Gold Fated

The Dubai Gold Cup, a two mile race recently added to the Dubai World Cup card, was stained by tragedy, marring the otherwise marvelous day of racing. The first time the horses broke from the gate, not a single one crossed the finish line. Fox Hunt, a Godolphin horse, broke down soon after the race started, tossing his rider, Silvestre De Sousa, who was later said to have been uninjured. Fox Hunt attempted to get up after falling but was unable. He was euthanized on the track. Meanwhile, race stewards called off the race because Fox Hunt was in the way and couldn’t be moved in time. The other horses were pulled up and the race was rescheduled for after the Dubai World Cup’s $10 million main event. Personally, I have a problem with this decision. It seems as though the race was called off late in the stretch, meaning that the horses running were already tired when they were pulled up. Racing is exhausting for the horses; they just aren’t built to run more than once every few weeks anymore, much less twice in one day.

            The second time the horses broke from the gate, their exhaustion was evident. Two horses were eased and US bred Bronze Cannon and Grand Vent never even finished the race. Bronze Cannon, like Fox Hunt, broke down and was euthanized, Grand Vent was sent to a nearby equine hospital. This raises the question of why they even decided to rerun the race. In my opinion the race should have been scratched from the card and the entry fees and bets returned. Yes, that would have been a difficult feat to accomplish, but their decision put the horses in danger, as evidenced by the death of Bronze Cannon and the injury to Grand Vent. Accidents in racing do happen, Fox Hunt was such an accident and thus somewhat forgivable, but I feel that Bronze Cannon’s death really could have been avoided. This is one of those instances that gives racing a bad name, deciding to run already tired horses lead to one fatal and one potentially fatal conclusion. It was a bad call.

For further reading:

Ill fated Gold Cup from Blood Horse

Update: According to an article from the Thoroughbred Times, Grand Vent has been euthanized. That brings the death count in this race to three, I find this unacceptable. The deaths of Grand Vent and Bronze Cannon could have been prevented, it was irresponsible to rerun this race.
The article is here