www.horseracegame.com Date August 19, 2004 Track: Del Mar I’m happy to report no one was hurt. There are two parts to this video. First is a clip of the “head-on” camera shot, which clearly shows three maintenance workers diving as they realize the field is about to trample them. Notice the bucket that they leave on the course. The second part is the full race. At the 2:29 mark, you can see where the maintenance workers scramble, but it’s not nearly as clear as the head-on shot. From Steve Andersen’s report in the Daily Racing Form: “Three members of the Del Mar turf course staff nearly caused a catastrophic accident in the seventh race Thursday, when they were forced to scramble under the rail to avoid a field of seven horses while replacing divots on the turf course. “The three men dove under the inside rail just as the field turned for home and had so little time to react that they left a plastic bucket on the course, which the runners nearly struck. “The incident occurred with approximately a quarter-mile remaining in a race over 1 3/8 miles on turf. The three men walked onto the course and began working when the field passed the far turn for the first time. They were alerted of the oncoming field by the screams of the jockeys.”

Tags: Crew, Horse, maintenance, nearly, oddity, Racing, trampled

Comments Closed

25 Responses to “Horse racing oddity: maintenance crew nearly trampled”