FWIW, itâs not actually the necropsy report 
The link article in BH links to the actual Evaluation report.
This link is to the Mongolian Groom Evaluation done by Dr Larry Bramlage et al.
IMO, extensive report with a very informative section on the actual injury to Mongolian Groom. It includes a step by step breakdown with the LH x-ray of how the actual injury occurred as well as why.
The why is also informative as there is also a vertical cross section of the RH distal surface of the cannon bone revealing a bone bruise just below the joint surface in pretty much the exact same spot as the condylar fracture in the LH.
Mongolian Groom was bilaterally lame which appeared to have shown up as short stepping.
The remainder of the report discusses all the vet exams, why they didnât trigger enough to scratch the horse, how could this bilateral lameness be detected in the future.
Finishes up with what processes/procedures could be changed to find more of these bilateral issues as they are much harder to detect than a unilateral lameness issue.
I believe that everyone is capable of reading Dr, Bramlageâs report for themselves.
I am also aware that the link is to the report from Dr. Bramlage, including his review of the necropsy, it is not a link to the necropsy minutes. It is a summary report from Dr. Bramlage that explains the breakdown in medical terms, with x-rays and the findings from the necropsy.
I didnât expect picking nits over the thread title.
Would you prefer I change the title for you?
Thank you, âskydyâ. Dr Bramlage wrote a very succinct report.
Now it will be interesting to see if the tracks implement his suggestions.
It does though amaze me that trainers can continue to race young horses that are NQR. Perhaps, for awhile, until they forget, this will give trainers food for thought.
Mongolian Groom was 4. He did not race at 2.
Additionally, as noted in the report, while Mongolian Groom may have shown slight âNQRâ âsymptomsâ in repeated different evaluations by multiple vets, they were never enough to trigger a vet scratch given the conditions during the BC leadup and race.
The recommendations by Dr Bramlage and team may, if implemented, have made Mongolian Groomâs more easily identifiable.
I felt before and still feel, after reading the detailed evaluation, that Mongolian Groomâs care team (trainer, groom, exercise rider) never felt that Mongolian Groom was NQR enough to race.
The signs were there but so subtle that many people didnât catch them.
Did you see his training videos just prior to the BC? He was very obviously lame.
Yes, I did see the training videos.
Did you read the entire evaluation report?
Those videos were discussed in the report. Yes, the report does address that the videos were not viewed by the regulatory vets due to the time pressured protocol but not ignored on purpose. Yes, the report does indicate that this was a missed opportunity.
I feel that #3, #4, and #6 in the âSuggestions to considerâ stem, in part, from these videos and how they may have been used as part of the scrutiny process as well as other suggestions to help identify movement concerns, particularly a bilateral problem such as Mongolian Groom.
Regardless of whether I think the two videos show obvious lameness or not, the report addressed the videos and resulting suggestions that should help in the future. The learnings are how progress is made, no?
NO. I could care less about evaluation reports. That horse should have been pulled from that race. PERIOD!
[I]Regardless of whether I think the two videos show obvious lameness or not, the report addressed the videos and resulting suggestions that should help in the future.
suggestions in the future??? like they are talking about ingredients for a new recipe or something just as equally innocuous.[/I]
Perhaps but only if they were seen by someone with the authority to make the scratch decision. Many saw Mongolian Groom prior to and after those videos (without viewing them) and did not see anything warranted a race scratch⊠further evaluations, etc yes; he was put on a âwatchâ list and âextra scrutinyâ list.
The suggestions in the report address, IMO, the fact that the videos should have been viewed (along with other procedural changes) to get Mongolian Groom to be further examined and scratched/withdrawn prior to the race.
Thatâs a very interesting article and it feels very thoughtful about why the protocols missed this horse and some things that might be done better. It notes that the initial stress fractures that propagated during the race might not have been noticed during an x-ray, even, if the angle was not just right.
He talks about making sure any video of the horse is available for vets to view. I wonder if it can be made routine to video every horse during the jog observations, which can be helpful any time youâre seeing a horse that you have a question about - to look back at the day or week before and see what if anything has changed. Taking and storing video is so cheap now that it seems like a practice we could start, even maybe to make this a habit during every racehorseâs career. There could be a database of every currently running horse with official track vet notes and all their jog videos.
After reading the entire evaluation report, almost seems like the perfect storm for Mongolian Groom. So many places where something may have popped up on exams or visual viewing and just didnât rise to the level of concern needed. He was on a watch list, the choppy hind movement was observed over a long period of time, just nothing significant enough to trigger either Enebish Ganbat (trainer) or the vets to scratch Mongolian Groom.
Hard to read as, after the fact, there were so many tell-tale signs but in real time, nothing really obvious.
I liked the suggestions about every horse going out on the track for a work be jogged in one fixed, predetermined section of the track one at a time so evaluating vets can focus on a single horse at a gait where a problem might be seen and video the jog in combination with the jog/trot in a circle in the stable area.
It makes me sad that Mongolian Groom paid for the âprocessâ to not successfully catch and identify his bilateral lameness before his catastrophic breakdown. If the learnings and suggestions in the report save another equine life, then Mongolian Groom didnât die in vain.
I am not happy Mongolian Groom is gone but I am happy that his death was not in vain.
Six recommendations made by Dr. Larry Bramlage in the wake of Mongolian Groomâs death at the 2019 Breedersâ Cup World Championships will be adopted for the 2020 edition at Keeneland, Breedersâ Cup announced March 3.
Should be adopted across the board. Just focusing on the Breeders Cup? What about the KY Derby? Preakness? Belmont? etc?
The BC Board is driving the BC commitment.
Other venues, tracks, states, will need to adopt as they wish.
With no single, governing body nationwide oveseeing all tracks, there is no â theyâ to require or enforce pre race procedures evaluating fitness to race.
