew that made absolute sense of what I’d seen.
And its been revealed today, that both Marching Song and Fenix Two were wearing steel shoes, whereas The Merry Giant and Kid Cassidy wore aluminium plates. I’m not a physicist (although I’m going to ask my brother – he has a physics degree), but I believe aluminium is a good conductor of electricity and steel less so. Therefore, did the electricity discharge quickly through the two survivors, whereas it remained longer within the dead horses and damaged their organs resulting in death?
It also occurred to me later that, if all 10 horses had remained on the rubber pathway around the Parade Ring and the original deaths hadn’t happened, then the first one or two horses back in to unsaddle or return to the Winners’ Enclosure would have died instead.
As one of the unaffected horses, Yorgunnabelucky certainly lived up to his name yesterday.
It was a very sad accident which, following initial investigations and news updates, appears to have its cause well and truly burried in the past.
I was Parade Ring side when the fatalities occurred; and also saw the initial incident when Kid Cassidy ‘lost’ his hindlegs as he was being led around the paddock. It looked really strange.
I only saw the two fatalities after they had collapsed – they were ‘twitching’, just as they would have done had they broken their necks.
It was so wrong to run the first race as, although the vets had checked the remaining animals, can you imagine the outcry had anything happened to them or their jockeys? (The Merry Giant was very unsettled.)
A very bad day for horse fatalities – with not only Fenix Two and Marching Song, but also Kilmurry at Warwick and Money Trix and Glencove Marina in Ireland.
RIP Beautiful horses …
I was at Aintree on Friday and Saturday.
The mare, Jaunty Flight, was definitely okay. It looked bad as, having got to her feet, she appeared to collapse again, but fortunately recovered and was led back by her jockey and appeared sound.
I think the fifth casualty may well have been Ferdy Murphy’s filly, Baba O’Curragh. Her jockey Graham Lee walked back to the Weighing Room some time after the other jockeys, and a spectator went to enquire if everything was okay. The way he shook his head implied that all might not be well and she patted him on the back in consolation before walking away.
Hi Guys
Thank you both for your help on this. I knew someone would know the answer or could point me in the right direction.
I have my own Choc Thornton appreciation website, and have been adding details in recent weeks about his Cheltenham and Grand National exploits … and it’s the one piece of information I had missing.
Thanks again.
regards
Jane
