First, I will disagree with your previous comment where you stated that you weren’t out to comment on your perceived “morbid” side of the racing industry. I think that was your intention all along. However I’m a good sport and I hope to provide a reasonable viewpoint to some of your opinions.
As stated by others, the chart caller is just that–a chart caller. He or she is not a vet, not an investigative journalist, not a tv commentator, etc. The job is to describe the events of the race via beaten lengths and some very abbreviated comments (the caller for NYRA tends to be very descriptive however.) For instance he may see a horse pull up in distress on the backstretch. At Belmont Park that’s a LOOONG distance away. He may see a splint applied and see the horse walk onto the Kimzey horse ambulance. That’s all he can see, even with binoculars. I don’t think speculation of what may-, or may not, have happened should influence the charts.
As far as whether a horse should or shouldn’t be vanned off before euthanization, I believe that whenever reason allows, the horse should go on the van. Not all horses react to situations the same way and I think euthanization should be performed in as controlled an environment as possible. Besides the dignity of the horse, I think the safety of the vet, groom (if time allows,) and other track personnel are paramount. A lot of bad things can happen trying to find a vein on an injured animal in a wide open space, especially if that same horse is needle-shy and sees it coming. Or an injured horse, who’s still hyped up on adrenaline, may try to fight the tranquilizer. Yes, seeing a horse hobbling onto the ambulance (the floor can be lowered to almost ground level) may seem inhumane, but there’s also a lot of common sense involved.
Just another viewpoint.
