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Filly's death forces rethink on blankets
West Australian Racing
TheDiva
13,248 posts
Racing and Wagering WA and Perth Racing will provide more barrier blankets at WA meetings in the wake of an incident which led to Miss Omeresa being euthanased.
Miss Omeresa was one of three horses in the Crown Perth Handicap (1000m) at Belmont Park on Wednesday that needed a barrier blanket, but only two were available.
Starter Todd Plain consulted Miss Omeresa's trainer, Graeme Ballantyne, before the race and loaded her into the barriers last.
But the filly lashed out furiously and fractured her near hind leg.
Ballantyne, who won the Perth Cup with Talent Show in January, had used a barrier blanket on Miss Omeresa frequently to calm her in the gates.
Acting chief steward David Hensler said RWWA and race clubs provided one barrier blanket apiece for each race meeting.
PR will now have six barrier blankets in place for meetings at Ascot and Belmont.
"Perth Racing has ordered the new blankets," Hensler said.
"RWWA will purchase three additional blankets and they will go with the starter to provincial meetings. Five blankets will be available for provincial meetings.
"I wouldn't say not having the blanket was the cause of Miss Omeresa lashing out and it's not the first time the horse has gone in the barriers without one. This problem has come up before, but not with the same consequences."
Three-year-old Miss Omeresa won two of her nine starts.
Comments
Commiseration to connections of the filly -
but RWWA knew there were 3 horses which required a barrier blanket in that race - their rules require permission. So how can this be allowed to occur.
For the Acting chief steward to say they will NOW get more blankets is Shutting the Stable Door after the horse has bolted .....a very poor situation which again , under the RWWA umberella of unaccountable protection will be glossed over, because those in the Industry fear repercussions if they speak out against the "power"
SPUDLEY likes this post.
Chelsea likes this post.
...an interesting point , too is the issue that this filly had raced and performed well previously with the assistance of a b/blanket - yet was denied one this start - had she not been fatally injured ( and able to start) her barrier manner might have negatively affected her performance - she was a $10.00 chance.
This is a good example of RWWA's continued inertia and failure to perform the most menial of tasks whilst remaining unaccountable, compounded by the lack of leadership and the fact that there are no horsemen employed by this quango authority.
SPUDLEY likes this post.
here's another article with a bit more detail in the story via Racenet
A "breakdown in protocol" has resulted in the death of Miss
Omeresa at Belmont on Wednesday after the filly didn't carry an approved piece
of gear that could've prevented the "horrendous situation".<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
The
Graeme Ballantyne-trained galloper was approved to be loaded into the gates with
a barrier blanket but a shortage of the gear meant the daughter of Danehill
Smile was put into the gates without one.
While in the barriers Miss Omeresa lashed out, breaking her off-hind leg and
was subsequently euthanized.
"Grahame Ballantyne was approached in the mounting yard and told there
weren’t enough barrier blankets for the three horses that required one and
basically you're the short straw," Michael Grant from the Western
Australian Trainers Association told Radio Sports National.
"The trainer didn't feel he had any other option."
When acceptances are taken for a race meeting, administration clerks relay the
approved and required gear for a horse on raceday.
"The piece of information that should've been loaded on acceptances for
the gear wasn't loaded so it didn't come to the stewards' attention until
raceday," he said.
"That was the first breakdown in protocol.
"The second was the starter didn't attempt to discuss this issue with
anyone until they were in the mounting yard, which in retrospect is way too
late.
"He should've been there an hour before the first which would've allowed
time to find another barrier blanket."
But the officials would need to have obtained one from another club as Belmont
doesn't have three barrier blankets on-course.
"It's come to my attention that some clubs (Western Australian) don't even
have one," Grant said.
"It shouldn't take the death of a horse to isolate and identify the
breakdown in protocols and also identify the need for equipment that they
should've had."
It's relatively uncommon for three horses in a single race to require a barrier
blanket, a gear carried by champion galloper Black Caviar, but at $300 per item there's
no reason why a horse's welfare should be risked according to Grant.
"We're in a billion dollar industry and need to be prepared for uncommon
events," he said.
Sent from my iPhone
SPUDLEY likes this post.
that is rubbish - the Open top barriers cause more problems and solve none - if "...you won't need any blankets" - why are they used every day in NZ?
it is not a cost issue at all....nz type barriers are inferior and their use even confined to lesser racecourses - or else they would be used in other parts of the world, besides aussie poor cousin kiwi racing.
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TheDiva, RIO likes this post.
While i am sympathetic to the owners, surely it is upto the trainer to ensure a blanket is available? I mean is it RWWA fault if they forget the saddle or silks? Why is a blanket different?
scenic11, raconteur, squid69, Chelsea, SPUDLEY likes this post.
SPUDLEY likes this post.
no it is not up to the trainer !!
to alleviate some 'corner cutting cheapskate' from fronting up with a mouldy canvas horse rug or piece of shag pile carpet from your RSL foyer Pistol, - RWWA and some clubs supply the barrier blankets
RIO likes this post.
Disgraceful is a very mild word for what happended to the Ballantynes filly on wednesday. The starter decides to make a gear change, wow. Tells the trainer he has drawn the short straw - well he was right on that note, the trainer and owners went home without their horse.
Lets ask the stewards
Did they make an announcement to the punters that there had been a late gear change or does the welfare of the punter only come into play when the trainer makes an error ?
If the trainers of the three horses that required barrier blanket had refused to go without one, would the stewards have scratched all three horses or only Mr Ballantynes because after all he "got the short straw"?
Did the stewards agrre to Mr Ballantynes filly going without a barrier blanket, they must have , surely the starter cannot make that decision
If Perth Racing is so broke then perhaps cost cutting is necessay but they need to start at the other end (the top) because no business can survive with that level of incompetance .
As well as suffering the sad and unnecessary loss of a horse Mr Ballantyne was discriminated against, and I for one hope he has a good lawyer who can take on the lawyers that it is alleged Perth Racing have on retainer.
SPUDLEY likes this post.
If they used to have 4 or 5 and haven't replaced them then that is terrible. If however 2 have always served their needs then it is a terrible way to learn that they need to have more..
Would be good to know if they did have more??
The blankets are also used for horses such as the tardy twosome,siblings BC & ATH, who developed a nasty habit of blundering the start. That is another issue entirely and hardly compromises the animal's saftey, although Nelly did strain a chest muscle once. The enlcosed barriers cause some horses to become claustrophobic and in this case, the horse kicked out, if i'm not mistaken? From my limited exposure to NZ racing, the horses seem very placid when being loaded, which may exacerbate the need for the blankets, but at least it's not because they will go off like a bomb. From what i've heard in the media, they don't make them to cater for large fields and as they are joined in the middle rather than along the roof this isproblematic. The cost for a new set of barriers for every racecourse would be astronomical.
and this is the rule to which it refers - the third part makes it plainly obvious that a horse has to keep racing in that gear until permitted not to do so..
AR.140B.
(1) Only gear and conditions of use that have been expressly approved by the Chairmen of Stewards, and included in the National Gear Register, may be used on any horse in a race, official trial, jump-out or in trackwork. Provided that the Stewards may approve other gear to be used in trackwork. [Added 14/6/07: [amended 1/9/09]
(2) No horse shall race in any approved gear , including racing plates, listed in the National Gear Register unless permission has been obtained from the Stewards prior to acceptance time for the race concerned. [words added 1.5.02 & 30.6.03: Amended 14/6/07]
(3) When permission has been obtained in accordance with the provisions of subrule (2) of this rule such gear shall continue to be used without variation on the horse concerned in subsequent races unless permission has been obtained from the Stewards prior to acceptance time for the race concerned, or as otherwise approved or instructed by the Stewards. [Amended 14/6/07]
SPUDLEY likes this post.
This is an unfortunate incident and may have been avoided with the blanket or may not have. Having sufficient blankets for horses is a must but at what point do you draw the line, 16 blankets seems like an overkill but could save a life. At what point do you put responsibility on the owners to provide gear required by there horse to run the race.
Pistol' valid, obvious point -
the answer to your question is : At anytime they ( RWWA) likes - but until RWWA makes that a direction, then Mr Balantyne and his owners ( and any other trainer/ owners) have an expectancy that it will be supplied as normal. They failed to do that - they failed to advise him in time to "supply his own" - they broke their own rules and caused the death of a racehorse....yet they remain unaccountable.
cheers
RIO, Forelock likes this post.
The death of the poor horse may not have been foreseeable but it's just another example of amateur hour. Might I stress that my sympathies are with the connections, but fair dinkum, what would the reaction have been if the horse started and missed the kick?
Once again punters are treated with contempt.
I do not care whether owners, trainers, RWWA's bean counters or whoever want a horse to start; if it can't have the gear on that the horse requires then it is scratched. Sorry RWWA, refunds.
Everybody who knows nothing about betting on horses reckon its a mugs game.
They don't know the half of it.
No way Stickdoll
,
if a horse has gone into the barrier with a blindfold or blanket and stands then jumps and performs - there is an expectancy from the owner/trainer and the betting public that the process will be repeated - especially given that permission is required. You are right - there is no 100% guarantee that a horse will not misbehave but the agreed safety procedure has until now stopped it doing so.
For you to say that RWWA are not responsible and accountable, beggers two questions :
..for you to attempt to defend it is ridiculous, not any statement that highlights the unaccountable nature of RWWA's inaction.