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I know that a lot of bad things happen in the world, but the above mentioned number is pretty high to say the least.
And we are just talking about British Horseracing and obvious fatalities. We are not talking about injuries sustained during a race that might lead to a horse being put down at a later stage and we are not talking about Ireland.
But if someone wants to defend the sport then he has to defend broken backs and broken necks and try to explain this to families and teenagers taht come to the very first time to a racecourse.
Things that aren’t safe can’t be entertaining to the general public and have to be examined closely.Has anyone bothered to read today’s RP article about the breeding problem in Britain?
If foals have to be PRODUCED just to fulfil the British fixture list, then no wonder why especially the NH breed has become so fragile and vulnerable!!!
What about the 3-month summer break we used to have until some 15 years ago? And what about fixture-free Sundays?
Just concentrate on quality and not quantity. We have just too many bad horses running over the jumps.
One recent fatality – Sud Pacifique – was just competing in the wrong sport. It was by Montjeu and out of a Anabaa mare and cost 600,000 gns as a yearling. Owned by PHILANTROPIST Sir Robert Ogden the horse was supposed to be a proper Flat horse and win some prize money.
It achieved absolutely nothing over hurdles. A pathetic highest rating of 135 just because it was trained by Donald McCain and it only won about 16,000 pounds in prize-money. The horse – like many others – wasn’t supposed to be running hurdle races. No wonder when the final comment ends with "fatally injured".
What are breeders, owners and trainers thinking of when they purchase that kind of stock? We need to be more selective when buying or even selling stock. That’s the only way to get proper animals and quality racing and make sure the sport survives. Young racegoers and young punters will be hard to recruit if facing racecourse fatalities, inconsistent performances and bad media.You never know how a horse might outrun its pedigree. Westfield Dancer (by Danehill Dancer) won a stack of chases at 3m 2f and beyond.
I think you have a good point though, Ruby. Guillaume Macaire says he only buys jumpers who show a certain amount of ‘flex’ at the knees to show they are good enough athletes for the job. Some of these scuttling sprint-bred flat animals hardly have any knee action at a gallop, let alone over a hurdle.
Out of interest what sort of fatality rate does he have with his horses? I do miss seeing his horses over here. In fact, how do we compare with French racing in general?
I wish I had some stats on that, Moe. It would be really interesting.
Maybe
fely
would know, if they still post here.
I remember when Jair du Cochet died and it was said that Guillaime was ‘in mourning’ for him.That really touched me. I think I wrote to him at the time but not sure if the letter get there; it was addressed in a sort of ‘Arkle Ireland’ way.
I don’t know where to get reliable numbers from France. In my opinion British Racing does a bit more for horses and their welfare than other coutries do. Simply the fact that you have numbers and names of fatal injured horses made public tells me a lot about the transparency in Britain.
On the other hand, tracks like Auteuil do a lot for the horses’ welfare by providing at least soft going for all meetings they stage during the year. And let’s not forget that they have about 45 meetings a year which is excatly three times the amount Cheltenham has. I don’t watch French racing on a daily basis, but I can’t remember when I saw the last horse at Auteuil doing a "Raya Star" or "Tiqris".
Another positive from the French racing industry is that the horses look to be very natural jumpers and are schooled really well. How many times do you see British owners buying Jumpers from France and how many times do you see British or Irish Jumpers being sold to race in France for a new owner???
The quality of the breed in France is a lot better in my opinion. Look at the horses like Ptit Zig or Diakali: French breds that ran in France, then were sold to Ireland/Britain and then went back to won G1 races for their new connections.
Of course I might be wrong with my views, but the French NH horse looks far superior than the British one and also superior than the Irish.
I still hope that someone could provide us with numbers regarding Auteuil.
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