Two Horses Die In Horrible Accident at Flamboro Downs

[Sea Biscuit]

It was one of the strangest accidents that I have ever seen. There were actually two accidents in the same race. One at the 1/4 pole and one when the horse who fell at 1/4 pole started running the wrong way and smashed head-on into another horse later on in the race.

I just can't understand why the drivers who escaped unscathed at 1/4 pole accident and had plenty of time to react and should have taken their horses off the track to avoid the oncoming horse but failed to do so.

The driver Alfie Carroll was actually trying to overtake another horse when he ran into the oncoming horse.





You can watch the video replay via U-tube at this link

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/28...flamboro-downs

My condolences to the connections and owners/trainers of the two horses.

I am so glad to hear there were no major injuries to the drivers involved.

[LottaKash]

My oh my, what a mess...I got a lump in my throat when I saw that collision....

That was tough to watch...Never saw anything as awful as that, even after watching so many thousands of races...

My heart breaks for those poor animals....They never knew what hit them, I'd hope...

[Sea Biscuit]

Originally Posted by LottaKash

My oh my, what a mess...I got a lump in my throat when I saw that collision....

That was tough to watch...Never saw anything as awful as that, even after watching so many thousands of races...

My heart breaks for those poor animals....They never knew what hit them, I'd hope...

Watch this Tbred accident with similar results

http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows...-collision.htm

[Just a Fan]

Does anyone know if Flamboro employs an outrider? There wasn't much time to react here, and the loose horse couldn't have been corralled in the short amount of time it took for the collision to occur, but maybe an outrider could assist in communicating the situation to the drivers. I don't want to watch the replay, but I would assume the drivers knew that there was a spill, but didn't exactly know the status of any loose horses.

Maybe a rule/process change is needed... red warning lights would indicate that there is an incident, but a siren or different color lights would tell the drivers that there is a very dangerous situation, and they should pull their horses up.

[cmp92]

No contest is declared after the horses collide. Couldn't the race have been called "no contest" as soon as the horse started running the other way? It looks like only the driver on the lead horse really had any idea what was going on. Looking at the video, you can clearly see him looking over his right shoulder and also across the infield.

[Sea Biscuit]

Originally Posted by cmp92

No contest is declared after the horses collide. Couldn't the race have been called "no contest" as soon as the horse started running the other way? It looks like only the driver on the lead horse really had any idea what was going on. Looking at the video, you can clearly see him looking over his right shoulder and also across the infield.

The smartest driver is the one who is 5th in the picture. He realized what was happening and took his horse to the safety lane. Don't know who the driver was though.

[cmp92]

Originally Posted by Sea Biscuit

The smartest driver is the one who is 5th in the picture. He realized what was happening and took his horse to the safety lane. Don't know who the driver was though.

No doubt a smart move. Other than the lights on the car, don't the track teletimers have lights/signals to alert drivers? Perhaps this is just an example of the lack of decision making. No outrider and a horse running the opposite direction.