The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is to investigate the deaths of six horses at this week’s Cheltenham Festival, including four on the final day.
BHA chief regulatory officer Jamie Stier in a statement issued on Friday after the close of the four-day festival expressed sympathy for all those who had cared for the horses.
“Everyone who follows this sport does so because we love these fine animals and it is extremely sad when we lose any horse,” he said.
Photo: AFP
Sandsend, Some Plan, Dresden and North Hill Harvey all died on Friday, the flagship Gold Cup day.
The latter three died of injuries in the Grand Annual Chase, while the Willie Mullins-trained Sandsend broke a leg in the County Hurdle while racing for the finish, with jockey Katie Walsh thrown into the railings.
Mossback was put down on Tuesday after a fall and Report to Base died on the same day.
“We continue to use research, safety measures, regulation and education to reduce fatality rates to as close to zero as possible,” Stier said. “This is what has contributed to the overall fatality rate within British racing reducing by a third in the last 20 years, and the fatality rate in jump racing reducing to below 0.4 percent of runners.”
The BHA said it would also look at the unconnected issue of whether existing penalties for misuse of the whip are an effective deterrent to jockeys.
Richard Johnson, who on Friday rode Native River to Gold Cup victory, was fined £6,550 (US$9,133) by stewards after the race and handed a seven-day ban for misuse of the whip.
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