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#3
11-02-2009, 11:56 AM
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This shot is so beautiful... it looks like a painting.
It's almost hard to look at because of it's tragic quality of foreshadowing... Murtaghs body language and expression, the look in GWs eyes...it's lovely, sad and evocative and for the many of us who loved him a reminder of just how brilliant he was and of the greed of men, as my friend smuthg said. I can't imagine being AOB and living with this or the guilt of Horatio Nelson. It's easy to judge others from afar and terribly unfair on my part but I'm human and will continue to display my flaws and blame him. I'll never forget the feeling, that day, seeing that tarp on the tv and sobbing and frantically posting who IS that, that's not George right, and the sickening feeling afterwards that lasted for days, the profound sadness and unexplainable sense of loss that so many of us felt. Thanks for reminding us of George... brilliant and a little bit nutty, winners circle rebel, larger than life champion. God he was stunning. 
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#4
11-02-2009, 12:28 PM
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 great post, great photo.. makes me want to cry
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#5
11-02-2009, 04:56 PM
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The second time I have had goose-bumps today (and the first while crying). To see or hear his name brings to my mind the horrific events of that day. Racing at it's absolute worst.
Goosebumps earlier just hearing the name of STS. The best horse ever.
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#6
11-02-2009, 05:03 PM
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There horses they are bred and trained to run..The colt was infertile and was still young why wouldn't he continue his career as a race horse.. The game is brutal, it's brutal when any horse breaks down on the track.. And if he was so stunning and such a great horse why wouldnt you want his connections to race and expose him to the great fans of racing? You think they wanted or thought he was going to breakdown? I am sure we are all sad he is gone but mostly because we didnt get to see a really nice miler race more!
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#7
11-02-2009, 05:13 PM
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I was at Monmouth and I've never left a racetrack in a worse more depressed mood in my life. I still have not watched a replay of single race from that Breeders' Cup and have absolutely no interest...
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#8
11-02-2009, 05:18 PM
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you are probably the only one who feel's that way. Sure being able to see good horses do what they do best is a good thing, but the life of the animal is much more important and "I am sure we are all sad he is gone but mostly because he had a tragic death in a situation he shouldnt have been put in in the first place."
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#9
11-02-2009, 05:24 PM
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What scared me was the track... he'd run on dirt once but he'd never run in the slop and the track was, well I don't have to tell you what it looked like that day. Horatio Nelson... before the race, Kieren Fallon had been concerned to put it mildly. Horatio didn't feel right. After a vet check AOB tragically gave the go-ahead and we know how that turned out. I know it can be a brutal game and like I said I am being unfair, but i'm being honest at the same time. Just my opinion... This photograph... there are layers to it. Every time I look at it something else stands out to me. The rainsoaked frame, the plastic over the goggles, the expression of the gentleman who is looking directly at the camers (apostle? executioner?), the otherworldly, ethereal look in George's eyes... there's no joy in this picture. It's perfection is in it's composition and its lack of joy makes it even more powerful. Poor George.
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#10
11-02-2009, 05:26 PM
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George Washington was running for money as he was intended to do when he first galloped on a racetrack. His owners wanted to earn with the animal, the Classic was the biggest purse and while I always suggest purses ARENT the main motivation in stakes quality animals in this case the purse was a major factor.. Again, I never like seeing horses injured or in pain but clearly this is a brutal game.. Like it or not people racing horses and consquently loving racing is endorsing a brutal sport.. There is nothing natural about this sport period! So I don't wish to suggest I am am better or worse then any other racing fan.. We enjoy a brutal sport like it or not!
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#11
11-02-2009, 05:27 PM
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#12
11-02-2009, 05:28 PM
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#13
11-02-2009, 05:39 PM
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Come folks horses run every friggin day with major injuries.. Let's get our heads out of the sand maybe 1 out of 50 horses come to the track 100%. If a vet clears a horse to race and a trainer of O'brien's esteem is ok running ahorse you have to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Chuck ran a DT horse on soft KD turf, he didn't know your horse would hate it? Does that make Chuck irresponsible if something would have happened to your horse.. Please OBrien nor Chuck or any other trainer for that matter are G-d.. If they are responsible they make logical decision based on past experience and expertise.. Sometimes horses die in racing period! As for the sloppy track causing GW his demise..Please have a heart you think horses in the wild can't run on wet dirt? Even if he had never trained on a sloppy surface haven't we all seen some horses thrive on horrendous sealed surfaces. Some horse glide over it like they are skating on ice, so is it so impossible GW would like it..Who knows till they try?
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#14
11-02-2009, 05:46 PM
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I was expecting the "in the wild" argument.
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#15
11-02-2009, 06:12 PM
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For those who were not affected by GW's plight, he stopped right in front of me.
As a fan and lover of the principals, I needed to turn away. As a photogrpaher, I needed to shoot. They are three of the most gruesome photogrpahs taken on track. I don't show them to anyone, and choose to remember him as he was in the paddock that day, alert and ready to run.
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Revidere
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#16
11-02-2009, 07:05 PM
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i'd imagine everyone was affected. no one wants to see one of these horses have to pay a high price for running and racing. but like freddymo, i won't point fingers. had his owner and trainer known beforehand that something would happen, obviously he would not have run. but no one in that position has the luxury of foresight, altho everyone seems to have plenty of hindsight-which really does no one any good. a lot of horses ran in the slop that day-luckily only one suffered a tragic fate. but i don't see why his owners are any more deserving of disparaging remarks than anyone else-except the other owners were lucky enough to have their horse return to the barn.
it's a lovely picture of george, and is very touching considering what happened after.
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#17
11-02-2009, 07:20 PM
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Beautiful picture. Stunning, really.
I'm a big softy about just about everything in this game, but I hold no ill will toward Coolmore or O'Brien about the whole thing. My favorite horse in quite some time was obviously at her best on the grass, outside of a romping maiden claiming win against overmatched company, she was never a dirt horse. She was a solid turf runner, turning the corner into something potentially really special last year at Fair Grounds. I was surprised when she wasn't scratched out of an off-the-turf race earlier this year, despite the track being listed as "fast." I was surprised to see her pull up after a bad step down the lane, and surprised to hear she had been euthanized and that those on-track have said it was pretty nasty. But I'd never blame her trainer for keeping her in that spot when grassy allowance races for fillies are carded seemingly every other day down at Fair Grounds and he could have run her back in no time at all. I hold no ill will, despite the fact that I regularly wonder what kind of runner she was on her way to becoming and have yet to find a horse who catches my attention quite the same way. I'm as emotional as they get, and though I really honestly do miss seeing her run and the way I appreciated her like very few horses who have come before her, I still don't blame anyone or anything but pure bad luck.
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#18
11-02-2009, 07:49 PM
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There was an eerie silence in the grandstand after the Classic as everyone realized it was George who went down. I immediately remembered the two Irishmen who I walked into the track with that morning from the train and them asking me if I had ever seen George in the flesh. They told me he was the most beautiful horse ever and they were probably right.
It was a sad day and a perfect illustration of how these great animals that bring us so much enjoyment are so fragile. RIP GW. NT
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#19
11-03-2009, 07:26 AM
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Last edited by johnny pinwheel : 11-03-2009 at 08:43 AM.
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#20
11-03-2009, 12:23 PM
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Really stunning photo. Brings tears to my eyes as I was at Monmouth that day and was sick when he went down. He looked beautiful in the paddock and your photo beautifully captured it.
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