Overall i think Cheltenham done a very good job this week with safety.
Agree. Which is why it is unfair of the BBC to give the last word on its report into the incident to a spokeswoman from the League Against Cruel Sports:
“Every year horses are raced to their deaths at the Cheltenham Festival. Since the turn of the century, the shocking death toll of horses that have died at the festival has reached 82. There would be a huge outcry if this death toll happened in any other sport so we need to start prioritising horse welfare.”
Which is exactly what racing has done. No mention of how the overall fatality rate has gone down or any mention of the many different things that have been done to make the sport safer. And no recognition of risk being part of the sport, as it is part of life.
It is very sad about Envoi Allen but it was an accident. I don’t believe anyone is to blame. As mentioned above, it could have happened to him on the gallops.
I agree with LD that the incident in the last race at Fakenham yesterday was potentially far more damaging to racing’s reputation because it involved a jockey not thinking about horse welfare. If that horse had collapsed, it would have been very difficult for racing to defend.