Favourite Admire Rakti collapsed and died after the Melbourne Cup, adding a sad postscript to Australia's greatest race.
As the connections of Protectionist celebrated Germany's first victory in the Cup, Admire Rakti trailed in more than 200 metres behind him, clearly distressed.
The Japanese stallion was trying to match a modern weight-carrying record of 58.5kg in one of the fastest Melbourne Cups ever run.
Sent out as a strong $5.50 favourite, Admire Rakti vied for the lead with My Ambivalent for much of the race
Jockey Zac Purton, triumphant aboard him in the Caulfield Cup last month, was convinced he was going to repeat that performance.
"The whole way through the run I thought I'd win. I didn't think they'd beat me from where I was," he said.
But with 800 metres to go the horse was not responding and Purton began to have suspicions all was not well.
"I didn't know it was as bad as it was," he said.
As they approached the home turn Admire Rakti was clearly under pressure and then dropped sharply back through the field.
Purton eased him down and virtually walked him over the line, 25 lengths behind the second-last horse, 200-1 outsider Mr O'Ceirin.
He dismounted and as Admire Rakti reached the tie-up stalls he collapsed. Vets pronounced him dead soon after.
moamajohn said
08:16 PM Nov 4, 2014
How very sad .
Sheba said
08:31 PM Nov 4, 2014
I'll be interested in what the Autopsy shows.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Blue said
09:06 PM Nov 4, 2014
im not against racing or anything but I just had this moment where I thought of the horse being whipped to go faster and faster..
something's not feeling right, my ticker is feeling like it's about to explode but im being pushed and pushed until I cannot go any more...
I shuffle back to the stall gasping for air then just collapse and die...
anyways..
pauline said
09:12 PM Nov 4, 2014
I'm not happy with your "Flogging a horse to Death" either Blue, do you or anyone else think that jockeys would flog a horse to death, people in the horse racing game love their animals more than most people love their cats and dogs, I am a mother of a jockey, the wife of a trainer and we look after our horses more than most people could comprehend, it was a very sad end to the Cup but no one could or would have foreseen this happening.
Blue said
09:19 PM Nov 4, 2014
sorry Pauline.. probably not the best title..
im was just ticked off about it..
Sheba said
09:27 PM Nov 4, 2014
I did send this to Blue as a PM Pauline, but now I think I'll repeat it here.
"I think they curtailed that some time ago Blue. They're not allowed to whip them like they used to. If you take notice of the last part of the "Cup" today, you'll notice not one whip touching any horse, at a time when one would think they would be going hell for leather, to spur the horses on faster.
I was taking particular notice, and I watched it on quite a few re-runs.
So I think something else had to cause that poor one to die."
Cheers,
Sheba.
The Phantom said
09:28 PM Nov 4, 2014
The horse would have died whether it was whipped or not. There was, obviously, something wrong with it.
Animals can die suddenly just as humans do.
It is a sad state of affairs but I cannot believe the number of people making a fuss of it.
The Phantom
-- Edited by The Phantom on Tuesday 4th of November 2014 09:32:26 PM
dazren said
09:53 PM Nov 4, 2014
Blue wrote.. im not against racing or anything but I just had this moment where I thought of the horse being whipped to go faster and faster..
something's not feeling right, my ticker is feeling like it's about to explode but im being pushed and pushed until I cannot go any more...
I shuffle back to the stall gasping for air then just collapse and die...
Geez Blue ?? It must be a friday or saturday night, ?? as your statement shows you have No understanding of Horse racing, or the care those horses receive, Everyone involved with racehorses Love those animals, those horses are looked after like royalty, it is very sad what happened, and i am sure that the reasons behind it will be found out and proved by people that have a lot more knowledge of horses than you or I,
dazren... not once did I say that these horses are neglected in nutrition...
and if you think that they are not pushed to go faster and faster then it must be your Friday night...
one of the other incidences that im not happy with was when someone waved an Australian flag around near the horses spooking one of them which jumped into a fence and broke it's leg...
so BANG!!! dead horse...
how could it be that some people are so bloody stupid that they would wave anything near a race horse??
ok, just watched the race again and coming into the last turn the horse was coming second and then the jockey cracked the whip to try and go for first place... but the horse started to fall back instead.. he was gone..
to the Jockey's credit.. he sat up straight away and slowed him down.. there was nothing more the Jockey could do in this situation and picked up straight away that there was something wrong.. great work by this guy..
-- Edited by Blue on Wednesday 5th of November 2014 07:18:17 AM
sandsmere said
07:46 AM Nov 5, 2014
It is certainly sad that the horse died in that fashion. But it was not because of bad treatment.
Just as sad is the heading. Flogging a Horse to Death. That is not what happened at all.
The Phantom said
11:16 PM Nov 5, 2014
I am somewhat bemused by this national outpouring of grief over the two horses dying after the cup.
Two jockeys (young ladies) were killed in race falls a couple of weeks ago and not one of you lot bothered to mention it.
Seems like a lot of double standards to me
The Phantom
pauline said
12:03 PM Nov 6, 2014
sandsmere wrote:
It is certainly sad that the horse died in that fashion. But it was not because of bad treatment.
Just as sad is the heading. Flogging a Horse to Death. That is not what happened at all.
Glad to see someone has the right perception on this and yes I do agree it was a very sad and rare event, thankfully
Webmaster said
01:23 PM Nov 6, 2014
Thanks everyone for your input on this but I think I will close this now. I have deleted a couple of personal comments in this thread. I would just like to remind everyone to keep posts respectful and friendly even if you disagree with what someone has posted.
im not happy People..
Favourite Admire Rakti collapsed and died after the Melbourne Cup, adding a sad postscript to Australia's greatest race.
As the connections of Protectionist celebrated Germany's first victory in the Cup, Admire Rakti trailed in more than 200 metres behind him, clearly distressed.
The Japanese stallion was trying to match a modern weight-carrying record of 58.5kg in one of the fastest Melbourne Cups ever run.
Sent out as a strong $5.50 favourite, Admire Rakti vied for the lead with My Ambivalent for much of the race
Jockey Zac Purton, triumphant aboard him in the Caulfield Cup last month, was convinced he was going to repeat that performance.
"The whole way through the run I thought I'd win. I didn't think they'd beat me from where I was," he said.
But with 800 metres to go the horse was not responding and Purton began to have suspicions all was not well.
"I didn't know it was as bad as it was," he said.
As they approached the home turn Admire Rakti was clearly under pressure and then dropped sharply back through the field.
Purton eased him down and virtually walked him over the line, 25 lengths behind the second-last horse, 200-1 outsider Mr O'Ceirin.
He dismounted and as Admire Rakti reached the tie-up stalls he collapsed. Vets pronounced him dead soon after.
I'll be interested in what the Autopsy shows.
Cheers,
Sheba.
im not against racing or anything but I just had this moment where I thought of the horse being whipped to go faster and faster..
something's not feeling right, my ticker is feeling like it's about to explode but im being pushed and pushed until I cannot go any more...
I shuffle back to the stall gasping for air then just collapse and die...
anyways..
im was just ticked off about it..
I did send this to Blue as a PM Pauline, but now I think I'll repeat it here.
"I think they curtailed that some time ago Blue. They're not allowed to whip them like they used to. If you take notice of the last part of the "Cup" today, you'll notice not one whip touching any horse, at a time when one would think they would be going hell for leather, to spur the horses on faster.
I was taking particular notice, and I watched it on quite a few re-runs.
So I think something else had to cause that poor one to die."
Cheers,
Sheba.
The horse would have died whether it was whipped or not. There was, obviously, something wrong with it.
Animals can die suddenly just as humans do.
It is a sad state of affairs but I cannot believe the number of people making a fuss of it.
The Phantom
-- Edited by The Phantom on Tuesday 4th of November 2014 09:32:26 PM
Blue wrote.. im not against racing or anything but I just had this moment where I thought of the horse being whipped to go faster and faster..
something's not feeling right, my ticker is feeling like it's about to explode but im being pushed and pushed until I cannot go any more...
I shuffle back to the stall gasping for air then just collapse and die...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geez Blue ?? It must be a friday or saturday night, ?? as your statement shows you have No understanding of Horse racing, or the care those horses receive, Everyone involved with racehorses Love those animals, those horses are looked after like royalty, it is very sad what happened, and i am sure that the reasons behind it will be found out and proved by people that have a lot more knowledge of horses than you or I,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phantom wrote, [ in part ] - It is a sad state of affairs but I cannot believe the number of people making a fuss of it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No you would'nt ?? It is called Compassion ?
dazren... not once did I say that these horses are neglected in nutrition...
and if you think that they are not pushed to go faster and faster then it must be your Friday night...
one of the other incidences that im not happy with was when someone waved an Australian flag around near the horses spooking one of them which jumped into a fence and broke it's leg...
so BANG!!! dead horse...
how could it be that some people are so bloody stupid that they would wave anything near a race horse??
ok, just watched the race again and coming into the last turn the horse was coming second and then the jockey cracked the whip to try and go for first place... but the horse started to fall back instead.. he was gone..
to the Jockey's credit.. he sat up straight away and slowed him down.. there was nothing more the Jockey could do in this situation and picked up straight away that there was something wrong.. great work by this guy..
-- Edited by Blue on Wednesday 5th of November 2014 07:18:17 AM
It is certainly sad that the horse died in that fashion. But it was not because of bad treatment.
Just as sad is the heading. Flogging a Horse to Death. That is not what happened at all.
I am somewhat bemused by this national outpouring of grief over the two horses dying after the cup.
Two jockeys (young ladies) were killed in race falls a couple of weeks ago and not one of you lot bothered to mention it.
Seems like a lot of double standards to me
The Phantom
Glad to see someone has the right perception on this and yes I do agree it was a very sad and rare event, thankfully
Thanks everyone for your input on this but I think I will close this now. I have deleted a couple of personal comments in this thread. I would just like to remind everyone to keep posts respectful and friendly even if you disagree with what someone has posted.