Incident at Stall Twelve
April 11th 2011 05:27
words and photography by Neil Murray
We hardly ever see barrier attendants in action at the track. Mostly they work out of site, behind the stalls, somewhere on the other side of the track, away from spectator areas. Sometimes on big race days their work is captured on TV. Such was the case a few weeks ago at Sydney's huge day of racing, Golden Slipper Day. The meeting was broadcast free to air on TV. When the horses were being loaded for the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes, the camera focused on several barrier attendants manoeuvring a horse towards the stalls. Two attendants were right at the horse's hindquarters linking hands and urging the horse forward. One commentator asked another, Simon O'Donnell, what he thought of this. "They're mad " he said.
Well maybe not mad, but they've definitely got a lot of guts. And skill. Over the years at a number of tracks I've made a point of heading down to the start whenever possible to see these fellows at work first hand. Last Saturday at Caulfield, I witnessed just how valuable that work is, and how vital these fellows are in creating an orderly start, sometimes out of chaos.
It was the fifth race, the listed United Arab Emirates Galilee Series Final. An hour and twenty minutes had already passed since the previous official race because of an exhibition for Arabian thoroughbreds put on in between. At last, the horses were being loaded for the fifth. An attendant led the favourite, Elusive King, with jockey Ben Melham on board, into Stall 12. Elusive King promptly start to get fractious, was removed from the stall and vetted. After he was passed fit to run, attendants reloaded Elusive King. Most of the runners had been loaded when all of a sudden Elusive King reared violently in the stall. Ben Melham got off safely while the attendants tried to control his horse; but the 3yo gelding ended up cast in the stall lying on his back, legs in the air with just his head and neck poking out the back of the stall.
It seemed an impossible situation to onlookers like myself. The race was well past start time by now and the starting team under real pressure with what appeared to be a big problem on their hands. How could the horse be got out of the stall. One bystander reckoned they might even have move the stalls forward to release Elusive King. All the other runners were unloaded while an attendant worked calmly but quickly and determinedly on Elusive King, first removing some of the horse's gear and proceeding with help to turn the horse and miraculously, so it seemed, get the horse up on its feet unhurt. all in in a matter of minutes. Elusive King was immediately withdrawn, the field reloaded and sent on its way.
After seeing that incident, I came away with a new appreciation of barrier attendants' skills and courage in a crisis.
editor's note:
The purpose of this article is to highlight the expertise shown by barrier attendants on a daily basis. It is not published with the intent of being sensational, or showing a horse in distress. But it does accurately represent the events that took place last Saturday at Caulfield.
We hardly ever see barrier attendants in action at the track. Mostly they work out of site, behind the stalls, somewhere on the other side of the track, away from spectator areas. Sometimes on big race days their work is captured on TV. Such was the case a few weeks ago at Sydney's huge day of racing, Golden Slipper Day. The meeting was broadcast free to air on TV. When the horses were being loaded for the Group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes, the camera focused on several barrier attendants manoeuvring a horse towards the stalls. Two attendants were right at the horse's hindquarters linking hands and urging the horse forward. One commentator asked another, Simon O'Donnell, what he thought of this. "They're mad " he said.
Attendants getting Elusive King into stall 12
Well maybe not mad, but they've definitely got a lot of guts. And skill. Over the years at a number of tracks I've made a point of heading down to the start whenever possible to see these fellows at work first hand. Last Saturday at Caulfield, I witnessed just how valuable that work is, and how vital these fellows are in creating an orderly start, sometimes out of chaos.
Ben Melham out of the saddle as Elusive King plays up in the stall the first time
It was the fifth race, the listed United Arab Emirates Galilee Series Final. An hour and twenty minutes had already passed since the previous official race because of an exhibition for Arabian thoroughbreds put on in between. At last, the horses were being loaded for the fifth. An attendant led the favourite, Elusive King, with jockey Ben Melham on board, into Stall 12. Elusive King promptly start to get fractious, was removed from the stall and vetted. After he was passed fit to run, attendants reloaded Elusive King. Most of the runners had been loaded when all of a sudden Elusive King reared violently in the stall. Ben Melham got off safely while the attendants tried to control his horse; but the 3yo gelding ended up cast in the stall lying on his back, legs in the air with just his head and neck poking out the back of the stall.
It seemed an impossible situation to onlookers like myself. The race was well past start time by now and the starting team under real pressure with what appeared to be a big problem on their hands. How could the horse be got out of the stall. One bystander reckoned they might even have move the stalls forward to release Elusive King. All the other runners were unloaded while an attendant worked calmly but quickly and determinedly on Elusive King, first removing some of the horse's gear and proceeding with help to turn the horse and miraculously, so it seemed, get the horse up on its feet unhurt. all in in a matter of minutes. Elusive King was immediately withdrawn, the field reloaded and sent on its way.
After seeing that incident, I came away with a new appreciation of barrier attendants' skills and courage in a crisis.
Elusive King rears again as attendants try to placate him
Elusive King in a seemingly hopeless position. But an attendant is about to solve the problem.
The field eventually gets away without the favourite
editor's note:
The purpose of this article is to highlight the expertise shown by barrier attendants on a daily basis. It is not published with the intent of being sensational, or showing a horse in distress. But it does accurately represent the events that took place last Saturday at Caulfield.
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