Posted on the 28th September 2017
The death of two horses at Warwick (Tuesday 26 September) who fell at the same fence but in separate races, raises serious welfare concerns about safety at the Jockey Club owned racecourse.
Eight year-old gelding Fort Worth fell at the penultimate fence in the 3.30pm handicap chase and suffered what looked to be a horrific broken near-hind leg. Just an hour later another eight year-old gelding, Get Involved, fell and broke his neck at the same obstacle. Both horses were competing in three mile chases.
In 2015, Warwick stopped racing on its flat course due to safety concerns from jockeys about ground conditions and the layout of the racecourse. This, bizarrely, has seen the racecourse increase its National Hunt programme on the more dangerous jump course at the venue. Two further victims, Ragged Wood and Cadoudoff, were killed in March and May this year.
Says Animal Aidâs Horse Racing Consultant, Dene Stansall:
âThe falls of Fort Worth and Get Involved were truly shocking to see. The second to last fence appeared to have little or no âgiveâ when these horses came into contact with it.
âWhatâs more, whilst one horse fell in contention at full speed, the other should have been pulled up as he was behind and never in a position of ever winning, having nearly fallen a few fences earlier. Jockey Club Racecourses and the British Horseracing Authority should be asking serious questions: why wasnât a tired and beaten horse pulled up and why has one particular fence killed two horses within an hour?â
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