Update on MG here…
he’s been euthanized
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/236827/vino-rosso-outruns-mckinzie-in-breeders-cup-classic
Damn. That is heartbreaking.
No apology needed. You were there and I can only imagine how difficult it was for you.
Barboro’s injury was made very public, x-rays and all, so people were able to form an opinion regarding the seriousness of the injury…
I apologize, I didn’t mean to imply that his people didn’t care about him. It was clear he was loved.
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:no: Sympathies to MG’s connections. Damn shame.
I absolutely love watching Bricks & Mortar run.
You just tell he gives it his all.
He’s my pick for HOY
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So sad about Mongolian Groom. I was watching with non horsey people, one picked him as their favorite to win because he looked so sharp in all matching blue. So unfortunately we were all watching him very closely as the accident happened. Obviously hard to see what even happened other than his left hind was absolutely dangling as the jock pulled him up. I’m not a vet but if you were actually watching him, it was obvious immediately that it was a catastrophic injury. So sad and honestly it was pretty upsetting that NBC didn’t immediately acknowledge what happened. I understand not wanting to dwell on it but after they went on and on all day about safety being number one and the welfare of the horse being so important, to not acknowledge what happened right away was crap, in my opinion.
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I’m actually a bit more upset after reading a few comments that Mongolian Groom was apparently lame behind during workout on 10/31/19. Seems there was a video showing it but it’s been pulled from the site now. This is from the horseracingnation article posted earlier. https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/Mongolian_Groom_suffers_serious_injury_in_Breeders_Cup_Classic_123# “The video where Mongolian Groom was lame behind was when he was galloping on 10/31. This was after the workout where his saddle slipped. XBTV has taken down all videos of him. Here is the link to where it was, which now just shows an error page:
https://www.xbtv.com/video/…”
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Statements like that had better be backed up with solid eyes-on evidence. It’s bad enough without a bunch of keyboard jocks slinging rumors.
I find it hard to believe the horse wouldn’t have been scratched by officials after the second funny step in a workout; protocols were beyond stringent this year - a good thing.
Video can be deceiving. Just read through any thread on COTH with an accompanying video; even on “critique my eq” threads someone always pipes up saying the horse looks off in the left hind. Cue the next person who says no, it’s the right shoulder. And in fact the horse is perfectly sound, which we would see is the case if we had the horse right in front of us. Even I commented on the Keeneland Sept. Sale thread that, in the video of the $8.2 million filly in the ring, some of the angles made it look like her legs were crooked; obviously the camera does distort!
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I saw that video before they pulled it. I don’t think he was off. He looked like he was “trantering”, that funny gait that racehorses do when they are on the muscle and trying to break from the trot to the canter, but the jockey is trying to keep him trotting. Did not look off when jock had him solidly in the trot.
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You were right. Others deny and deny. Racing is not like it was decades ago.
Looks like Larry Bramledge is heading the investigative team. Best choice out there no matter your opinion,.
What bothers me most is all the attention on the enhanced scrutiny at SA without noting it’s the track and Cali Racing Board, not industry wide protocol and that won’t happen without a central governing board like most other major sports operate under no matter what state or venue. It’s time. IMO.
There’s no way eliminate all racing accidents but consistent efforts to police compliance with rules in place to protect horses and jockeys would go a very long way and possibly pull the sport out of the swamp it had made for itself. IMO. And not saying MGs connections did anything at all that contributed to his accident or there were any additional steps to avoid this.
Just thinking about all those hard knockers running for a tag at blue collar tracks…
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I have not seen the video, but with the amount of scrutiny these horses were getting the week before the race, and the number of horses scratched by the vets, I highly, highly doubt he was lame on 10/31. I agree they can look odd when they are on the muscle and the orders are to just jog, and that half trot half canter thing is not proof of a problem.
I’m guessing that that’s why they didn’t. After going on about the number of vets and the vet checks and horses being scratched right and left and nothing-can-get-past-these-vet-checks hoopla, and then to announce a catastrophic injury of a horse in the Big Race Of The Day …
I didn’t know about Mongolian Groom’s injury until logging on here today; I turned off the TV as soon as whats-his-name passed the winning post and poor old War of Will faded just as he did in the Belmont.
I am incredibly skeptical of your claims and the rumors you are perpetuating.
The organizers of the Breeders Cup have known for months that they would be under a microscope. The vets were scratching horses left and right for any hint of perceived imperfection. There were 4 vet scratches for Nov. 2nd alone. (Source: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-rac…ers-cup-sprint)
If there was truly video of Mongolian Groom working despite of lameness a mere two days before the race, there is no way it would have gone unnoticed and unaddressed by the stewards, vets, and organizers.
So if you are going to spread these rumors, you better come baring actual evidence instead of hearsay and dead links.
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I can’t imagine that was true. These vets were scratching horses up to and including the day of the race trained by Aiden O’Brien and Chad Brown. Anyone think Enebish Ganbat had more pull than they did?
The LA Times was fairly measured but basically said that if the deaths can’t go to zero, racing has to go. They might as well have said that unless planes never crash again, aviation has to stop. Of course they have been waiting for this for years. They also advocated that the Los Angeles Equestrian Center be converted to low income housing at one point because horses are anachronistic.
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Yeah it is much MUCH better.
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I truly appreciate your classy response. Thanks for being the bigger person. :yes:
This whole situation has me upset, so my filter isn’t working at capacity. But you are totally right, it is hard not to form your own opinions when everything is so public. As much as I harp for transparency in horse racing, I can appreciate why people choose to stay mum about catastrophic events. They are hard enough to emotionally process without having judgement from all sides.
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I thought the jock did a great job of getting MG pulled up, keeping him straight and upright as he slowed. And I thought that everyone else did a great job of navigating around him as he moved backward quickly through the pack. It could have been worse without the professionalism of those riders. It’s the harsh reality of racing that sometimes this sort of thing happens, even when everything is going well. And it happens without warning, and without a “reason” that someone can point out. It just happens, at speed. It is a risk that horsemen must accept if they participate in high speed equine sport. It happens in other equine disciplines as well, usually those that involve speed.
A sad end to a great two days of racing. All lovely horses, well trained, well prepared, well cared for, and I suspect, well loved by their connections. Some will be waking up this morning with a huge hole in their hearts. If this is you, please know that others grieve with you from afar.
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I didn’t get to watch the Classic “live” until after I got home (DVRing the day’s coverage on both NBCSN and NBC knowing I could FF through the chaff). DirecTV annoy the heck out of me with significant technical “difficulties” for the first 2+ hours of the NBCSN broadcast :mad:
I settle in with dinner for the Classic and watched more of the drivel than what I’d FF over during the NBCSN coverage.
As the field loaded, I thought… just one more race, please just one more race get them home safe.
I watched (TVG) Mongolian Groom win the Awesome Again. I saw the interview with his trainer, Enebish Ganbat. I watched the joy and disbelief that his horse had won. I saw how emotional Enebish was. I saw his not being sure of the answer when someone asked if he’d run in the Classic as the Awesome Again was one of the last Win And You’re In races. Enebish didn’t know what the owners would want to do.
We know now the owners paid $200,000 to supplement enter Mongolian Groom and he was in the gate for the Classic.
I cried when I saw him break down. I knew it was bad from the brief snippet you could see on NBC’s coverage. I was more than mad that it took NBC so long to mention that Mongolian Groom had broken down. All I could think of was yes, another breakdown and, no disrespect to any of the horses who ran over the last two days, why Mongolian Groom…
Yes, Vino Rosso won and well deserved. Vino Rosso and the connections deserved their day in the sun and celebration. He was my pick to win the Classic.
I felt bad for the AAEP vet who had to be the talking head representing the vet team when they just didn’t know how bad it was or wasn’t. (IMO, unless you saw the breakdown or the leg, you wouldn’t necessarily know.)
I was in tears turning to the internet to confirm what I’d already felt was the outcome… on a day that Enebish should have been happy and loving on Mongolian Groom, he wasn’t. He was, I feel sure, part of the team that made the decision. I can’t imagine what is even now going through Enebish’s and the connections heads and hearts.
Mongolian Groom, run free - win that last race. 
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I freely admit that as soon as I saw him take a bad step and saw the leg I straight up shouted “NO! No no no…” and started crying. Scared the hell out of my daughter. I told her what happened and she told me I need to stop watching horse racing because I get too into it.
Frankly, I didn’t follow MG that much. I thought he was a cool story because of his ownership group and his trainer. Now it’s just this dull ache because everything, California or not, is going to change because of an extremely unfortunate accident where we lost a very gallant gelding.
Worked Friday and Sat, so most watching via reruns. Did get to watch the last few races yesterday. This has been such a year of scattered stars, it was hard to get very psyched about any one in particular. Although rooted for Asmussen with Mitole and Midnight Bisou. The latter’s loss though an introduction to another classy filly in Blue Prize.
The stands were certainly more empty at SA.
Very sorry to see Mongolian Groom being pulled up and then the ultimate result. Damn.
Now replaying Friday’s races, and so much fun to see Sharing’s win - I saw a couple of Shared Account’s races and loved her, too.
And those reruns of Zenyatta still giving chills. 
Topped off by Peter Eurton’s win with Storm the Court, and Brittany interviewing him. Gotta love the 2 yo’s. Never easy to pick the winner.
Dennis’ Moment’s stumble scary. Hope the rest came home ok.
Saw a photo of Jose Ortiz giving Elate a hug after her run.
Their coming home (any of them) in good shape always good news at the end of the day.
