George Washington

I am so gutted I cant put it into words.

Absolutely fucking gutted.

May you rest in peace Gorgeous George! You were awesome.

cry
 
He was put down very quickly as it was so bad.

Poor George... the ball did not bounce his way

I am sick and will take some time off.... it is so depressing

Thank you GW
 
GEORGE TRAGEDY AS CURLIN WINS CLASSIC

George Washington's Breeders' Cup Classic bid ended in tragedy as he suffered a fatal injury in a race won in brilliant fashion by Curlin at Monmouth Park.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained four-year-old showed up handily early in the $5million contest, which was run on mud-splattered dirt track, but soon began to struggle.

As Curlin powered away to beat Hard Spun, George Washington's rider Mick Kinane dismounted his horse, who was quickly attended by racecourse veterinary staff.

He could not be saved, however, and the decision was taken to have him humanely destroyed.

O'Brien's wife Anne-Marie was in floods of tears on the rail and was then consoled by her husband as the family walked back into the paddock.

On-course veterinarian and equine joint expert Dr Wayne McIlwraith said George Washington suffered an open fracture of both sesamoid bones.

Dr McIlwraith added: "The decision was made very quickly. The injury was bad and Aidan O'Brien made the request for euthanisation. He was with the horse."
 
According to the people on RUK, the injury to his leg was very very bad. The crowd also applauded George as he was driven off in the back of the horse ambulance, a fitting tribute to a great horse.
 
Unfortunately had no access to RUK today so was left in the lurch re the situation at the end of the ATR coverage even though according to both here and the betfair forum it had already been confirmed.

Was lucky enough to see him win the Guineas at Newmarket and here's one of the piccies that will be on the photo archive of the forum but thought I'd repost here.

GeorgeWashington2.jpg
 
Was there that day too Arkers. Remember thinking Sir Percy was about to assert and go win it when something went flying by. Someone shouted "It's George!". Great days.
 
Just so Desperately sad .....
Only four, but such a wonderful enigmatic character, whenever and wherever he appeared I believed .....

But as Hen said, almost exactly two years ago ,
'When you train horses, you have to accept that anything can happen '.

We shall miss you GG. X
 
thats a beautiful picture

A real character of a horse, probably more words written about him than any other horse over the last few years.

I'll miss seeing his attitude
 
Sorry to hear such a tragic thing to have happened.. my CABEL VIRGIN went down on Wednesday and unfortunately no repair man until Monday morning, so I just read the sad news...RIP GEORGE..................
 
Gutted, absolutely gutted...

That pic really is a beauty Arkwright.

Did he get any of the mares he covered in foal?
 
Even fewer than Mozart. I'll email a photo took at Goodwood to Arkers, maybe he can upload it for me as I have no facility.

Feel totally devasted by this, some horses are so special you never want to lose them
What tremendous pleasure he gave us all
 
Really sad news that. never knew until just got up.

Must say the dirt track looked so unraceable last night, I'm surprised he was the only casulty. Another dark day for horse racing.

R.I.P George, gone but not forgotten
 
From: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more...ers.cup.bre.ap/

There's a pretty graphic picture of the injury on there, so don't click on the link if you don't want to see it.

George Washington euthanized
European star injures ankle in stretch of Classic
Posted: Saturday October 27, 2007 7:24PM; Updated: Saturday October 27, 2007 7:24PM

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) -- Another of horse racing's biggest days was marred by a fatal breakdown.

On a day when even the most casual fans tune in for racing's version of the Super Bowl, they saw George Washington break down in the stretch of the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

The European star injured his right front leg and was euthanized.

Jockey Mick Kinane pulled up George Washington at the rear of the nine-horse field as Curlin dashed to a 4½-length victory on the sloppy track at Monmouth Park.

George Washington fractured his cannon bone and was euthanized on the track at the request of trainer Aidan O'Brien, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian.

"That's a hopeless injury," he said.

It's the type of tragedy that occurred twice last year.

In the Breeders' Cup Distaff, Pine Island broke down and was euthanized and Fleet Indian sustained a career-ending injury at Churchill Downs.

In the Preakness, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro broke his leg early in the race and was euthanized eight months later.

George Washington shared a tragic connection with Barbaro.

The European colt was bred by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who owned Barbaro and spent millions of dollars trying to keep him alive. On the same day Barbaro won the Derby, George Washington won the 2000 Guineas, the opening leg of the English classics.

As George Washington skittered a few steps while lifting up his injured leg, workers rushed to him and surrounded the 4-year-old colt with brown screens that blocked the view of the crowd. A horse ambulance quickly appeared and maneuvered into position as 41,781 fans watched in silence.

The workers managed to load George Washington into the ambulance under the cover of the screens.

"There was a condylar fracture and that makes the ankle unstable," Bramlage said. "He broke one sesamoid (bone) and then dislocated the ankle to the side. That destroys the blood supply, which makes this such a difficult injury."

George Washington was fifth at the half-mile pole, then dropped back to seventh before getting hurt in the stretch.

"Typically these injuries occur in the last part of the race," said C. Wayne McIlwraith, on-call veterinarian of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

"They are more fatigued, so they have got less support to the joint."

Kinane slid off near the colt's neck and held the reins as help moved in.

"He did well to stay up. He was brave," Kinane said. "He stayed up on it. He saved me."

The Classic was just George Washington's second race on dirt; his first was in last year's Classic at Churchill Downs, where he was sixth.

"He could have had trouble with being less coordinated on (dirt), as he's used to racing on grass," McIlwraith said. "We talk a lot now about investigating the cause of these fractures, minor incoordination or just not landing on the leg exactly the same way as a horse that's completely used to that surface does."

Ironically, George Washington wasn't supposed to be racing anymore. He was retired at the end of last year with plans to go to stud, but was found to be infertile and put back into training.

He won six of 13 career starts and earned more than $1.4 million racing mostly in Europe for owners Susan Magnier of Ireland and Englishmen Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by chrisbeekracing@Oct 28 2007, 01:20 AM
Really sad news that. never knew until just got up.

Must say the dirt track looked so unraceable last night, I'm surprised he was the only casulty. Another dark day for horse racing.

R.I.P George, gone but not forgotten
Click to expand...
Can only echo that. not aware of this last night and absolutly gutted. And think same about the ground - and that George did not deserve this.

Lost for words really....
 
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