I recall that a few years back a horse showing SEVERAL recent pull-ups broke down, severely injuring Oz Pereira. Since one of my assigned tasks as ast racing sec, aside from checking wgt and eligibility, is to flag any horse on a vet's, starters, or steward's list..etc..etc, I sprang from my tv chair and made a mad dash for the racing office to double check the original entry. That was the longest 2 minutes of my life. Had the entry listed any reason for me to expel the horse, I would not only have felt partly responsible for the catastrophe, but, in all likelihood, wound up in court.
After decades of checking entries, you develop "hard" eyes that do not miss that kind of detail. Had they failed me in that instance, my whole life would have changed.
I still shudder when I think back on that incident.
Last edited by mountainman; 09-29-2021 at 01:28 PM.
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