Page 3 - The Game October 2006

Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper The Game, October 2006 3
Anne Bailey Lost her life on Flight 5191
Woodbine Launches Trakus Wireless System for Horse Racing
Flight 5191 never left Lexington, Kentucky on August 27 along with the forty-nine people who were aboard.
How do you describe such a terrible event?
Tragic, horrific, devastating, mind boggling, heart wrenching, needless, senseless and bloody unfair don't say enough.
someone like Anne to go through life at your side was a gift. To lose her in such a senseless accident so far away from you has to be too horribly painful for words.
To Anne, I say thank you.
Thank you for being so good, thank you for caring about everyone the way you did, thank you for gently refusing to tolerated negative attitude, thank you for your crusade against per- oxide, thank you for being the most reli- able, helpful, sensible, fun, happy and amazing woman I have ever had the privilege of knowing. - Kathy Bremner
Innocent people with things left to do, with loving families and good friends are gone. They can't come back and won't be there to share a smile, a story or even a stupid side of fries ever again.
I am certain that each of those forty-nine people whose time on this earth ended abruptly on that plane, had good lives ahead of them, lives that will now go unfinished.
For those of us working on the backstretch of Hastings Racecourse, the loss is personal.
Way too personal damnit, we lost Anne.
Anne Bailey at one of the horse farms she visited on what would be her last trip to Kentucky.
A special memorial service for Anne was held on September 19 at Hastings Racecourse which several hundred people attended. Anne’s husband Mike is establishing “The Anne Marie Bailey Fund” which will benefit terminally ill children.
The following is one of Anne’s favourite poems:
We lost a woman who probably spoke to at least three-quarters of us every single day. She knew everybody’s name, knew the registered and barn names of every horse on the grounds and yet, until she was taken away from us at the end of August, less than half of us knew her last name.
Anne Bailey was simply Anne to us.
And Anne was everywhere, every day.
It is incredibly hard to believe that she will never be
here again. She will never poke her head in the tack room and ask, "everything okay today?" Or wave and say “hi” each and every time she sees you even if it's the tenth time that morning.
We will never again share a good book, a cup of coffee or a laugh.
She will never take a look at another horse's snotty nose, puffy ankle or cracked heel just because you're not sure if you should bother the vet. She will never spend hours hanging jugs, giving shots, holding legs, flushing wounds or simply reassuring the groom or trainer that what they are doing is helping.
We miss her little gray truck parked at the corner of the barn where she was doing rounds. We miss her reliability, her generosity, her patience, her tolerance, her smarts, her kindness, her understand-
ing, her laugh and her smile. I could go on
but for most of the people on the back-
stretch I can simply say we just miss Anne.
She left here very excited about the conference she was going to. She was about to spend four days immersed in vet-tech heaven, in the heart of thorough- bred country, seeing amazing horses, meeting incredible people, drinking in knowledge and atmosphere. And I'm certain that when Ann was boarding flight 5191 just before six o'clock that morning, she was filled to the brim with stories and excitement she could hardly wait to share with all of us but especially with her husband Michael and her team, Dr. Wiebe, Dr. Leakos, Ruth and Daryl.
For Michael, my heart aches. To have
Give me strength to guide my horse,
Make my hands soft and my head clear,
Let my horse understand me, and I him,
My heart has been blessed with a special love of these animals,
Let me never lose sight of that.
My soul has been gifted with a deep need for them. May my throat always tighten at the sound of a gentle nicker.
Let the scent of fresh hay and new bag of grain always smell sweet to me.
Let the touch of a warm nose on my hand
always bring a smile.
I adore the joy of a warm day,
The grace and splendor of a running horse,
The thunder of it’s galloping hooves
makes my eyes burn and my heart soar.
Let this always be so.
When I pass from this world,
send my soul to no Heaven without them.
For this love has graced my existence.
And I shall cherish and praise it for all time.
By Skye Murray
Racing fans across North America watching and wagering on Woodbine's thoroughbred racing will always know exactly where their horse is thanks to a revolutionary wireless tracking system developed by Trakus Inc.
The system, which has been developed over several years by the Boston based
company, provides
detailed information
regarding the position
and speed of every horse
in every Thoroughbred
race run at Woodbine.
Improved television
coverage is the immedi-
ate benefit for customers,
but soon visitors to
Woodbine's website will
be able watch virtual reenactments of the races, putting them in saddle of the winning horse or anywhere else on the track.
Small trackside antennae mounted around the racetrack communicate with light weight radio transponders that are placed in the horses' saddlecloth pockets before each race. The data collected on each horse can be used instantly for television displays or archived to the Web or print for later use by handi- cappers.
Woodbine Entertainment expects to use the Trakus system to enhance its harness racing coverage when harness racing returns to Woodbine from Mohawk October 9, 2006.
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