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The BBC produces very few programmes itself these days and this one is made by Nine Lives Media. They have also made some for C4’s Dispatches, among others. The reporter, Darragh MacIntyre (brother of Donal) made a documentary “Searching for Shergar” in 2018. Perhaps something was uncovered during interviews with various racing figures which led to this production.
Sadly I doubt they’d have had to dig too deep to find shocking examples to illustrate whatever point they are trying to make. Hopefully there will be contributions to stress the point that they aren’t necessarily the norm and the industry accepts that it needs to do more to ensure horses are treated humanely once their racing careers are over. Unfortunately it’s probably not very difficult to find high profile racing personalities who can make idiotic statements during an interview and I am sure we’ll be seeing a couple on Monday.
I wonder if racehorse rehab centres like Greatwood, Moorcroft, New Beginnings etc will be given any mention in this programme. I’d like to think so for the sake of balance, but my money’s on “not much, if any”.
My bet would be that all we’ll get is an opening sequence filmed with a couple of big name horses (say, at Greatwood or the Irish National Stud), showing them enjoying life. Then cut to to the reporter whose tone darkens with something along the lines of “but these are the lucky ones…”
I agree with most points on this thread.
I just feel in half an hour only a few conclusions could be made. All of which don’t highlight the intricacies and delights of racing.
However, it does shed light on soemthing that needs to be discussed, so I guess… swings and roundabouts ?
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Time flies like a banana, flies are like arrows...fruit?.. wait, no....
If the programme researchers have searched deep enough they will be spoilt for choice with material to work from. They could show clips of the ITV racing team doing one of their ‘ Where Are They Now’ features, which, let’s face it, are ‘all live happily ever after’, John Craven’s Newsround type presentations. Then, they could break down the numbers of the mass number of animals that leave training each year, and compare against the number that are taken in by the struggling charity supported establishments that train ex racehorses for second careers. They could note that there is a big discrepency between those leaving training and those whose whereabouts can be traced. Next, they show grim scenes from slaughterhouses, and recount the dreadful fates of such illuminaries as Exceller and Ferdinand, and ask the question, ” If this can happen to world class racehorses, what hope is there for those further down the ladder ability wise?” ……..This has the potential to open one big can of worms and inflict some real lasting damage on the sport.
The large number of retired horses that are subject to non-racing agreements does suggest there are huge numbers of owners out there who genuinely care for the future of their horses.
It does also look like the BHA is concerned about racehorse destinations after their racing careers have ended, though I haven’t seen any data in the public domain as of yet.
As per my earlier posts on the topic there is clearly much to be done still re racehorse welfare, but it is not all bleak at least. My fear remains that the Panorama will be one-sided and sensationalist, though racing will only have itself to blame if it can’t mount a meaningful defence, and it certainly can’t where people who have been convicted of cruelty to horses on more than one occasion are not being given life bans from involvement in the sport.
I don’t think the programme will be that bad for racing, it’ll be very sensationalist as they always are but I’ve watched a few similar ones on football uncovering the bungs and dodgy dealings etc and it was largely just a case of lots of hearsay, very little substance and very little comes out of it. I hope this is the case although at the same time if there is widespread evidence it needs acting on and I don’t think anyone within the sport would disagree. The programme in my opinion is just giving those who hate racing and the idea of racing more fuel for the fire but you are never going to convert these types and it annoys me that the BHA are going to such lengths to try and appease these types in some way with the whip debates etc… which is not a welfare issue and hasn’t been for a long time.
BFG and the jolly old Irish getting the brunt of things it seems. No doubt the IHRB are asking Stephen Mahon to draft a robust defence on their behalf.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57881979
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They’ve certainly missed a trick if they haven’t included Stephen Mahon.
The idiotic Gordon Elliott and that photo feature prominently unsurprisingly. The main statistic of note is that freedom of information requests revealed that 4,000 former racehorses were slaughtered in Britain and Ireland since the beginning of 2019. Somewhat surprisingly, it is being said that most were trained in Ireland.
Another focus seems to be bad practices at the abbatoirs which is perhaps not the biggest of shocks, but very concerning nonetheless. Animal Aid seem to be taking a prominent role, and it all looks quite one-sided as expected. I shall be tuning in later…
Wonder which these high profile, high earning, abbartoir victims are? Would be highly unsurprised if they were former Gigginstown in-mates…..
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BBC news website has a piece in this already, seems undercover footage from an abbatoir in the UK will be used as part of the program. Apparently since 2019 4000 racehorses from UK and Ireland have been “slaughtered “, the majority of them from Ireland. And of course the accompanying photo for the article is of Gordon Elliott making his phone call …
Sorry Marlingford, hadn’t seen your similar post!
If the program at least leads to some changes in the treatment of animals at abbatoirs that will be one small blessing, but I don’t hold out much hope of that.If the BBC are going to show something, we have learned it’s usually biased to try to prove a point. They choose sides.
I expect in this case they consider people involved in racing are more centre right than left, you can be assured they will give this their ‘greatest attention’ to see a victory of sorts for the left.
That just about goes for everything now, they are political arm, not an entertainment company for the majority.I don’t buy all this ‘its a witch hunt by the BBC’ stuff to be quite honest. Its aiding and abetting the shocking way the sport is being run. I’ve been quite disgusted with the Racing authorities recently, especially the IHRB, and I welcome any criticism with open arms.
Remember all that fancy talk about Racings closed shop being finished, and transparency being overdue and the way forward, after the Elliott affair? Seems a long bloody time ago.
Nothing has changed, its still a cosy little inside club with punters treated like mushrooms, and horses seemingly treated horrifically with only token action (at best) taken. Elliott, Mahon. Disgraceful.
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If the BBC are going to get their ‘teeth’ into something, I’d be very concerned for our sport in this case, end of.
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