My heart goes out to George Washington in the final minutes of his life. What a terrible series of inept decisions led to the useless waste of a great horse's life. The only positive outcome from this awful spectacle can be if we learn how to keep our racehorses safer and put that safety above financial or any other considerations. Racing would do well to adopt the British Dressage directive - "the welfare of the horse MUST be paramount". As for the venue for that race, never mind resurfacing it, just raze it to the ground and never use it again.

Pat Footer, London, United Kingdom

I had thought this would be a Breeder's Cup with no serious injuries. But I was so wrong. Before the Classic began, I wondered why George was there. If he must run in the Breeder's Cup, why was he not on the grass? Why wasn't he scratched when the weather turned bad? During the race, he was obviously not handling the surface well. Why was he not eased?
When he suffered his injury, what I felt was grief and anger. What a horrible, horrible waste. All of his connections let him down.
I have owned racehorses, and one of many things I learned was that you run horses where they belong, on the surface they like, at the distance they like and if they absolutely can't win, or can't handle the track, you don't push them, so they won't be injured, and can live to race another day.
This brave fellow did everything asked of him. All he asked in return was for his humans to make wise decisions and to keep his best interests at heart. They failed him miserably.

Sue, Oklahoma, USA

Sue Doti, Oklahoma City, USA

a tragedy to lose such a charismatic and talented speciman in such dismal conditions. his lose is felt all over the world im sure. RIP GW

tanya browne , cashel, ireland

My heart aches for George Washington and all the people that truly loved him. I can't help but wonder why he was failed by so many others? His owners who made the decision to bring him back to training after they realized he would do them no good as a stud! His trainer for not listening to concerns of the veterinarian the day of the Classic! And his jockey for not easing him when it became apparent that something was terribly wrongi He would stilll be here today had it not been for poor decisions made tragically on his behalf . Racing is a dangerous sport and yes accidents do happen but bad decisions may be even more dangerous then the track conditions on the day of the race!

Mary Ann, Shrewsbury New Jersey, USA

The reason this english racehorse was in the US, racing on dirt, is very simple. His value as a Racehorse is in his potential stud fees. George Washington was a failure at stud and therefore he had to work harder to re-pay his owners for the $2.5 million they paid for him. Racing is all about money. The horse should never have been made to run on that poor surface.

Tracey Saunders, Surrey, UK

Totally agree with you, Kaye. How much worse do conditions have to be before common sense prevails, and a meeting is abandoned. They were very lucky to avoid more fatalities.The entire meeting this year made very distressing viewing and does racing's reputation no good. George should never have been in the race at all, having hated his only previous attempt, and should have been pulled out when the conditions deteriorated so severely. Our horses in this country are unused all that racing on dirt means - the unforgiving surface, the kick-back, and at Monmouth, the tight turns. For this beautiful and charismatic horse, a massive ambassador for his trade, to loose his life in this way was tragic and unnecessary, and organisers, trainers and owners must strive to ensure that such a black day for racing is never repeated.

Jane, Winchester, Hampshire

Our hearts here in the USA go out to our European friends over the loss of your beloved George Washington. He was beautiful and admired by all. May his champion heart and soul live on in the foal that is anticipated somewhere in Italy.
We will not forget him either. May he RIP.

Kathie King, George, Washington

Terrible news. An astonishingly talented horse. It's always the good horses that get hurt becuase they try harderst, but I can't help feeling that the owners decided to run the horse on a surface and going conditions to which he was totally unsuited. A great shame

Tim , London ,

What a sight to put people around the world off racing for ever,,and this is from a mad keen racing person. The film clip shown on T.V. all around the world, ,,even here in a small country town in Ozz, was just terrible. To think that a marvellous young champ should die in the mud like that was heart wrenching. I cant understand even running an event of that calibre on a track like that. The conditions were horrific and I think they are very lucky they had only the one fatalitiy. It was certainly bad enough to bring racing into direpute again, after the shambles of our own Caulfield Cup disgrace. When it makes me shudder to watch it, these sorts of scenes just add fuel to the fire for those against racing. Vale George. R.I.P. you beautiful and brave horse.

kaye goodwin, Dungog, N.S.W. Australia

We all have his blood on our hands. He died entertaining us, his public, I just hope one of the mares he managed to cover produces a world beater. He can run with his lost friend Horatio Nelson in the clouds now. I miss him already but his memories will keep him alive in spirit for years I am sure

Gaynor, Bury, England

I was at the park,saturday afternoon with family. we faired the wind, rain and sunshine to come to the race, we did it for my 12 yr old daughter who is such a horse enthusiast. both tracks were a mess. the dirt one had the consistancy of chocolate pudding, i don't know how may times the tractors and squeegies went by. Injury was in the back of my mind ,during each race i held my breath. as a horse lover, i never would have taken the chance in those conditions. in the far grandstand we had no clue what was happening, till we say the horse ambulance. my daughter and i took video and pictures of the Classic race. and still shots of each horse . while looking at them this morning it's was beyond beliefe, that #5, George Washington , looked so beautiful, and minutes later, he was gone. I think in this business, it's a tough line between horse lover, business man... and just one more race.
my condolences to the owners, trainers and staff who took care of George.

Karen Day, Elmsford, USA/NY

I just wanted to say how sorry I am that racing has lost him. Also, last year's BC Distaff had one fatality, the beautiful Pine Island. Fleet Indian was injured and retired. It's somehow comforting to know that he was loved and will be missed by his owners. I hate that he lost his life like he did.

Laura, Monroe, USA/GA

wat a sad day! george is gone! the jack the lad who had it all! the surface seemed verry poor why take the chance and race not for the money or fame surely? both horse and owner had nothing to prove they had both. can any one help me justfy the reasons to keep my own horeses in training and xspect them to enter the lions den of racing just to satisfy the need to say ive got the best or hes a winner

freddy, somerset, england