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I don’t often take this kind of position, but surely in the interests of welfare and commonsense it must be time for JP McManus, Ben Haslam and all concerned to call time on the career of Manamite.
Manamite was a two-time winner in France before joining Gordon Elliott. He showed useful form when second on hurdling debut for him but then pulled up with an irregular heartbeat in two further runs for the yard 7 months apart. He then moved on to the (excellent) Ben Haslam operation.
To his credit, Haslam has done a fine job in getting three wins from eight starts out of the talented gelding, but twice more in that spell (including today at Cartmel) the horse has pulled up with an irregular heartbeat. Connections are evidently concerned about the ongoing problem with a vet checking Manamite’s heart rate at the tapes on both of his last two outings – surely a fairly unprecedented measure.
Although Manamite probably does have the talent to win more races, I’m of the opinion that the BHA should take action now if connections persevere. This is a welfare issue. Manamite is clearly at undue risk if continuing to race, with nearly 50% of the horse’s outings in the past two years ending as they did today. I think it would be cruel and unnecessary to continue with a horse clearly barely able to cope with the rigours of racing.
At the risk of upsetting one of the most powerful men in the sport, I’m tempted to contact the BHA about this. Would everyone else agree?
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