http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/78454/popular-runner-autism-awareness-dies
What does everyone think of this? They put him back into Racing and he breaks down and has to be put down. Obviously this just happens, as its ‘a part of the game’ as everyone puts it but this just makes me a little sad. :no:
why did they bring him back after a year? Especially at 8?
[QUOTE=wcporter;6995754]
why did they bring him back after a year? Especially at 8?[/QUOTE]
Maybe he was just taking up space? I mean, he’s a racehorse. He can’t just sit and collect dust. Maybe the owners didn’t want to retire him and lose money?
No reason not to try. Maybe he vetted sound, maybe they tried to sell him and no one wanted him because his x-rays weren’t 100% flawless. I wonder why they were running him on turf when in the picture he’s on dirt or poly. (Liking poly doesn’t necessarily translate to grass and vice-versa–Lucky preferred to run on grass but didn’t like synthetic when he was tried on it.) If he’s based out of California they probably don’t have acres of land lying around to dump a horse on.
And if they had him off for a year, they already lost a bunch of money. I wonder if maybe part of running him back was the whole “awareness” thing–not raising any awareness throwing him in a barn, and I can’t imagine show owners, who’ve changed far less offensive names, would have kept THAT.
[QUOTE=danceronice;6996071]
No reason not to try. Maybe he vetted sound, maybe they tried to sell him and no one wanted him because his x-rays weren’t 100% flawless. I wonder why they were running him on turf when in the picture he’s on dirt or poly. (Liking poly doesn’t necessarily translate to grass and vice-versa–Lucky preferred to run on grass but didn’t like synthetic when he was tried on it.) If he’s based out of California they probably don’t have acres of land lying around to dump a horse on.
And if they had him off for a year, they already lost a bunch of money. I wonder if maybe part of running him back was the whole “awareness” thing–not raising any awareness throwing him in a barn, and I can’t imagine show owners, who’ve changed far less offensive names, would have kept THAT.[/QUOTE]
If his x-rays weren’t 100% flawless, I’m sure there would have been rescues that would have taken him regardless concidering that some racers are companion sound only anyways due to bone chips, old bowed tendons or what not… They could have gotten a hold of Old Friends maybe and and gone through them to find him a suitable retirement home. I mean, they can’t say that there were not people who would have taken him in because there would have been. All the well-known horses get placed. Look at Z Fortune… he got taken to (I believe) New Vocations and got a home right off.
Same thing happened a couple of years ago with a horse at Woodbine. Shady owner too. Some records were falsified and it did not show the real ID of the horse until too late. It would not have been allowed to go on the track (was just exercising, not running). Can’t remember the name of the horse. I seem to recall he was 13 and had been at the farm for a while… taking up space. Sad!
False Impression
Your thinking of Wake At Noon, and Bruno Schickendanz, totally disgusted by the whole scenario STILL 
[QUOTE=MonterStables;6996093]
If his x-rays weren’t 100% flawless, I’m sure there would have been rescues that would have taken him regardless concidering that some racers are companion sound only anyways due to bone chips, old bowed tendons or what not… They could have gotten a hold of Old Friends maybe and and gone through them to find him a suitable retirement home. I mean, they can’t say that there were not people who would have taken him in because there would have been. All the well-known horses get placed. Look at Z Fortune… he got taken to (I believe) New Vocations and got a home right off.[/QUOTE]
Right, because rescues are just going around begging for horses to be sent to them, and waiting lists of people who want a pasture pet or at most a horse with wear on him for riding. And by “not perfect” I mean the ridiculous standards some people have for what a racehorse’s legs should look like to buy him for a non-racing home, not unsound for work.
This isn’t like Wake At Noon–no one denied who the horse was, there was no reason for the stewards not to allow him to enter (there have been at least two horses so far just today on TVG coming off year+ layoffs so it’s not unusual). A horse can break down in a first start (as also just happened at Betfair Hollywood Park where a horse in his first race spooked, hit the rail, and broke something irreparable.) If they seem sound there’s no reason NOT to run them, just because people not in the industry think they’re old (when in other equine disciplines, no one bats an eye at injecting joints for years to keep grinding a horse through constant wear and tear at twice this horse’s age.)
[QUOTE=MonterStables;6996048]
Maybe he was just taking up space? I mean, he’s a racehorse. He can’t just sit and collect dust. Maybe the owners didn’t want to retire him and lose money?[/QUOTE]
He won over $356k, even if he had never raced again, and lived to be 20, that averages to $1,480 earnings for every month of his life.
Right, I think he earned the right to retire. Crap again.
I saw that race on TVG…was surprised to see AA running, thought he had retired years ago, and then when I saw someone break down in the back (announcer never called it) I was really bummed out when I found out it was him I was surprised to see that the original connections still owned him. Seemed pointless to be racing him since he didnt seem to have any chance whatsoever at that level.
[QUOTE=Button;6996584]
He won over $356k, even if he had never raced again, and lived to be 20, that averages to $1,480 earnings for every month of his life.[/QUOTE]
Just to keep it real, he cost about $3000 a month to keep in training, $2000 a month for farm training and probably close to $1000 a month in layup. And I’m not including transportation, vetwork, the 10 % off the top for the trainer, the 5-10 % for the jock (if in the money) and the thousand and one other fees that can get tacked on especially when he was a stakes horse.
I don’t know the people at all but I’m speculating that sometimes it is hard to walk away. Winning races can be intoxicating. This horse brought them some positive notoriety. Perhaps it was easy to think it wouldn’t end- at least not yet. John Henry after all won a graded stakes when he was 10.
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