Equine Retirements, Long Term Injuries and Departures

Sadly Claude and Goldie collapsed and died after the SGN after showing up so well for much of the race.

Last weekend I was reporting from a Point to Point and while I was doing the preview noticed there was a 17yo horse entered. He had not run for two years but had started his career as a 2yo with Sir Mark Prescott and had run 78 times. I was concerned so immediately rang Peter Wright at the Point to Point Authority to question whether this horse should be allowed to compete. Although concerned he said there was nothing in the rules to say it could but suggested that I flag it to the Stewards when there so they could check it, which I did. I also spoke to the vet on duty (who happens to be my vet too). She felt although the horse looked old and not particularly as though it was race fit, it looked ok. To compound matters, the jockey booked just happened to be very inexperienced and going out with the German girl who I am guardian to (she has ADHD and is easily triggered). I just knew what was going to happen. And so it did one circuit of a hot Mixed Open before the jockey sensibly pulled it up and returned to the lorry park. Where it promptly keeled over and died....in front of my girl. Cue meltdown.
Anyway I am angry. I tried absolutely everything I could to stop that horse running. It should have had a happy retirement. I actually rang the BHA Welfare department last week. And spoke to the new head of welfare. He did agree it should have been avoided but there is nothing in place at present and trainers just say “oh Sonny Somers won at 18!” Yes he did. But this horse died. And it was avoidable. I hope that the BHA will pull their heads out of the ground and wake up. This death happened at a point to point where because it’s behind closed doors, it didn’t have the same effect as if it had happened in front of a crowd, many of whom would have questioned whether it was cruel. And rightly so. It could have been a PR disaster.
 
jinnyj said:
Sadly Claude and Goldie collapsed and died after the SGN after showing up so well for much of the race.

Last weekend I was reporting from a Point to Point and while I was doing the preview noticed there was a 17yo horse entered. He had not run for two years but had started his career as a 2yo with Sir Mark Prescott and had run 78 times. I was concerned so immediately rang Peter Wright at the Point to Point Authority to question whether this horse should be allowed to compete. Although concerned he said there was nothing in the rules to say it could but suggested that I flag it to the Stewards when there so they could check it, which I did. I also spoke to the vet on duty (who happens to be my vet too). She felt although the horse looked old and not particularly as though it was race fit, it looked ok. To compound matters, the jockey booked just happened to be very inexperienced and going out with the German girl who I am guardian to (she has ADHD and is easily triggered). I just knew what was going to happen. And so it did one circuit of a hot Mixed Open before the jockey sensibly pulled it up and returned to the lorry park. Where it promptly keeled over and died....in front of my girl. Cue meltdown.
Anyway I am angry. I tried absolutely everything I could to stop that horse running. It should have had a happy retirement. I actually rang the BHA Welfare department last week. And spoke to the new head of welfare. He did agree it should have been avoided but there is nothing in place at present and trainers just say “oh Sonny Somers won at 18!” Yes he did. But this horse died. And it was avoidable. I hope that the BHA will pull their heads out of the ground and wake up. This death happened at a point to point where because it’s behind closed doors, it didn’t have the same effect as if it had happened in front of a crowd, many of whom would have questioned whether it was cruel. And rightly so. It could have been a PR disaster.
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Can’t believe all that. What an earth were the owner and trainer thinking about. It was obvious to you and should have been even more obvious to “the powers that be” that it was all going to end in tears. You can’t pray rules in aid when they defy common sense and even if the rules did not allow surely that didn’t preclude a word in the ear of the owner/trainer and a “suggestion” to withdraw. Beats me.
 
When you’ve got the course vet saying that there’s no reason to stop a horse running then a lay person has no chance of stopping it lining up.
He was 17. Could just as easily have collapsed after a hooley round in his field - racing him for a lap would probably have been the catalyst, but it’s impossible for anyone to say it was definitely the cause.
It’s very sad for the people connected with him, you do have to wonder why they did it - especially after two years off, even if that was for an injury!

RIP to him.


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The owner was the trainer and was apparently inconsolable afterwards.....

The vet in the paddock actually agreed with me...that he shouldn’t be running and was a heart attack waiting to happen. The remaining vets panicked when he dropped dead as they had failed to flag him up. Yes of course he could have dropped dead running around his paddock but to willingly put him and his heart under strain like that (he was being hard ridden after half a circuit) almost certainly contributed to it...and my vet confirmed this.
I understand they are currently doing studies as horses are significantly more likely to succumb to a life threatening injury or condition after the age of 13...apparently it’s the “magic age”. This I got from the vet.

The BHA have managed to put out rulings to stop no hopers running in elite races so what is to stop them questioning something like this? Nothing.
 
And as I said to the Welfare guy, in this time of scrutiny from social media it is even more important to make sure Racing doesn’t lay itself open to the bunny huggers who would have had a field day over this. Especially as he was a pretty grey horse with a fluffy coat. Imagine if this had happened on an Easter Bank Holiday Monday fixture with the once a year racegoers, right in front of them! Think it would have remained out of the press for long?
This sport needs protecting from the Animal rights brigade as it is and we don’t need to add fuel to their fire.
 
Any racecourse vet - ( especially the paddock vet) has jurisdiction to withdraw any horse they don’t consider fit to run.

We have to retire horses at 12 at home regardless of their ability or individual situation and I have grown more and more in like with this idea as time has gone on.



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trudij said:
Any racecourse vet - ( especially the paddock vet) has jurisdiction to withdraw any horse they don’t consider fit to run.

We have to retire horses at 12 at home regardless of their ability or individual situation and I have grown more and more in like with this idea as time has gone on.



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Of course and as the daughter of a vet who was one of the team at the Festival during the 70s and 80s, I know only too well how he incurred the wrath of trainers when he told them their horse wasn’t sound walking round the paddock and couldn’t run!
And my vet would have pulled that horse except...it wasn’t lame, it wasn’t thin, it wasn’t distressed. Her words to me were “oh poor boy. He looks like he should be going off for a nice hack in the countryside somewhere instead of this. He looks okayish....but not exactly race fit!” And he did. He had a reasonable covering of condition with a limited amount of muscle tone...something you often see at the races early season anyway.
 
you could say that about any number of
horses running under rules as well, for any number of reasons - there was obviously no reason for her to be concerned about the horse’s welfare at all.

I’m pretty sure the welfare rules will have tightened up since I left veterinary work three years ago - they most certainly would have done in the last forty.


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Cause Of Causes from heart attack at Martinstown; he is 13.
Some horse to be at the top of his game from 4 to 11, giving Kanturk folk the fright of their lives when nearly collaring Rebel Fitz in Galway Hurdle the day Davy looked at a delayed picture on the big screen.
 
Diamond Geezer said:
Ballyoptic retired
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Ballyoptics owner is putting lots of pictures on Facebook of him in retirement with Ballyfitz. She apologised for posting a video of him eating his tea saying she hopes she isn’t boring people but I, along with many others, have been happily watching him munching his tea. And people accuse racing folk of not loving horses!
 
Sorry for being cynical/churlish but ballyoptic failed to meet the reserve at the pre grand national sale (the one where potters corner and balko des flos went for very inflated fees). Selling horses good enough to get into the national the week of the race is often done to rope in owners who are keen for the publicity and the vanity of a national runner. Maybe it was out love for the horse that they didn't lower the reserve but him loving life in the field being doted on and the apple of the owners eye appears to have been plan b.
 
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I guess I was referring more to those of us that were happily watching him eat his food than the person who owned him. Good point, though.
 
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