Horse of the Day: George Washington

[smuthg]

Originally Posted by freddymo

There horses they are bred and trained to run..The colt was infertile and was still young why wouldn't he continue his career as a race horse.. The game is brutal, it's brutal when any horse breaks down on the track.. And if he was so stunning and such a great horse why wouldnt you want his connections to race and expose him to the great fans of racing?

You think they wanted or thought he was going to breakdown? I am sure we are all sad he is gone but mostly because we didnt get to see a really nice miler race more!

I agree he should have continued to run, but if there was no need to increase his breeding value (infertile), why not put him back on the grass where he was truely special. The dirt/Classic win adds nothing.

I was at Monmouth and I've never left a racetrack in a worse more depressed mood in my life. I still have not watched a replay of single race from that Breeders' Cup and have absolutely no interest...

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by smuthg

I agree he should have continued to run, but if there was no need to increase his breeding value (infertile), why not put him back on the grass where he was truely special. The dirt/Classic win adds nothing.

I was at Monmouth and I've never left a racetrack in a worse more depressed mood in my life. I still have not watched a replay of single race from that Breeders' Cup and have absolutely no interest...

I love animals as much as the next guy.. I feed the deer in my backyard have 5 birdfeeders 3 cats and 2 dogs and a pig well he is actually a 5k claimer.. So I never want any animal to suffer..

George Washington was running for money as he was intended to do when he first galloped on a racetrack. His owners wanted to earn with the animal, the Classic was the biggest purse and while I always suggest purses ARENT the main motivation in stakes quality animals in this case the purse was a major factor.. Again, I never like seeing horses injured or in pain but clearly this is a brutal game.. Like it or not people racing horses and consquently loving racing is endorsing a brutal sport.. There is nothing natural about this sport period! So I don't wish to suggest I am am better or worse then any other racing fan.. We enjoy a brutal sport like it or not!

[Scav]

Originally Posted by freddymo

I love animals as much as the next guy.. I feed the deer in my backyard have 5 birdfeeders 3 cats and 2 dogs and a pig well he is actually a 5k claimer.. So I never want any animal to suffer..

George Washington was running for money as he was intended to do when he first galloped on a racetrack. His owners wanted to earn with the animal, the Classic was the biggest purse and while I always suggest purses ARENT the main motivation in stakes quality animals in this case the purse was a major factor.. Again, I never like seeing horses injured or in pain but clearly this is a brutal game.. Like it or not people racing horses and consquently loving racing is endorsing a brutal sport.. There is nothing natural about this sport period! So I don't wish to suggest I am am better or worse then any other racing fan.. We enjoy a brutal sport like it or not!

This is classic!! Friggin zoo

[freddymo]

Come folks horses run every friggin day with major injuries.. Let's get our heads out of the sand maybe 1 out of 50 horses come to the track 100%. If a vet clears a horse to race and a trainer of O'brien's esteem is ok running ahorse you have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Chuck ran a DT horse on soft KD turf, he didn't know your horse would hate it? Does that make Chuck irresponsible if something would have happened to your horse.. Please OBrien nor Chuck or any other trainer for that matter are G-d.. If they are responsible they make logical decision based on past experience and expertise.. Sometimes horses die in racing period!

As for the sloppy track causing GW his demise..Please have a heart you think horses in the wild can't run on wet dirt? Even if he had never trained on a sloppy surface haven't we all seen some horses thrive on horrendous sealed surfaces. Some horse glide over it like they are skating on ice, so is it so impossible GW would like it..Who knows till they try?

[chucklestheclown]

I was expecting the "in the wild" argument.

[Revidere]

For those who were not affected by GW's plight, he stopped right in front of me.

As a fan and lover of the principals, I needed to turn away. As a photogrpaher, I needed to shoot. They are three of the most gruesome photogrpahs taken on track.

I don't show them to anyone, and choose to remember him as he was in the paddock that day, alert and ready to run.

[Danzig]

i'd imagine everyone was affected. no one wants to see one of these horses have to pay a high price for running and racing. but like freddymo, i won't point fingers. had his owner and trainer known beforehand that something would happen, obviously he would not have run. but no one in that position has the luxury of foresight, altho everyone seems to have plenty of hindsight-which really does no one any good. a lot of horses ran in the slop that day-luckily only one suffered a tragic fate. but i don't see why his owners are any more deserving of disparaging remarks than anyone else-except the other owners were lucky enough to have their horse return to the barn.

it's a lovely picture of george, and is very touching considering what happened after.

[SuffolkGirl]

Really stunning photo. Brings tears to my eyes as I was at Monmouth that day and was sick when he went down. He looked beautiful in the paddock and your photo beautifully captured it.