Not a good way to start Saratoga

[FGFan]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

I'm sorry to say that I've heard he's gone.

Rest in peace, good boy.

Thank you for the update, I was hoping you would keep us informed.
That's sad.
As you always say, he died trying.

[wiphan]

here is the article

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/sto...date=7/25/2007

[SniperSB23]

Shoot, when I saw him still on his feet in the equine ambulance I thought he had a shot. Guess it wasn't meant to be. Poor guy.

[hectic_1978]

Sucks to be the guy that claimed him!! $35K gone!

[MaTH716]

Bad start to the meet could have been much much worse. everybody has seen the chain reaction when the leader of a race goes down, thank God no one else fell over him and also that Johnny V or Rojas wasn't trampled. Also, I believe it was Coa who did a great job to avoid the spill and manage to stay on his horse when it looked like for sure he was on the way off too. Hopefully this is the first and last incident of the meet.

this is a small piece of an article from drf.com


"I thought overall it was a great day," said Charles Hayward, the New York Racing Association president and chief operating officer. "It was disheartening to have the fall in the first race. We were thrilled the jocks were okay, and sorry we had to euthanize" Massoud.

[Riot]

What caught my eye about the rest of that DRF article, today, was this:

"Velazquez was lucky not be struck by a trailing horse and he was soon seen sitting up. The ambulance was extremely slow to respond to Velazquez and he eventually walked off the course and back to the jockeys' room under his own power.

According to track officials, there was a lack of communication between the outriders and the ambulance driver in part because there weren't enough walkie-talkies.

"That is more than unacceptable,'' said Bruce Johnstone, NYRA's manager of racing operations."

Yes, Bruce. It is more than unacceptable. That infuriates me. I'm shocked.

Reminds of when the horse broke down at Keeneland, and nobody got to him or his jockey to help for some time.

Sorry - before handle, before attendance, before ensuring the bathrooms all have enough toilet paper for the opening day crowd, take care of the horses, and the jockeys that ride them!

[wiphan]

Originally Posted by Riot

What caught my eye about the rest of that DRF article, today, was this:

"Velazquez was lucky not be struck by a trailing horse and he was soon seen sitting up. The ambulance was extremely slow to respond to Velazquez and he eventually walked off the course and back to the jockeys' room under his own power.

According to track officials, there was a lack of communication between the outriders and the ambulance driver in part because there weren't enough walkie-talkies.

"That is more than unacceptable,'' said Bruce Johnstone, NYRA's manager of racing operations."

Yes, Bruce. It is more than unacceptable. That infuriates me. I'm shocked.

Reminds of when the horse broke down at Keeneland, and nobody got to him or his jockey to help for some time.

Sorry - before handle, before attendance, before ensuring the bathrooms all have enough toilet paper for the opening day crowd, take care of the horses, and the jockeys that ride them!

Couldn't agree more

[FGFan]

Originally Posted by Riot

What caught my eye about the rest of that DRF article, today, was this:

"Velazquez was lucky not be struck by a trailing horse and he was soon seen sitting up. The ambulance was extremely slow to respond to Velazquez and he eventually walked off the course and back to the jockeys' room under his own power.

According to track officials, there was a lack of communication between the outriders and the ambulance driver in part because there weren't enough walkie-talkies.

"That is more than unacceptable,'' said Bruce Johnstone, NYRA's manager of racing operations."

Yes, Bruce. It is more than unacceptable. That infuriates me. I'm shocked.

Reminds of when the horse broke down at Keeneland, and nobody got to him or his jockey to help for some time.

Sorry - before handle, before attendance, before ensuring the bathrooms all have enough toilet paper for the opening day crowd, take care of the horses, and the jockeys that ride them!

Yes this is absolutely unacceptable. And frankly this is not something I would expect from as venerable a track as Saratoga. I hope this gets ironed out immediately.
The Keeneland situation was very upsetting especially when the jocks were miked and you could hear the jock screaming for an equine ambulance. It was very disturbing.

[sumitas]

I am shocked at the lack of preparedness for this emergency by the Saratoga crew. I think the connections of Massoud and all fans need an apology.