2007 Departures - Horses In Training

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GREEN RUBY, winner of the 1986 Ayr Gold Cup, has died at the age of 26 at Throckmorton Court Stud.

Winner of eight of his 30 starts over four seasons, Green Ruby was a tough and popular sprinter who was also successful in the 1986 Stewards’ Cup.

By Shecky Greene, Green Ruby retired to stud in 1987. Though not a huge success, he sired his share of sprint winners, including the prolific winner
Ned’s Bonanza, before becoming a teaser in later life.

“He was very special to us,” said Peter Balding of Throckmorton Court Stud yesterday. “We bought him just after he won the Stewards’ Cup, and he went on to win the Ayr Gold Cup in our colours.

“He paid for himself in a matter of months, as he had 50 mares a year for his first couple of seasons. He covered a few hunter mares later on, but he was an excellent teaser as he had such a fantastic temperament. He was a special horse.” Throckmorton Court has also confirmed the retirement of Forzando. The 26-year-old son of Formidable has been a fixture among the ranks of the sprinting sires since his retirement in 1987.

Winner of 12 starts, headed by the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap,
Forzando initially retired to Britton House Stud. It didn’t take long for him to get off the mark, siring smart two-year-olds such as the Group 2 Richmond Stakes winner Easycall and Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes winner Up And At ’Em.

“Forzando has helped us a great deal and is another special horse,” said Balding. “Now is the time to stop with him, but we’re very proud to be standing his son Superior Premium, who looks to be carrying on his line to good effect.”
 
2.25 at Limerick was horrific to watch. There were two fallers at a hurdle on the first circuit and when the field came round again they were waved past the hurdle and we could clearly see the jockey trying to keep a hold of the stricken horse as it thrashed around on the ground while the others passed. A good few minutes would have passed from the moment it fell to the field coming around again and I cannot understand why no screens could have been erected in that time. I don't know the name of the poor creature but my sympathies to his connections who had to witness his suffering and his undignifying end.
 
Not the first time this sort of thing has happened in Ireland.

Perhaps Irish racegoers sensibiliites are less offended by this sort of thing.
 
That was SCENT OF DAWN, Griffin, referred to by Tony Ennis in the studio as 'a veteran mare'. The next race was delayed while they 'dealt with' her, whatever that meant. I assume she died, but perhaps one of our Irish correspondents will let us know in due course?

I thought the flagman was pathetic - a tiny little red flag, the sort of thing you'd wave in a parade! Where was the big black and white one to wave - just as well the light was enough to see him.
 
As Colin says, this happened very visibly last year, too. I can't believe that screens couldn't have given her some privacy - she was still out in the open following a full circuit by the runners, and we know that screens would be up in a jiffy in the UK. The jockey seemed to be the only person in attendance, holding the reins. Pretty bloody poor show for a course like Limerick.

PS: RP online merely states 'fell third'. SCENT OF DAWN is/was 14.
 
Originally posted by krizon@Jan 11 2007, 05:04 PM
The jockey seemed to be the only person in attendance, holding the reins. Pretty bloody poor show for a course like Limerick.
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Makes me wonder just how long it took to get a vet to her, especially if the start of the next race was delayed. Either it took a while to get her in the ambulance or a vet took an age to get to her.
 
I saw a similar thing at an Irish course a couple of years ago, when a horse slipped up on the flat (in a hurdle race) on a bend and broke a leg. When the field came round on the second circuit there wasn't even anyone to wave them round the stricken horse and there was the awful sight of the jockey trying to hold the horse down on the ground and wave the other jockeys wide at the same time. The only other person in evidence was a man looking completely useless on the other side of the rails.
 
Good to see some happy news on this part of the forum, happy retirement Cyanara :)

On the subject of screen erection it shouldn't take that long to get the screens up. I've been at Aintree a few times when there have been serious injuries to horses/jockeys in the straight and the screens have been up in a flash - probably mainly due to the proximity of the spectators to the hurdle, but surely 5 or 6 people per hurdle/fence isn't too much?
 
If I'm watching racing on atr I usually go into the kitchen to make a cuppa when an Irish race comes on, unless it's a graded race and/or I know a few of the horses, as it's all too possible to see something like that happen
 
I've been out at last fence at Fakenham with couple of lads and had to hold down horse on ground in front of crowd with no screens with them and jockey who'd been riding it.Luckily it got up in the end but there was quite a lot of blood and it did look bad for a time.Its not only a problem over here but many tracks just don't have as many staff as the big meetings to get screens quickly enough.
 
I love to see the racing from Ireland, and I think it's insulting to say that about Irish racegoers - nobody wants to see these sad occurrences as a public spectacle. This was a comment last time, and I think it's highly unjustified. It's just very poor that the screens, which are usually loaded onto the back of a pick-up before racing, so that they can be whizzed round the chase road to the scene of a fall, weren't employed. But, if our fatalities list from Ireland is even under-reported by 100%, there are still vastly more horses dying on British NH courses, while the Irish are running bigger fields every race, every meeting. Maybe that goes some way as to why the Limerick staff wasn't prepared for this event? There aren't that many falls, and there certainly aren't that many fatal falls.

Spoons, there are always a standard amount of jumps attendants regardless of how big the meeting is, because it's the jump which requires the attention. It doesn't take more or less people to fix if it's been battered. Most NH courses down south in England have a member of the grounds staff with a quad bike who will rush screens round if the pick-up can't get down the chase road. The screens are always loaded well before racing and they're ready to be zonked down the chase roads to any jumps, offloaded and in place, being held by jumps attendants. Even Plumpton has 3 or 4 attendants per jump, and that's just a gaff. Then there's the vet, vet's driver, assistant to the vet, all available to help.

Going back to SCENT OF DAWN (and we still don't know she's dead), I'm amazed to see she's only been racing since September 1999 (bearing in mind her age), that she's never placed nearer than 4/19, she's had a grand total of only 14 runs, and that this was her first fall. A strange career, since one wonders what she was doing up to the age of 7?
 
I did say "perhaps", chaps and chapesses and if I have caused offence I would like to apologise.

I was attempting to invite the Irish racegoers, on here, to explain why this might have happened, as it is not the first time.
 
Having stood at side of quite a few fences,believe me Huntingdon,Fakenham and quite a few others have had less than 3 or 4 attendants fer fence,Irish courses definitely do
 
Personally, I'd be a lot happier to see the vet getting to the horse quickly than the screens. I don't see the screens being delayed as any sort of issue. Let's not kid ourselves, the screens have nothing to do with privacy for the horse, they are there to prevent the public watching an unsavoury scene that is a commonplace part of the sport.
 
I agree, Melendez. My concern is primarily that the vets are able to get there quickly and that there are people on the scene quickly to help with an incident.
 
Agrred Mel - no one is forced to look at any stricken horse - we all have the option of looking away.

The horse's welfare is the paramount consideration here - our feelings are entirely secondary.

And maybe we shouldn't go down the route of cocooning the racing public from being very aware of all the downsides, as well as the upsides, of racing in its entirety. Horse die on racecourses - if screens can be erected promptly, then that's great but if it isn't always feasible, then don't beat the racecourse staff up about it - shit happens!

And the horse won't have an opinion either way about it, that's for sure!
 
Agree with a lot of that, Songsheet.

Obviously the horse comes way before our sensibilities but it still remains that there didn't appear to be any vet in attendance and as for looking away, I'm not sure that that serves any purpose. We didn't know that there was a stricken horse thrashing about on the ground until we saw it, quite often the horses are diverted around an obstacle when there is a jockey being attended to.

I'm not sure that we are beating up the racecourse staff about it, more the management at the racecourse, who didn't appear to have the system available to get a vet to the scene quickly enough.
 
I don't know how racecourses are run but we always see the ambulance following the runners around the track to help a rider if needed & I'd always assumed (dangerous that) that when a race was in progress the course vet would actually be out on the course ready to leap into action as soon as a horse fell, if that is the case then surely the vet would be with the horse where ever it fell on the course within seconds of it coming down
 
I have a vague memory of a race being delayed (probably in England)because a second vet wasn't in position?
 
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