I'd like to see some of these brilliant observations in an interview on CNN explaining the tragedy after the accident is aired yet again. It's been aired it several times today.

Tell the world how the exercize riders had no clue a horse was rampaging down the track so that it hit a horse standing still from behind . Explain that one .

A lot of these observations SHOULD be included on CNN....usually on these types of things, they get in a bunch of people who seem to know absolutely NOTHING about racing or horses in general. I'd rather see an informed/knowledgable horse person comment on it. People who don't understand and realize that a scared horse is completely unpredictable and can and will do the unthinkable have no business reporting on this.

Yes, it would be nice if some actual experts were asked to explain the situation at least reasonably. But, of course that wouldn't fit CNN's agenda.

Surely you get this?

Yes sir I do . And I understand the unpredictability of horses and the dangers they pose . Safety improvements should always be strived for . Of course they need to be affordable as well .

How about we just get rid of the jockeys and trainers,put the horses in a starting gate,release them,then release a huge frickin tiger to chase them past the finish line.The breed would improve,since it would be survival of the fittest,and all workouts would be eliminated and not needed.Races would be better,with all garbage horses being eaten by the tiger.

You might need a couple of tigers...

Would this complicate the claiming process?

I guess you have no clue what the proper and safest response is, if you are in a group of mounted riders - on the track, in a ring, on a trail ride, at a foxhunt - and one young horse tosses it's rider and rampages out of control back towards the group.

I thought your earlier response brilliant :)

A horse is stupid enough to jump its own shadow. They weigh like 10X the average rider. Expect the unexpected....a nutso horse is gonna have its own way.

Thanks.

I just couldn't believe West Coast Invader was too dense to understand what I meant.

Umm... sounds like gov't policy
 

Sad that this happened. Real shame that these things get so much bad publicity and create ill-will toward the SPORT that I love. Every one looks to blame, race cars cant dump their drivers and go off scared into other drivers like horses do. Shame. People always cheer the loose horse in races but they are freaked and don't know what to do. Most of the time it works out OK but this week bad stuff. Hoping for a safe and exciting weekend of racing without incident. :D

Thanks guys, things are clear as mud for me now. I guess as long as tracks keep shortening their race weeks there will be more time to space work-outs in a better manner. Or at least have all the horses go out at once in a big con-fab to get used to their surroundings. Will they put slots at the finish line too?

Do you think before you type?

I just think most of the media as a whole, sucks. A drunk driver kills 6 people and no one cares, but hell a run away horse hits another horse and they have 7 reporters out there.

Chuck, as Ron White says "You cant fix stupid"!! wow there are some great responses to this thread, my fav being let each horse go out by themselves....yeah thats the answer.:tro: Personally, I say we have Dr. Phil, standing at the gap as they step onto the track and have him give them a lecture about being a "good horse" and everything should be fine!!

Short race weeks don't help. Horses train every day. They don't all go out at once but at any given time there might be 100+ horses on the track.

dr. rap update from drf:


Dr. Rap on the mend

Dr. Rap, the unraced 3-year-old colt injured in a gruesome two-horse accident on Monday morning, is continuing to recuperate at the equine clinic Hagyard-Davidson McGee in Lexington, Ky., trainer David Carroll said Wednesday.

"He has radial nerve paralysis in his right shoulder," Carroll said. "It's a stinger. The next two or three days are pretty crucial. We're keeping our fingers crossed. He's getting acupuncture to try to regenerate the nerves."

LOL. If there is no racing on a given day they have all day for training. If people have to wait an extra 24 hours TFB. Get it?
Good to hear Dr. Rap may pull it out.

What's wrong with that?
If they're there to work it's the optimum. What trainer wants to work their horse in all that traffic? Obviously at least one doesn't.

who would that be? pletcher?! lol you might want to re-read TAP's comments. he only suggested that the derby horses get the track to themselves after the renovation break. he certainly didn't suggest anything as ludicrous as having only three horses at a time on the track to train.

Were you there? Seriously, go ask him what he'd prefer, or any other trainer there. I'll give you odds.

i'm sure they'd prefer to be able to do their job as well as they can, without every aberration being blown out of proportion, followed by reporters asking stupid questions, and internet posters making ridiculous suggestions on how to handle something that is the exception, not the rule.

Ok, I'm gonna say this realllllll slow. If we had every horse go out on the track by themselves,so they dont get hurt, and there are 500 horses that need to work that day? How many hours do you think that will take???? Say each horse needs 10mins of "alone time" on the track, then mulitply that by 500!!! Yeah thats 83 hours....and I may be wrong but I think there is only 24hrs in a day. :zz: See why were all alittle :rolleyes: to your bright idea????

If they want to be "alone" they can move to a private facility. If TAP wants his horses working alone he can build his own place and train them 'round the clock so no horse ever hits the track when another is on it. Trainers sometimes have lives away from the track and want training hours to actually end. Dark days mean that you get a break from the 5am to 6pm schedule.

If you want total privacy, build and maintain a training center.

Race horses can't be trained very safely in the heat, humidity and direct sun of late morning and afternoon.

That is why they are trained in the cool of the dawn and early morning hours.

It's not because all racetrackers love getting up at 4-freakin'-am every day of their lives; nor because afternoon racing is more important, leaving only the morning to train.

That's funny,they seen to RACE just fine in the HEAT, HUMIDITY, AND DIRECT SUN of late morning and afternoon everyday at CALDER.

Now we are getting somewhere.:D I stopped getting works notifications years ago, but 500 per day seems excessive.

"Just fine"? Sure, except when it's not and they get into trouble from the heat, and have to be cooled, jugged w/electrolytes and IV fluids, etc.

Horses are alot like people in that regard - rather susceptible to heat stress due to the electrolyte changes that occur with sweating to cool, and the way they breath.

And being Calder doesn't particularly matter, it's hot anywhere in the spring-summer-fall. Believe me, horses would prefer it to be about 40 degrees if they have to work.

The horses are not out for racing for the time and work they get in the mornings, either, are they?

There's no horse trainer in the world - any discipline - who would choose to try and train horses in sun, heat and humidity versus cooler, shadier, drier - the horses just can't do the same amount of work, they couldn't get the same amount of training in, and they have a definite risk of overheating.

At Rolex Kentucky last week, one could see the huge misting fans they have set up at the start/finish to try and lower the outside ambient temperature by 10 degrees or so. To try and keep horses from dying from heat exhaustion/heat stroke as they come off the course during the hotter times of day.

Racehorses are not immune to heat problems, and training all day long would certainly needlessly expose them to that - as they are during races on hot, dry, sunny summer days.