GROOM GETS HER CAR BACK AFTER FREAK ACCIDENT AT GP
May 6, 2014 21:36:23 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on May 6, 2014 21:36:23 GMT -5
GROOM GETS HER CAR BACK AFTER FREAK ACCIDENT AT GULFSTREAM
by Natalie Voss
PR
Crazy story. Am glad the horse is ok even though he won't race again. Kudos to Gorder for doing the right thing all the way around.
erri Page is finally driving her own car again, some three months after it was totaled in a freak backstretch accident.
As we reported in March, 3-year-old Malibu Blues had just won his first race at Gulfstream Park and was headed back to the test barn when a camera man began climbing down an observation tower over the track’s gap. The man frightened the colt, who spooked and took off, ultimately leaping onto Page’s car, crashing through her windshield and landing rear end up in her sunroof.
It was initially unclear who should pay for the damage—was it Page’s fault for parking the car in the stabling area, the racetrack’s fault for the placement of the tower and behavior of its contractor, the owner’s fault as the responsible party for the horse, or the trainer’s fault as the horse’s absolute insurer? Page was caught in the limbo, sinking money she didn’t have into a rental car for weeks.
Kellyn Gorder, who trained Malibu Blues, said his insurance company completed its investigation in April and has paid for the repairs to Page’s car.
“I turned it in to my insurance and they just paid the bill,” said Gorder, who has never had such an accident happen before. “There was a lot of finger pointing in different directions … from what I understand, grooms aren’t supposed to take their cars onto the backside, so that was a question.
“At the end of the day, my insurance picked it up. I don’t know how they determined it. I was just happy that no person got hurt and happy that the girl got paid for her car.”
The resolution lifted a weight off Page, who has worked on the backstretch for some three decades.
“My car looks great,” said Page, whose predicament was complicated after her mother suffered a stroke and Page had no way to visit or care for her. “Everything happens at once, isn’t that how it always is? But all my stress is just gone. I feel like I lost twenty pounds.
“I didn’t want any money out of it, I just wanted someone to fix my car,” said Page. “I think [people] thought I was going to sue everybody, and I wasn’t going to do that.”
Although Malibu Blues survived the incident, he is not in as fine a shape as Page’s car. The horse went through a two-and-a-half-hour surgery for cuts to his tendons. Gorder reported that the horse is comfortable on turn-out, but it’s unlikely he will run again.
“He’s got at least a year off,” said Gorder. “He nearly bled to death.”
The horse is expected to remain at least pasture sound.
by Natalie Voss
PR
Crazy story. Am glad the horse is ok even though he won't race again. Kudos to Gorder for doing the right thing all the way around.
erri Page is finally driving her own car again, some three months after it was totaled in a freak backstretch accident.
As we reported in March, 3-year-old Malibu Blues had just won his first race at Gulfstream Park and was headed back to the test barn when a camera man began climbing down an observation tower over the track’s gap. The man frightened the colt, who spooked and took off, ultimately leaping onto Page’s car, crashing through her windshield and landing rear end up in her sunroof.
It was initially unclear who should pay for the damage—was it Page’s fault for parking the car in the stabling area, the racetrack’s fault for the placement of the tower and behavior of its contractor, the owner’s fault as the responsible party for the horse, or the trainer’s fault as the horse’s absolute insurer? Page was caught in the limbo, sinking money she didn’t have into a rental car for weeks.
Kellyn Gorder, who trained Malibu Blues, said his insurance company completed its investigation in April and has paid for the repairs to Page’s car.
“I turned it in to my insurance and they just paid the bill,” said Gorder, who has never had such an accident happen before. “There was a lot of finger pointing in different directions … from what I understand, grooms aren’t supposed to take their cars onto the backside, so that was a question.
“At the end of the day, my insurance picked it up. I don’t know how they determined it. I was just happy that no person got hurt and happy that the girl got paid for her car.”
The resolution lifted a weight off Page, who has worked on the backstretch for some three decades.
“My car looks great,” said Page, whose predicament was complicated after her mother suffered a stroke and Page had no way to visit or care for her. “Everything happens at once, isn’t that how it always is? But all my stress is just gone. I feel like I lost twenty pounds.
“I didn’t want any money out of it, I just wanted someone to fix my car,” said Page. “I think [people] thought I was going to sue everybody, and I wasn’t going to do that.”
Although Malibu Blues survived the incident, he is not in as fine a shape as Page’s car. The horse went through a two-and-a-half-hour surgery for cuts to his tendons. Gorder reported that the horse is comfortable on turn-out, but it’s unlikely he will run again.
“He’s got at least a year off,” said Gorder. “He nearly bled to death.”
The horse is expected to remain at least pasture sound.