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Sad reading 5 killed today (thurs) 7 in total so far must be one of the highest numbers i can remember in one day lets hope no more are added to the list.
Not sure that this is statistically higher than previous years- perhaps someone can enlighten us.<br>Big fields, good ground, breakneck pace at the big meeting= inevitable equine deaths.<br>Part of the price for the entertainment of the NH festival.<br>Acceptable or not?
I heard on the radio that it was the biggest single day casualties for about 20 years. Surly ground related as the times suggested good to firm yesterday.
I am sure the data is available of field size , going and number of horse deaths somewhere.<br>If someone looked at this data it would be obvious if these factors influenced horse deaths or not.<br>If it mean’t no horse deaths I would happily accept fewer runners in each race.
Tragic as each loss is, it’s part of the game and doesn’t merit the sport feeling in anyway guilty as some spotlight press-coverage implies it should. <br>Some horses will die, sad but tough. Get over it and leave slushy sentimental unrealistic idealism to Disney.
You don’t think we should look at perhaps trying to prevent such a high number of fatalities happening again? We should just forget it?
Sorry, but I’m going to get sentimental over it if I wish. They’re animals not machines, and I hate it when they die.
Well said Burroughilll. I dont expect to see a fatality free festival as much aS i would like to.Nine horses dying is devastating news and a way too high statistic.It leaves a very sour taste .:(
Bayard.<br>Nowhere to Hyde<br>Olaso.<br>Holy Orders<br>Mr Babbage<br>Millenare<br>Basilea Star<br>Sh Boom<br>Buck Whalley.
Also a horse which JP Macmanus was bringing over from France for the Midlands National at Uttoxeter got ill on the way over and had to be put down……Sorry cant remember the name.
This is devastating news and as much as I realise this is a risk all horses take on a daily basis, if anything can be done to lower the risks, then it should. When I heard a horse had died overnight, I immediately thought it may have been Gardasee and several nerve wracking moments passed before I was informed it wasn’t him. After studying the replays many times, it seems that both Gardasee’s and Sh Boom’s injuries were caused in the same way…..by being gouged by the part of the hurdle that sticks up higher than the rest of it. I realise these are freak accidents but surely there must be a simple solution to prevent this type of accident.
All losses are a tragedy for the connections and racing fans who follow the horses but the wider world need to keep a sense of perspective. Some people genuinely believe that the death of 9 horses at the Cheltenham festival is the most important thing to have happened in the last week and are doing there best to publicise these deaths to further their political case. <br> The animal rights lobby are an implacable foe for anyone who likes racing (or other sports involving animals,) eats meat or keeps pets and the idea that racing should try to make changes to the Cheltenham festival to appease them is a total waste of effort. If Ed Gillespie has to answer any concerns it should be those of owners and trainers and racing fans.<br> As for the RSPCA saying that they’ll have to have a look at this there is no-one on Earth less qualified to comment. They destroy tens of thousands of healthy animals each year, including horses, saying that they can’t find homes for them yet the RSPCA has tens of millions of pounds in the bank! What do they imagine the massive amounts of money bequeathed to them is for other than taking care of animals? <br> As for the points naps makes about hurdles, he has every right to raise this as a question as an owner. Could they not have more padding on the hurdles on the take off side? In this day an age do we need to use old fashioned style hurdles or are they an anachronism as the stone walls were in the Grand Nationals of old?Perhaps the obstacle could be made in such away that there aren’t prongs sticking up and that can’t be kicked out of the ground so easily?
It is indeed extremely sad that so many fatalities occurred but what is even more shocking from a welfare point of view is the story behind the withdrawals of Astonville and Turnium, who were allegedly left in the racecourse stables all week with nobody from their yard looking after them. The trainer hadn’t been sighted since Tuesday.
Pulled off another forum…
Rank outsiders miss Gold Cup after vet inspection
by Paul Eacott
ASTONVILLE and Turnium, the rank outsiders who were due to take their place in a capacity Gold Cup field on Friday, were withdrawn less than four hours before post time after failing inspections requested by the Jockey Club.<br>The Fergus Wilson-owned duo, trained in France by Philippe Cottin, had both run in the Champion Hurdle on Tuesday when Astonville finished a distant 13th at 500-1 and Turnium, at the same odds, was pulled up before the last when tailed off.
Jockey Club veterinary director Peter Webbon said: "If horses are down to run more than once at a Festival meeting it is routine to look at them before their second run.
"The veterinary officer who examined them was concerned they were not fit enough to run so he asked the racecourse vetto also come and inspect them so that he had a second opinion. Both agreed they were showing ill-effects from their run on Tuesday so they were withdrawn."
Asked to expand on the term ill effects, Webbon confirmed that the two horses were lame.
Wilson was left questioning the withdrawals, which came on the morning after six horses died either during or after races the previous day to a flood of media coverage.
Wilson said: "I got here at 8.30am and when I saw the horses they seemed fine to me. I was back over there at 11.30am having got a phonecall at 11.27am telling me they were being failed by the vet who said they were lame.
"The trainer has gone back to France and they were here with two lads from Arnaud Chaille-Chaille neither of who could see what was wrong with them."
Connections of the duo have come in for criticism, with the suggestion being made that their presence in championship races cannot be justified by their form, and that they represent potential safety hazards, but Wilson insisted he had the horse’s welfare at heart.
"Nobody is more concerned about the horses than me," he added. "When you get 24 horses in the race, commonsense says they can’t all be rated on 170 like Beef Or Salmon. It’s all about the top 24 on the day who want to run being able to take their chance."
Astonville and Turnium were both due to leave the racecourse on Friday to head off to a farm where they will be sold as point-to-pointers.
<br>I think that final sentence sums up how interested Wilson and all of the poor beasts’ connections are in the horses’ welfare.
I may not be a huge fan of the trainer but very sad to hear that John Jo’s horses make up a third of that list.
At least he’ll hopefully gain some compensation from the performance of Black Jack Ketchum.
Lee
<br> As for the RSPCA saying that they’ll have to have a look at this there is no-one on Earth less qualified to comment. <br>
David Muir, the RSPCA’s equine consultant is one of racing’s most valuable allies; a thoughtful, dignified man not prone to extreme views; a man who has no wish to see NH banned but realises the welfare of the horse is paramount; a man who realises that working with the JC/BHB, not against it, is in the best interest of all parties. Racing alienates him at it’s peril.
Whenever I read hot-headed prose like that in the first three paragraphs of your post I’m always reminded of a cornered, frightened animal whose only form of defence is attack..
For those who love racing and the noble horse in equal measure a period of reflection and a spot of navel-gazing wouldn’t go amiss along with a realisation that we do indeed have a duty to answer the critics, both the moderate and more extreme elements. Through action not words.
Fair play drone but I’m concerned that the slew of animal rights supporters who have joined the RSPCA over the last 10 years or so will be able to shout down any genuine animal lovers or experts they employ to speak on their behalf. I’m sorry if my comments sounded hot-headed but they are based on my experience of the RSPCA & the AR lobby in other areas where common-sense (and vet’s expertise & research,) has been ignored.<br> I also take your point that we need to answer racings critics, but there are a great many critics for whom the banning of racing is the only answer and making concessions to them with a hope that they will go away is not feasible.<br> Modifying the course at Aintree was one step racing took to improve it’s image but the AR lobby still turn up in force each year. <br> Racing has funded a variety of scientific studies into equine injuries over the last few years to see if there are common factors in fatal injuries, one of which was that NH bred horses were more prone to them than flat ones. This has led to the (albeit limited) introductions of 12f bumper races for younger NH horses, the reasoning being that the excercise and early onset of training that ex flat horses receive actually strengthens them and makes them more resistant to injury. This has been ignored as far as I’ve seen in the media furore so that those involved in racing are again portrayed as moneygrubbing animal abusers.<br> When I went to work on Friday all people were asking me about was how I felt about the fatalities, although I was genuinely sad, there wasn’t much I could say other than that. <br> I suppose as someone who spends most of their free time looking after animals I do get defensive when people question whether I care about animals or not. <br>I’ve made a suggestion regarding modifying hurdles with an aim to reducing injuries what do others think?<br> <br>
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