...my treasures do not sparkle they clink,
they shine in the sun and neigh in the night...

 

 

Merano: another horse dies on the racetrack, but no press announcement is made

28/09/2015

(28 September 2015)

Perfect Gentleman, running in the “LXXVI GRAN PREMIO MERANO”, the last of yesterday’s seven races, crashed to the ground and died within seconds.

We found this out thanks to a spectator, Pierpaolo Pessini, who posted a message moments after the death of the horse, commenting on the most shameful part of the incident:
“I am at Merano. An hour ago, in the GranPremio di Merano race, the lovely Perfect Gentleman fell and died. Fortunately for the horse, it was all over in a matter of seconds. But the most appalling thing is that the telecameras deliberately turned away from showing his body. Even if they wanted to avoid any kind of comment on racing in general, and wanted to ‘accept’ that is was an accident, the very least they could have done was to spare a few words for him. So I will spare these words, then, for him, here on Facebook. One thing for sure, as long as I live I will remember him. Goodbye Perfect Gentleman, and thank you.”

A few minutes after writing this, Pierpaolo Pessini asked one of the journalists at the racetrack for news. The reply: “The jockey is OK, so there is no problem”. Pessini replied “What do you mean, no problem, what about the horse?” And the journalist replied without a moment’s hesitation “The horse is dead”.

The news of Perfect Gentleman’s death was not published anywhere, by any agency.
In the official results list of the race there is the simple observation “CD” (= fell).

Merano has not done anything to belie its negative reputation (we recall, among many who died, the names Catbar, Nobel and Errante).
And the racing world does nothing to deny what happened, maybe so sure that concealing news like this, turning the camera’s eye away, can somehow attract more public…..or more public funding.


Related articles:
- Jump racing, dead horses at Merano racecourse
- Another orrible death in horse racing: Errante
- Merano, more horses victims of jump races


(in the photo: Perfect Gentleman in a previous race. Photos by Pierpaolo Pessini)