Fox Hunt breaks down in the 2-1/2 mile Dubai Gold Cup. The horse was later euthanized. Image by Virendra Saklani / Gulf News.
TWO HORSES DIE
Tragedy struck the 2-1/2 mile Dubai Gold Cup (UAE-III) when Fox Hunt broke a leg and fell early in the race. However, as soon as it became clear that Fox Hunt had suffered a serious injury and could not be moved off the track in time, the stewards stopped the race. Fox Hunt was later euthanized.
Melvin Day, the Dubai Racing Club’s Senior Handicapper, said:
“A horse can break off any time, but I have not seen such an incident in a flat race.
“It can happen in a steeplechase. Quite an unusual happening. Rules stipulate that the race would be void as it is incomplete. The stewards act like policemen and their main concern is to ensure the safety of the horses and riders. It would be unfair to both the jockeys and the horses to start the race again.”
The decision was taken to rerun the Gold Cup at the end of the card. All horses who were to take part were each examined by racetrack veterinarians.
However, during the second running of the Gold Cup, two more horses, Grand Vent and U.S.-bred Bronze Cannon, were injured and pulled up. Two other horses in the race, Mikhail Glinka and Makani Bisty, were eased up by their jockeys, which probably saved their lives.
Ray Paulick reported on Twitter that Bronze Cannon was also euthanized, and Grand Vent is being treated for a leg injury.
AMERICAN COMMENTATOR SAYS SHAMEFUL
Oddly — or sadly — an American horse racing commentator calling it “shameful”, tweeted that if what happened in Dubai had happened at Aqueduct, racing would have been shut down. Really?
So the tragedies in Dubai, horrible as they are, are worse than Aqueduct killing 21 horses since last November, for which it was neither shut down nor even cautioned insofar as we can see.
Not only that, but racing on the inner dirt track at Aqueduct where the fatalities reportedly occurred continued for another couple of weeks so more horses were put at risk and killed.
Then there’s this.
The number of fatalities at Aqueduct were so alarming that it took the Governor of New York to call an inquiry into the horses’ deaths, or absolutely nothing would have been done, at all.
Small wonder U.S. horse racing is seen as such a brutal and callous sport when those in the industry covering it make such remarks.
Sources:
– http://gulfnews.com/sport/horse-racing/tragic-end-at-the-dubai-gold-cup-1.1002379
