Trigger - calling Elvis

Hi Elvis - I heard some disturbing news about this horse - I've tried to find a stpes report on the matter but have been unsuccesful - If you could please give us your version of events(If only half of the story is true then I'm ashamed to be involved in racing)

What have you heard Mr H?

That the poor horse escaped the parade ring (maybe old news) and went hurtling around Turfs and crashed into a plate glass window and had to be put down. I believe he almost ran over some members of the public(If this is true then how could you possibly bring your children to the races or actually stand outside the ring yourself?) I don't know if any of this is true as I did not watch much racing this weekend (not sure when this actually happened or if it did happen at all - someone told me the story)

It's 100% correct, Mr H; he came loose and ran towards the Pavillion (causing some havoc as you can imagine) where he went through a window and managed to kill himself - terrible news and my condolences also go out to Colin Welch (who has had a terrible year himself fighting the big C) and his wife Julie

Jack Milner done a piece on this Mr H,sure i posted it on the site will have a look..

Unfortunately in all the excitement of racing there are a few tragic stories. In Race 2 Trigger suddenly bolted from the parade ring, jumped over the fence into the public area and raced towards the Pavilion. The public scattered to avoid him and the horse unfortunately went crashing into a Pavilion window. He then collapsed and hit his head for a second time.

Stipendiary steward Nicholas Shearer tried to hold the horse to calm him down but unfortunately the damage was done and he died on the scene.

In Race 4 Wie Lil’ Sally was all the rage and backed down to 15-10. But as Piere Strydom hit the front at the 400m, he suddenly eased her out of the race. Sadly, Joey Soma’s filly fractured her off- fore sesamoid and had to be put down.

It proved to be a great day for Strydom, though. He came away with four winners. "Obviously I’m a Christmas jockey,’’ he quipped. "Unfortunately the horse I saw as my best ride broke down. It could so easily have been five.’’

I wasn't at the track, but I was told that he actually went through the rails ('fence' - as opposed to 'jumping' it) - while the new 'plastic' rails are probably more 'horse friendly', I think they need to be enforced to prevent a horse just going straight through them (but this will then injure the horse) - probably a catch 22?

Very sad news, sorry to all concerned

Well that's awful news and the question must now be asked is the new ring safe for the public and horses - I'll NEVER EVER TAKE my child racing knowing a 500kg horse can go beserk and run into the crowd - could you imagine this happening on Summer Cup day and killing a spectator? I heard he broke through the ring and got into the bookies enclousure - I know he was not the best Kitalpha around but I always had a soft spot for this guy and always backed him e/w(really feel bad for the owners and Mr Magner) - Really big news and I'm sure the insurance assesors at P/RA will be having a look at the situation!!!!

I was never a supporter of the new ring, but it's really sad that an incident of this nature had to happen to show up it's inadequacies

We cannot let this one be swept under the carpet(Anyone that watches morning gallops will know how easy it is for a horse to break away) This situation is very serious and could be the kind of thing that gets racing MASS MEDIA exposure for all the wrong reasons"Horse kills spectator after breaking through parade ring". I do not think this is an isolated incident as the old ring was surrounded by stands and the rails were made of wood so the chute was the oly way out for the horse. Imagine the situation of a fire truck rushing to an accident(The fire station is right next to Turffs) and a horse goes mad because of the sirens and breaks through those rails again!! No I think when I next go racing i'll watch from the ABC box thank you!!

The new parade ring lacks atmosphere and trees!!! The old ring had so much history attached to it, and I was devastated when they decided to move it. The new ring is just too small, and the horses are more flighty, as they are right next to the track. Back in the old ring, there were accidents... Does anyone remember when St John Gray's mare, Bacall, jumped over the parade ring fence. She landed up in the "V" area where the jockey chute joined the old parade ring, and was trapped in that small area by the grandstand. If I recall, it was her first time in blinkers, and she just did not like them. The jockey wasn't up yet, and no member of the public was injured, but she got some nasty scrapes, and had to be withdrawn, and think her poor groom was also a little worse for wear!