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McKelvey, featured in the BBC’s One Show leading up to the National has met his end.
I am sure that will give the animal rights lobby another stick to beat the National.
Ginge
Value Is EverythingIt would have been tragic whichever horse suffered a fatal injury, but from the image of racing/PR terms it will have done a lot of damage. I imagine many non-racing One Show viewers will have been looking forward to tuning in next week for an ‘after the race’ update on McKelvey, and this is the worst possible outcome.
Apparently the injury occurred while he was running loose.
Many commiserations to the Bowens and all his connections.
The worse news possible for the National in PR terms.
RIP McKelvey and condolences to connections.
I don’t see how a horse injuring himself running loose can count as ammunition for the Animal Aid nutters. Isn’t running loose what these people want for horses?
I hate all this Animal Rights rubbish etc within horse racing. They take it too far and isn’t at all justified. HOWEVER reading today about McKelvey and how they went to extreme measures with some electrodes to mend a broken tendon from last years National i have to say it sounds a bit too coincidental.
Does anyone know whether it was this injury that came back or something totally different?What a horrible shame. RIP. How very very sad
If you excuse the racing term, left his back legs behind in the fence he unseated at (did not fall). Whether he did something there and then aggrivated it later.
Sometimes think there should be a gap for loose horses to head for instead of the fence right across the track.Ginge
Value Is EverythingVenusian, the horse was featured prominently on The One Show which is aired on terrestrial TV at 7PM each evening.
He was adopted by the X number of million viewers who watch that magazine show. The run up to McKelvey’s National participation was an an extremely popular feature and watched by a largely female audience who took Peter Bowen’s horse to their hearts. There was a constant webcam in his box. Viewers could watch him feed and be groomed. There was a whole screenful of warmth and fuzziness.
The circumstances of his demise are neither here nor there. Neither are the ethics and morality of jump racing in 2008 and the potential for fatalities. There couldn’t be a worse outcome in PR terms for the race.
I didn’t realise that, Maxilon. Whenever I see Adrian Chiles on the telly I have to switch off, so I’ve only ever watched a few seconds of that programme.
I agree, this could be a disaster. The production team (who are known for calling it the "why? show" internally) will be deciding how they’re going to present this on Monday’s show, and a lot hangs on their editorial decision.
If they go for a cruelty angle, it could a lot more damage than any animal rights campaigns have done in the last 20 years put together.
I agree, this could be a disaster. The production team (who are known for calling it the "why? show" internally) will be deciding how they’re going to present this on Monday’s show, and a lot hangs on their editorial decision.
If they go for a cruelty angle, it could a lot more damage than any animal rights campaigns have done in the last 20 years put together.
Exactly and with the Beebs recent track history regarding racing I’m not too confident it will be handled that well. Look at the way R5 concentrated on the fatalities in the Topham in last nights bulletins.
You can guarentee Animal Aid will demand their quota of air time to present their distorted view.
Very sad indeed. R.I.P McKelvey.
I saw him get rid of Tom O’Brien, but he kept galloping. It was one of his front legs that was badly damaged last year on the run in from the last. I dare say we’ll hear wether or if it was the same leg. A dreadful shame for the sport whenever a fatality occurs. Thoughts with the Bowens and all connections, and all McKelvey fans.
I don’t see how a horse injuring himself running loose can count as ammunition for the Animal Aid nutters. Isn’t running loose what these people want for horses?
That’s a really stupid comment. Running without a rider in the national is not running loose. They are not nutters. Many are sensible people who care a lot about animals. A few are extremist troublemakers who latch onto any cause for a bit of anti-establishment argy.
So, hands up all those who want horses to die in racing? Hands up those who don’t care? Hopefully not many; the rest need to work to achieve an acceptable balance of risk in the sport. In the national that means continuing to improve the safety of the fences, having space outside the fences as ginger suggests, maybe reducing the field a little.
Ask a huntsman whether we can just ignore the animal rights "nutters" …
Ohhhhhh crap. Emphatically not what the sport needs, and as Max says, the whys and wherefores of how McKelvey perished will not concern the sport’s detractors, in whose eyes, broadly speaking, a death is a death is a death.
The onus is going to be very much on both The One Show‘s editorial team, and also – assuming he will be approached before Monday’s show – Peter Bowen, to make sure the unavoidable actuality of McKelvey’s passing is conveyed as responsibly as possible.
Jeremy
(graysonscolumn)Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
I saw the lovely female One Show presenter interviewed earlier. She had clearly taken the horse to her heart and was saying how many followers the horse had etc through the show. Of all the things to happen…
Horses can injure themselves running loose in a field, it would have been different (in PR terms) if he’d been fatally injured jumping a fence.
The rent-a-mob Animal Aid people have no real interest in equine welfare.
Has there been much protest by them outside the farm near Amersham where all those horses were starved to death?
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