Posted on the 4th March 2025
It is horrifying that in 2024, 212 horses were killed as a result of racing on British racecourses. Horses died from excruciating injury including broken legs, necks, or heart attacks. Despite a new marketing campaign by the racing industry, Horse PWR, which claims that they are reducing fatalities and that ‘every horse matters’ – the death toll actually increased in the last year!
Two horses died at Cheltenham Festival (Highland Hunter and Ose Partir) and two horses died at the Grand National Three–Day Meeting (Giovinco and Pikar). Four horses (Hallowed Rose, Bala Brook, Cuzzicombe and Happy Helen) died in one day at Newton Abbot racecourse – racing’s highest death toll for a single day in seventeen years.
It is clear that the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the sport’s horse welfare and governing body, is failing these horses on an extraordinary scale. It is shocking that the BHA is self-governing, meaning they receive no external checks and balances to ensure they are sticking to their promises and protecting horses from harm. Clearly, this self-regulation is detrimental to the wellbeing of horses, who are suffering on the BHA’s watch.
Furthermore, this news comes a week before Cheltenham Festival begins – a notorious killer of horses. You can find out more about this deadly event here.
Says Nina Copleston-Hawkens, Animal Aid Campaign Manager:
‘That 212 innocent animals were killed whilst trying their best in 2024 – all in the name of ‘sport’ – is heartbreaking and absurd. These are needless deaths, deaths which have been caused because of exploitation and greed and a total disregard for the sentience of animals. In this industry, the horse never wins. It’s time for this barbaric excuse for a sport to be consigned to the history books, where it belongs.’
Our new report ‘Victims of Abuse in British Horse Racing’ will be published on Thursday 6th March – check back to our website then for a deep-dive into the reality of horse racing in Britain.
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