On the day that HBO ceased all future production of its gritty racetrack series “Luck” following the death of another thoroughbred during filming Tuesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made his own formal inquiry into the recent rash of fatal breakdowns at Aqueduct.
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of "Luck," which were under pressure from the American Humane Association to investigate their procedures following the third death of a racehorse during filming of the show, issued a statement Wednesday evening saying they couldn't guarantee that future accidents wouldn't happen. The AHA monitors the use of animals in "Luck" and other television and film productions.
"It is with heartbreak that executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann together with HBO have decided to cease all future production on the series LUCK," they said in their statement. "Safety is always of paramount concern. We maintained the highest safety standards throughout production, higher in fact than any protocols existing in horseracing anywhere with many fewer incidents than occur in racing or than befall horses normally in barns at night or pastures. While we maintained the highest safety standards possible, accidents unfortunately happen and it is impossible to guarantee they won’t in the future. Accordingly, we have reached this difficult decision."
Cuomo, meanwhile, called for the New York Racing Association to hire an outside investigator to look into the deaths of 16 horses,nike factory online
including one Wednesday, since racing began on the inner-dirt track on Nov. 30.
"The State and NYRA need to develop best in class procedures to insure against needless injuries to horses and to riders," read a letter Cuomo sent to NYRA President Charles Hayward Wednesday. "By this letter, we are advising NYRA to hire a qualified independent investigator or team of investigators to review the circumstances involving these breakdowns, analyze the causes, and recommend any necessary action to (limit) equine breakdowns at NYRA faciliites." The letter advised that NYRA should assume the costs of the investigation.
While NYRA claims the inner-dirt track is safe, they are moving racing to the main track on March 21, two weeks earlier than scheduled, a move that didn't come in time for Hillsboro Bay, who was taken off the inner-dirt track after Wednesday's finale in the equine ambulance after injuring her right front leg. She was later euthanized.
“This pattern of equine loss should not be allowed to continue,” Cuomo's letter said.
Cuomo's letter acknowledged the inherent risks in racing, but said those risks should not be an "excuse for our inaction."
NYRA responded to Cuomo's letter by telling the Daily News that it "will cooperate with the requests made in the letter, and make a recommendation to the Racing and Wagering Board regarding selection of an investigator."
According to national statistics as reported by The Jockey Club, there are two fatal breakdowns for every 1,000 starters, but there are plenty of other injuries horses suffer that result in death, including Tuesday’s fatality at Santa Anita Park, where “Luck” is filmed. In that instance, the horse reared up, fell backwards and suffered a severe head injury. The AHA, which oversaw the filming of “Luck”, issued a statement earlier Wednesday saying that the horse that died had just been inspected by a veterinarian and died as a result of an accident.
HBO defended its procedures during filming. “From the very outset of this project, the safety of the animals was of paramount concern to us,” HBO said. “Assertions of lax attitudes or negligence could not be further from the truth.basketball finger sleeves nike
We partnered early on with AHA, who is the only mandated authority in the industry, and we work very closely with the AHA and racing industry experts to implement safety protocols that go above and beyond typical film and TV industry standards and practices.”
A similar incident occurred Wednesday at Aqueduct when No Flaws flipped in the paddock before the seventh race and was ordered a late scratch; fortunately, he didn’t fatally injure himself. In the same race another horse, Hooked On Dance, dumped jockey Alan Garcia before crashing through the rails. He too was lucky and appeared to escape injury.
Horse trainer Graham Motion knows just how fragile a race horse is. After winning the Kentucky Derby last year and running second in the Preakness Stakes with Animal Kingdom, Motion watched his prized pupil suffer a fractured hock in his left hind leg in the Belmont Stakes, sidelining him for the remainder of the 2011 season.
The colt returned to light training in September and finally made it back to the races with a victory on Feb. 18 and was preparing for the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31 until he developed a stress fracture that will sideline him for another 90 days.
“We have a tremendous responsibility to these animals to know what’s going on,” Motion said of all horse trainers. “The highs are high and the lows are low no doubt about it.”
One of the highest highs an owner or trainer can experience is winning the Kentucky Derby, which Gretchen Jackson did, along with her husband, Roy, with their talented colt Barbaro. But Barbaro became a national story when he shattered his right hind leg at the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes and was euthanized eight months later after developing laminitis in both front legs.
“It’s a daily reminder living on a farm,” Gretchen Jackson told the Daily News Wednesday. “The scrapes and bumps. They bump into a fence and break a bone. You don’t know how easy it is for a horse to fatally injure himself. The power, the strength, the agility and speed of a horse, and underneath it all is a very fragile animal.”
While Jackson says she didn't like “Luck” -- she saw only the first five minutes of the program -- she says she understands that accidents happen on the racetrack.
“We had horses flip and had to be put down instantly because of brain damage,” she said. “We had one we thought would be a good runner but fell on her way down to the feed tub and injured her head. She didn’t get a fair shake. It just happens. Their strength outweighs their fragility. It’s totally out of balance how strong they are and how easily they can break apart.”
“We can’t communicate with them,” she added. “They don’t understand. They don’t have the intelligence to save themselves.”
Motion, who only watched the first episode of “Luck” but admitted he didn’t get into it and would give it another chance, agreed with Jackson.
“Like any athlete, they are extremely fragile," he said. "How many football players do you see are sidelined every week? The complicated thing with horses is that they can’t talk and tell you what’s wrong with them. We basically have to look out for them and be very conscious of what they’re doing. They are high charged and have a lot of adrenaline and find ways of injuring themselves. They don’t have a lot of self-preservation.”
Jackson has learned from Barbaro and all the other horses she’s owned and bred.
“You got to enjoy life,” she said. “It doesn’t last long.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/animal-kingdom-sidelined-90-days-due-stress-fracture-colt-require-surgery-article-1.1039114#ixzz1pCQjoLDb
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