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This has reduced me to tears. I used to back Joe’s Edge and I remember years and years ago seeing him at Wetherby. I was very close to him after he’d come in after the race and he’d not run well at all. But his owner was there with two little girls, presumably the daughters mentioned in his tribute. She was stroking him, calling him Joe and telling him what a good boy he was and she so very clearly loved him. She was saying to the girls ‘hasn’t Joe done well?’ and the girls were agreeing and telling him how good he was and the little girls were patting him. I remember how touched I was by it – they weren’t bothered about people noticing them or looking at them, just bothered about making their horse feel loved. So pleased to hear that he stayed with them and has had a life in which he was loved. RIP Joe.
Nice to see a photo of Morgan.
Don’t suppose anyone knows who the ‘lovely 5 year old mare’ is in the jockey photo?
I think Morgan ran June 19 so not that long ago.
But Mr Elliott still has horses running?
And now there’s a jockey with a video doing the same thing.
To be honest the claptrap on tv about how welfare is everything is doing my head in, given the multiple deaths recorded here from small trainers lately. Where did welfare come into it?
Too many people see it as a get rich quick hobby and that hardly ever happens. Racehorses are too often just a commodity, rather than a living creature, don’t want to go on, I’ve previously made my feelings clear on this. There’s only a chance of change if it was made public – by which I mean non racing public – and in a big way, splashy, tabloid, ‘Scandal in horseracing’ type of ‘made public’. Even then, chances are it would be put down to Covid. It’s worked previously (I hope) a few years ago when it was discovered there was a greyhound killing operation going on and charges were brought and the industry was supposed to change. Horses cost an awful lot to keep and, while slaughterhouses pay for each one brought in, this horrible, shameful situation will continue, if that’s indeed what is happening.
How very sad this has made me. She’d just recently been sold again and I think this may have been her first run for her new owner. Could be that she was loved, who knows but when I see a horse with a name like hers I just feel so sad for her, with the implied suggestion that she’s not wanted. Rejected. So sad. Why would you choose such a name for such a beautiful animal?
I’ve contacted HRI twice now about this trainer alone and the second time they didn’t even respond. I don’t think he’s doing anything illegal so they don’t give jack. Even if it was made public I don’t think it would make a difference because it would probably go down as one of the sad results of Covid. The whole thing is just shameful. Just disappointed that JP condones this, which he is by sending his own horses to him.
Excellent post Greenasgrass.
I know JP looks after his retired horses so it’s a mystery to me why he has horses with trainers whose stable has such a high death rate.
I don’t do the social media thing and maybe I’m just naive, but maybe some-one could make a suggestion to him that he takes pity on this poor horse, Walk Alone, currently possibly still alive.
I’d like to hope he reads this forum, but it’s not a given.
All of the above is correct of course.
However, the whole thing is inherently wrong. If we’ve developed what is actually only a sport, something to entertain the masses, then there is a moral responsibility to look after the living animals who are the provider at the basic level of that sport. They rely completely on their owners. They’re completely dependent and have no say. Without them there would be no sport.
It’s just not good enough to say ‘Well he’s a rubbish racehorse, I can’t afford to keep paying for him so I’ll just send him for slaughter. It’s a vile death, but at least I’ll pick up a little bit of cash’. If you can’t afford to look after them, don’t buy them in the first place, don’t train, don’t own, take responsibility. Not that I’m suggesting that’s what this syndicate has done of course. I know however of trainers who’ve sent young horses, no longer able to race, for slaughter without any effort to try to find a home or another occupation for the horse. But you get paid for sending them to slaughter.
They may only be an animal to some people, ‘just a horse’, but these are animals that aren’t even in reality there to be sat on by people, that’s happened only because they’re capable of being sat on. They’re living creatures, living totally un-natural lives to provide entertainment for people, some of whom have become extremely rich because of it. None of them ask to be racehorses and most of them don’t ‘live like royalty’. Not that they’d want to, they just need kindness and respect and a bit of decency. I know enough people in the racing business to be only too aware of how a lot of the horses live.
So if they’re deemed to be racehorses then are found to be not good enough, then yes, some-one, the racing industry as a whole, has a responsibility to look after them properly, not just say ‘well you’re only 5 but you’re not fast enough and sending you for slaughter is better than living in a bog to struggle’. That is just really, really, not good enough, not humane, not responsible. Shameful really.
I complained to HRI and they missed the point completely as their concern is that they’re notified of the death and that’s about it. They’re going to remind the trainer concerned of his responsibility in notifying them without delay.
Bearing in my that I don’t actually know the reason for so many deaths of young horses in such a short space of time, but nothing I can think of seems healthy and it’s very, very distressing. Maybe, who knows, the trainer/syndicate is heartbroken.
But can you imagine the outcry if the general public, who already think racing is cruel, found out about things like this? These are living creatures. Young, living creatures, beautiful, noble animals who didn’t ask to be in the racing industry to start with. They’re there because we put them there, we make them do it and the ones who fail are, too many times, let down very, very badly. We should be curling up in shame.
This has broken my heart. One of my very favourite horses ever. Seems to have been so many deaths this year already but Special Tiara was just that to me – special. It’s been nice to know you all but this has done it for me with racing so this is my last post.
He was Neil Mulholland’s ‘Favourite Horse’ in the RP yesterday so very sad to see him here just the next day. It sounded like he’d had a lovely life.
Poor Clinton Hill. It was a horrible fall and I thought I’d heard some-one say later that he’d died. I didn’t see it reported anywhere so hoped I’d mis-heard. Sadly not.
I’ve followed this horse form the start of his career. It’s just too hard to watch – I don’t even go to the races any more.
That would be fantastic news, so thank you so much for that. And apologies for my getting the gender wrong, like a fool!
Although Hexham is a hard course in that it’s up and down and a steep uphill near the finish, it’s always been a pretty safe course with relatively few casualties, so not sure what’s gone wrong lately. To me, three is too young to go hurdling although I think I’m in the minority on that.
Only my perception but Ruby appears to me to have made efforts to tone down the content of his posts over the last few months and is entitled to his opinion which, whether I agree or not, is always clearly showing compassion for the horse.
So really do we need to have such unsavoury comments made about him? Or for that matter anyone else who’s comment you don’t like?
It’s Nichols Canyon who is the subject here, Nichols Canyon who is important. A game, brave little horse who didn’t deserve this. So that’s who the comments should be about, not once again diluting a thread with stupid, uncalled for childishness.
