Only one ambulance at the Cup?

[JustRalph]

The owner of Fleet Indian is upset about there only being one equine ambulance on the track at Churchill. He also mentioned the "track bias"

See link below:

http://bc.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=36248

"We waited around and waited around, and it was an elapsed time of damn near 20 minutes before the ambulance showed up," said Saylor, who was interviewed at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November select mixed sale. "They had to bring it over from the Sports Spectrum (now known as Trackside Louisville). I tell you what, I don't know if it's the Breeders' Cup or Churchill (that is responsible), but I'm going to find out and I'm going right after somebody's throat because if she had had a fracture, we would have lost her. Everybody was screaming about the track bias, which should not have happened either. If you weren't on the rail, you weren't going to win. But that (the time it took to get an equine ambulance to Fleet Indian) was friggin' unbelievable."

[JPinMaryland]

story says they have a rule in KY that you cannot have two ambulances on the track at the same time. That seems odd. Perhaps something is worded wrong or something misunderstood that seems to make no sense. Does it?

[JustRalph]

wow, they updated that story one minute after I posted here.......? I didn't see anything about the one ambulance rule in my first read.........

[cj]

Sometimes you have to draw the line between possibilities and practicality. I understand in this one instance a second ambulance could have been used, but where do you draw the line? One...two...three...one per starter? Sometimes things happen you can't plan for, and sometimes you can plan for them but they aren't worth the cost.

[JPinMaryland]

Not sure I follow you, CJ. In this case it appears there were two ambulanes available simply that they werent allowed to put the second one on the track. Maybe I am reading the story wrong or something is missing but that's my understanding. So it's not like they couldnt afford it or they didnt plan on it, they had them there and didnt use them.

THe owner of Fleet Indian said that they had to get the ambulance from the training site but the story says that was not the case. Something seems amiss. though.

[kenwoodallpromos]

My imagination says if there were 2 ambulances running around crazy and more personnel, Fleet Indian could have toosed the rider and ran head-on into an ambulance; I imagine that may have happened before. Probably tough enough to make sure a dozen horses are secure with vehicle on the track.

[Suff]

, which should not have happened either. If you weren't on the rail, you weren't going to win. But that (the time it took to get an equine ambulance to Fleet Indian) was friggin' unbelievable."

Probably felt like twenty minutes. The Human Ambulance was there in 2-3 minutes, The equine Ambulance was there in 6-9 minutes. I know because I bet her, and right after the race was official, I stood up and walked to the window to see what was shaking and the equine ambulance was there, and had equipment out. The next race was not delayed, and they had time to rake the track.

I agree with bias. It was present for 3 days I was there. inside, inside, inside...

[JPinMaryland]

yeah but Suff Mr. Saylor was talking about the second ambulance that came out to pick up Fleet Indian. I think you are saying that the first ambulance took 6-9 min. but what about the second?

If you were there perhaps you could fill us in on why it was so hard to see Pine Is. breakdown. The ESPN guys did not realize she had fallen. After the race all they said were that two horses had been pulled up. So I guess they were going by reports that were relayed to them, if they had seen her fall first hand perhaps they would have said she's down. I'm guessing.

The other thing is that Denman missed her (PI) completely, so maybe there was something about where it happened that made it hard to see.

ESPN did not say it, but from other message boards it appears PI was put down on the track and then put into the ambulance and taken to the backstretch. Not shown on the espn feed, but that is what others are saying. The doctor on the backside then examinened her post mortem and annnounced that the injuries were so bad they could not be repaired, a little different than what we got on tv. It sounded from Dr. Bramalage that they examined the bone fractures while still alive..

[PaceAdvantage]

I think I distinctly remember seeing Pine Island put into an ambulance still very much alive....I will have to review the tape to make sure....

[JPinMaryland]

maybe depends n what feed you were watcing. I taped ESPN and all I can recall is that they showed overheads shots of the horses on the track. Others who saw CD feed saw the actual breakdown from the head on shot...About.com message board seems to have more discussion this [not a plug]