Yeah. It hits the grooms hard. My father was a groom for many, many years and i will never forget the day he come home in floods of tears after one of his horses had a heart attack on the gallops underneath him. They grow so attached to these horses, and the horses get attached to them.

I remember watching the Epsom Derby and seeing it. My phone was ringing within seconds. She was in bits. She has learnt the hard way that it happens. I don't know the groom of George personally, but if it's who i think it is, he is a really nice man, always smiling and sharing a few jokes. I feel so sorry for him right now.

People will send their prayers to coolmore and the breeders, but it's the grooms who come off worst.

I really wouldn't want to be on their plane home in the next few days. That is going to seem like forever crossing the Atlantic.

well, tell them a lady in mid america feels very badly for them and that she's very sorry, and to hang in there.

Are you directing that towards me Danzig

directing what? the hang in there part above, or a previous post?

i agree -rotten ending to a rotten race RIP GW:(

Coolmore's vet requested that the owners could have GW's head, heart, and horseshoes to bury............I know they got his shoes, but nor sure about the other two

they'll get them, no doubt. probably cremate the remains to inter as well.

I Think It Was Disgusting To Try To Get The Last Drop Out Of This Poor Horse. Shame On The Game!

i think that 14 starts does not a last drop nor poor horse make. had he not been lost, this convo doesn't even happen. ridiculous bit of hysteria from those who are appalled and amazed that someone would dare race a racehorse. at four even! the NERVE.

gimmeabreak.

R.I.P. Gorgeous. You gave some good memories, and you should've shown Kip D. what was up in the Mile instead, but R.I.P.

Do we know the names of the mares that got in foal to George?

they tried to run a turf horse 10 furlongs in the mud.

the race showed him next to last, but you never see ( on the tv coverage of the race) him actually take a bad step or anything. he's out of the pic when it all happened.
as to suffering, i doubt it. horses are so up on adrenaline, they don't feel pain immediately. he was euthanized so quickly, i doubt he felt much discomfort.

as to why you'd 'have to' watch the replay, i can't imagine...

happens fairly often, as not all turfers scratch when a race goes to the main track. and of course a turf race only moves if conditions warrant--rain being the culprit.

Mera, I think GW took a bad step- it was just one of those awful things that happen sometimes. I don't think he was ever in a spot where it could have been caused by contact.

Thank goodness ESPN didn't show and reshow the moment. I thought they handled it pretty well.

you said it right...
 

finally...

I am SO mad right now. . . Those greedy #$@%^ had no business racing George at all this year after he was retired and came back so dull. . . This just shows how backwards the industry has gotten with the whole racing to breed/breeding to race thing. They took a very promising horse out of racing in his prime in Holy Roman Emperor just so they could suck some money out of somewhere. Then since George wasn't worth anything in the shed anymore they decided to try to squeeze a few more bucks out of him on the track. What was the point of even running him in the Classic where he clearly had no shot?! Not to help his stud fee. . . Not to do right by the horse. . . And is Kinane really that clueless that he rode GW hard the whole race when something was clearly wrong? Must have been that fifth place money. . . My friend, who's more of a casual fan, said to me after the races something to the effect of "I can't wait to see these horses race next time" to which I replied; "You won't." How is the sport supposed to attract fans when the big stars never last for more than a year?