Since ponies are in the Merck manual as commonly having pelvic fractures, I don’t think it’s unique to racing; it seems to be relevant to athletic training, including disciplines in which ponies participate. Bears more investigation.
My attempt at a rhetorical question is that I don’t recall, until recently, seeing race horses, either training or racing, suffering pelvic fractures. Interesting factoid that Merck says they are ‘relatively common’ and yet I don’t recall reading about them compared to the number (as I would expect) of primarily front leg catastrophic injuries. Do they happen to TBs more than what is leapt upon by social media? or because they are ‘relatively common’ in horses and ponies no one says anything?
My uneducated guess would be that horses that are not holding up to training are not holding up in multiple areas of the body. Now that the vets are having to clear horses to work and race well before post time, they are catching those who are at risk for breaking down due to a front leg or lower hind limb problem. Those issues up high are way harder to diagnose. With the new regulations, we should be seeing fewer breakdowns, and the ones we see should stem from areas that are more difficult to detect. Then the necroscopy gets shared, and maybe some of the vets will say, “Oh I noticed XYZ but it did not appear to be anything that would endanger the horse” and knowledge is elevated. Unfortunately, we learn from our mistakes.
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Dead horse race 8 right now
close the track.
Both front fetlocks fractured, euth. This is not looking good
This may be easier said than done but they should move the Breeders Cup to Del Mar.
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I’ve always wanted to go to Santa Anita. I get my chance, and many next year when I move to the area. I’m a little apprehensive as I don’t think I could stomach seeing a breakdown.
32 dead now:confused:
SA and TSG can say what they want about additional “safety measures” and banning trainers… I’m personally not buying it.What has TSG done to the track surface itself to make it safer? For me, what is the common denominator? Not the trainer (Hollendorfer is racing elsewhere and, AFAIK, no issues), not the meds (other tracks/jurisdictions have similar med limitations)… but the SA track, IMO, is a whole 'nother case.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/236087/catastrophic-breakdown-mars-santa-anita-card
Makes me sad as the Awesome Again was a fantastic race!
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Santa Anita did not need that. This is my home track and it is heartbreaking to see this happening there. That said, Belmont has had 7 breakdowns in the last 3 weeks, but not a peep about that anywhere. I do think that maybe a move to Tapeta and turf is needed (probably everywhere) before the animal rights activists get their way.
It’s been discussed-
https://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/belmont-fall-meet-fatalities-are-up-new-york-commission-mum-on-plans-to-stop-the-spike/
I’ll not be watching the Breeders Cup television broadcast this year.
I’ll watch the race replays online. That will make witnessing a breakdown (if there is one) avoidable.
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Haven’t commented on this thread in awhile but I’ve been following along. I am extremely nervous about the breeders cup this year.
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Me too. I think many people are.
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I admit I am very nervous about the BC as well but then I remember how many big name, insanely valuable horses are stabled there and train there every day. I presume their owners and trainers would move their horses somewhere else if they felt it was truly a significantly higher risk to send a horse to the track there than it is anywhere else. They are the ones who see the track, see the horses come back from the track, see how their horses cool out, see how their horse’s legs feel after they take the bandages off in the morning etc. But yes, everyone in the industry needs to hope for safe races on our sport’s biggest day.
I may be kidding myself, but I have a horse in training now at Santa Anita and I am not that worried (at least no more than anyone with a horse in race training is). I’m reserving judgment. Santa Anita’s issues this winter probably stemmed from sealing the track and that is not happening right now.
Breakdowns have never gone down to zero even with the miracle Del Mar managed. The horse that went down clearly had problems in the past and I would be most interested in how he got by Santa Anita’s new program intended to spot horses before they get hurt. But his unfortunate death could just be the result of a break down rate that will never be zero.
Now if there is a spate of accidents over the next several weeks, I’ll change my mind.
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did you ever think you’d unleash an epic thread?
Exactly. What people are not looking at is the % of breakdowns compared to the number of horses that train over that track every day. I know it’s been published, but I forget, the number of horses stabled at Santa Anita, and it’s a big one. A track with 2500 horse training daily will have more breakdowns than a track with 1000 or 1500 horses stabled there.
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That’s true, but–this latest breakdown (and many before it) happened during racing. There are many tracks that card the same number of races and racing days as SA does. So your percentages don’t really apply–unless you are saying that all those horses working on the track in the mornings are making it less safe to race on in the afternoon. In that case, we are back to a problem with track maintenance.
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No I definitely didn’t. It’s been crazy just keeping up!
