Every traveller in Beach Tambaram EMU would
be intrigued by those green topped books on sale near Guindy Railway station –
it is those statistics, the sire-dam details that guide the punter at Madras
Race Club which traces its origin to 1837 and more decades beyond. To some Horse racing is an equestrian sport;
to many it is gambling. Racehorses enjoy
their life under Sun……… they look so beautiful and so nicely cared for. They are special, not the casual breeds… actually,
‘Thoroughbred’ is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing.
Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of
purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed.
Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses, known for their
agility, speed and spirit.
The life of a racehorse is royal, well-cared for – that is what
we presume, going by the way it is treated – the type of food given, Doctors
attending to it, the way they are housed, transported and more… but sadly, all the hype undermines the fact
that they can suffer a fatal injury at any moment. From the glorious moments of stardom, one false step, one misplaced hoof may be all
it takes for a bone to break in such a way that the horse cannot be saved. Racehorses
are incredibly tough animals, brave, hardy and durable. After all, accidents do happen, people do
break bones – some live with metals keeping the bones together …… read that the
racehorses are strong but their bones are lighter – and at times, when they break,
they just shatter.
Horse
experts say that when that happens, it is not possible to repair the bone,not
just because it is now in lots of little pieces that won't heal together, but because
they deform badly. The horse's hoof is
attached to its leg by a fibrous tissue called laminae – which are strong
enough to support the horse's weight – but ……. Laminitis is a disease that affects the feet
of hooved animals (ungulates) – more so in case of horses and cattle. Clinical
signs include foot tenderness progressing to inability to walk, inflammation,
and increased temperature in the hooves. Laminitis is characterized by pain of
the digital laminae of the hoof, and severe cases with outwardly visible
clinical signs are known by the colloquial term founder.
Few months back, Australia's most expensive and controversial
young thoroughbred, known affectionately as ''Jimmy'', lost his battle with the crippling foot injury
laminitis. It was ‘put to death’ as all parties involved, including the
insurance underwriters, agreed that the $5 million younger half-brother to
world champion sprinter Black Caviar would be euthanised on humane grounds. A
spokesman for the University of Melbourne Equine Centre at Werribee, where the
yearling had spent the last two months and had some of the finest veterinary
surgeons in the world attempt to fight the foot disease, described the disease
as ''depressingly difficult to overcome''.
The
colt was for long the talking point of Australia ever since he was purchased
for $5 million by Bill Vlahos. However,
the architect of the ''punting club'' failed to pay for the youngster. So, the
horse was repossessed as Vlahos failed to honour a number of deadlines to pay
the money for the regally-bred colt. Reports suggested that a syndicated outfit
purchased it - Jimmy's breeder, Rick
Jamieson, who sold the colt, retained a 10 per cent share in the horse. It reportedly became a legal minefield for those
investors, both large and small, who paid their money to Vlahos over the months but whose money was never passed on to
the auction house that sold him.
The
breeding farm reportedly suffered huge debt due to non-settlement and they
further faced a bill of $40,000 for veterinary costs – and the news came that the
underwriters would pay $5 million policy out.
Devastated owners of Black Caviar's half-brother Jimmy were apprehensive of losing their money as well as the horse after
the $5 million colt was put down. Quite unfortunately,
the most expensive colt sold at auction in Australia was never able to race
after life-threatening complications of laminitis, a hoof complaint developed
after treatment for a mysterious spider bite. Many individually and in
syndicated groups had paid amounts in the hope of jointly owning Jimmy which would
win them honours ended up discovering that the colt was not paid for, not
registered and their names were not on any papers ~ and more sadly, Jimmy had
been bit by a spider leading to its illness and eventual going down. Melbourne University Veterinary Hospital in consultation with Insurers covering the colt, decided to euthanise him
after believing there was no more to be done to prevent intolerable pain.
Mr
Vlahos went into hiding since he was
allegedly bashed and his utility vehicle torched amidst allegations from some
quarters that Vlahos's injuries were self-inflicted and that fuel used to
ignite the car came from the property.
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
Inputs
taken from Smh.com.au and couriermail.com.au
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