I was the Blue Cross volunteer driver situated on the top bend at the Curragh on Derby Day, and was within 100 meters of King's Best when Pat Eddery pulled the horse up during the race.
Whilst it is quite rare for us to pick up Group 1 winners in Group 1 races, it does sometimes happen. In fact it is the second time I have had to do so at the Curragh, having brought home a horse withdrawn from the start of the Derby several years ago.
Also, whilst it is always sad to have to attend on a horse injured on the racecourse, and sometimes the animal will be humanely destroyed having suffered an untreatable injury, we console ourselves with being in a position to assist the animal speedily, maintain it's dignity and prevent the animal suffering further pain by being in attendance prior to significant pain setting in post the immediate shock.
Some of the unnoticed things we see and wonder at when working on the race courses is the skill and 'light handedness' of many of the top jockeys in pulling up an injured horse, I had stopped watching the rest of the Derby field as soon as I noticed Pat Eddery slowing down King's Best, and in all the impending urgency to get to the incident unfolding one could still marvel at the skill of pulling his horse up and away from a field travelling on at 35 mph to a gentle stop and dismount. Be not deceived, this is a major skill.
Unlike a horse which has been fatally injured, a horse which has broken down or suffered a serious but treatable injury involves much mor handling and immediate treatment on the racecourse, and often with flat (especially entire) horses they are so 'wound up' they can be difficult to handle and sometimes quite dangerous to treat at the scene.
For many of us, the ambulance driver, the veterinary surgeon and others on the site of an accident, this is the first time we will have handled (or met) this horse, we will be dealing with an injured animal and we have no knowledge of his 'quirks' or preferences.
Usually we are dealing with legs and feet, and especially watching feet. There is a very big difference between a three year old Group horse and an experienced eight or ten year old gelded chaser when one is bent over near their feet.
King's Best at the Curragh came to us with a 'bit of a reputation', he was difficult to load at the stalls, (you remember this very quickly from the back of your mind when holding him 6 furlongs out). Joe O'Donnell treated him at the scene, he was a little fresh, but he was treated and stabilised.
Then we were faced with a horse who disliked loading with a ferocity which disclaimed any injury. He danced, pulled, backed up, turned and came within a cloth thickness of adding Sir Michael Stoute to the carried home listings. In the end, thanks to the skill and patience of the stalls handlers, once he got his head into the horse box he calmly walked in the rest of the way, and was immediately transported directly to Joe O'Donnell's surgery.
I, like many others, was delighted to hear that he had successfully undergone surgery on the cannon bone fracture. That he had successfully come around from the anaestethic and more importantly stood up without further incident or injury, every vet's nightmare when operating on fractures.
We in the Blue Cross were further delighted to be asked to transport the now recuperating King's Best from the surgery to one of Sheik Mohammed's studs for long term recuperation. It is not very often that we get to handle such clients as King's Best on further stages of their new journey.
It is from such opportunities that one learns further what unique individuals horses, especially such well bred ones, are; and is really the point of this letter.
In his stable King's Best is a real gentleman, sociable, kind eyed, and readily handled and groomed by a single person. He does not like passing through narrow passages, doorways, the entrance to horse boxes, but once in his stable or in the horse box he appears a normal and quiet animal.
Strange, and perhaps the result of an incident in his early life; but it also shows how initial generalised opinions can be very deceiving.
I met this 'gentleman of the Turf', for the first time on one of his saddest days, but importantly was privileged to meet him for a second time on the other side of his disaster. I have seen the injury he suffered, and can marvel at the skill which has been used to repair it.
A memory of those wet and hectic moments at the Curragh when the Vet, the Blue Cross and other officials had arrived to assist the horse was the arrival of a tearful and concerned Michael Stoute accompanied by his Head Lad and King's Best's anxious, upset and frightened groom.
'Treat him well and gentle lads' he quietly cried, 'he's still a Group 1 winner, he deserves it'. Giant's Causeway performance last Sunday reinforced that thought for us when we transported King's Best yesterday.
* The Irish Blue Cross is a charity and is 100 per cent reliant on donations from the public and the racing industry for both it's Horse Ambulance Service and it's Mobile Animal Clinics in Dublin Housing Estates.
Further information is available from the Blue Cross at Orwell Road, Dublin 6 or on the Blue Cross web site.
