Another accident at Arlington
 

Just now, GBBob just called and Inez Karlsson on stretcher going to hospital...

Oh the PR storm a coming

that was really bad...

did they ever determine the other horse that went down?

Why do you say that? Was the cause a breakdown? What's Arlington's breakdown rate been this year?

yes breakdown in the stretch. just watched the replay on AP's website.

wow that was bad

Called me and said it doesn't look like she got stepped on or hit at all, but $hit she went down hard.

Can't do this today.

Nasty. Hope Karlsson is okay.

That's why I get irritated by people that chronically knock jocks.

that's good news because couldn't tell from the replay whether she got stepped on. Hope nothing's broken, as that didn't look good.

Have we determined that Polytrack is no safer than dirt yet???

Got word from AP that Inez gave a thumbs up when loaded in the ambulance. So it at least seems like good news that she's all there.

Will share anything else I hear.

From the press release they just sent out:

Lopez walked off under his own power and was fine, according to his agent John Christiano, while Karlsson, who gave a ‘thumbs up’ to the Memorial Day crowd as she was being placed in the ambulance, was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights for precautionary reasons.

“I think she’s all right,” said Penny Ffitch-Heyes, Karlsson’s agent. “She can move all of her extremities, which is the main thing. They’ll sort out anything else once they examine her.”

It'll be interesting to see if the Chicago Tribune goes on another "smear" campaign like they did in 2006, assailing Arlington re: the breakdowns. Very ironic since that paper basically quit their racing coverage around 10 years ago but they couldn't wait to go wild with the breakdown stories. The PR was so bad, AP felt no choice but to put the synthetic surface in to appease the critics.

Hope Inez is ok.

I know this will sound melodramatic, but besides the obvious concerns for the jock and the horse, the most painful thing about these incidents is watching the children. This weekend Arlington had probably 15,000 each day, the majority families in the "Park" area...I wasn't there Saturday for Douglas' fall, but today after Inez went down in front of EVERYONE, there were children crying everywhere and families packing up quickly to head out. There is no way to avoid breakdowns, but to ask any family who was at the races for the first time today to come back again is asking a lot.

You really think that public perception outside the industry was the driving force for the installation of synthetic surfaces?

per DRF.com, Inez has been released from the hospital...

http://www.drf.com/news/article/104093.html

any news on the horses?

Really??

I don't think it is for all surfaces...but whether or not Arlington put theirs in to quell the outrage around Chicago, the fact remains that it was a HUGE PR move for them. It was almost like they had to based on what happened here the summer prior.

Can't say for sure, but Arlington's Polytrack installation came under and out of a very unique set of circumstances, so tossing Arlington's installation in with the point you're obviously trying to make is a bit misleading.

Seriously...kids by the rail were crying their eyes out and parents grabbed them and left..

Inez's horse must have been put down..too many screens for anything else. Courtwight tossed Lopez but then ran off ok

It's hard enough for adults much less children . The Douglas incident was reckless riding and clipping heels, not track related, I believe .