RACING'S WASTAGE TRUTHS OUT IN THE OPEN

While the Panorama documentary was always going to paint horse racing in bleak colours, the first real indication of just how damaging it could be was apparent when  Saturday's ITV racing production went more overboard than they normally do with extra effort put into their customary ' how well horses are cared for ' features, with horses in fields being fed carrots, horses in equine swimming pools and horses in equine solariums, not too mention trumping up the prospect of September's National Racehorse Week in July.

If they discuss it this coming weekend God only knows what angle they will put on it for racing' s dirty secret is now out in the open and gone are the days when the powers that be will be able to be open over what are really non welfare issues such as so called whip 'abuse' from striking 80 stone animals with a cushioned stick, or the strangely newly recognised menace of low sunlight, while at the same time grateful that the biggest welfare crisis in the game is hidden away from the general populace.

To be honest, the ITV team would be better off not to acknowledge the programme but at the same time cutting down on the gushy ' racehorses are so lucky pitch ' - because there is presently such a smugness in the broadcasts that they will be digging themselves into a deeper hole.

Ironically, Luke Harvey cut his teeth at the legendaryTim Forster's yard, and ageing racing fans may recall that a good few decades back there was a written feature on racehorse aftercare in a racing publication and Forster made it clear that he went out of his way to ensure the animals he trains are found new homes and unless irrepairably and seriously injured, strives for this rather than responsible, humane euthanization, concluding that the animals would prefer longevity.

The Panorama episode had the potential to have been even more damning, for while they did refer to a figure of 4,000 thoroughbreds who had been in training in GB & Ireland ending up in abattoirs since 2019, they could then easily have shone the torch on the massive stallion books allied to the ballooned fixture list - then asked the question of what will happen to the masses racing at the lower levels whose owners may be feeling the pinch of the financial fall out from the Covid crisis.

And while since racing first began slaughterhouses have been the final stop for large numbers of young, reasonably healthy thoroughbreds, the numbers in training in recent years make it inevitable that the wastage rate is now numerically higher than anytime during the last century.

Admittedly, we would be naive to pretend that mistreatment in abattoirs is not widespread across the whole cattle processing sphere as the evidence is abundant and lucid and seems to be found on most occasions when the animal lib groups record video evidence - but while most of us will not really give too much thought to these issues when making a beef casserole or snacking on a tongue butty, racehorses are perceived on a higher plaine, are sometimes wrongly attributed with human characteristics, and draw in human attachment very easily.

One of the unfortunate animals featured in the programme, Vyta Du Roc, would have been familiar to all racing fans having been a regular at the showcase National Hunt meetings, often appearing in some of the sport's showcase events, and on some occasions being one of the leading players.

No wonder that while the Racing Post did at least feature a picture of him in action today, the article was  not accompanied by the usual link to the horse in the database, which as the publication goes, is the rule rather than the exception. No doubt they did not wish to refresh any fading memories and invite readers to dwell on how the hell such a great servant and money earner could be offloaded to a grim ending just when he should have been beginning retirement or a less strenuous second career.

The last feature race he ran in was the old Whitbread in April 2019.  That was his last race from Nicky Henderson's yard but he continued to race in the colours of the long successful partnership of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede when moving to Gordon Elliott for his final four starts. He made the frame in the first three, all point to points, then made his final appearance when a ten year old on November 2019 over the Banks course at Punchestown, starting 5/1 second favourite but finishing amongst the tail enders with blood on his nostrils so likely bbv'ing, - not an uncommon occurrence. He is listed as dying this year as a twelve year old.

One suspects that as the worms emerge from this giant, dark container there will be many in the industry stabbing others in the back while making every effort to cover their own. It would be no surprise if some tried to portray it as an Irish problem while if truth be told the UK mainland and Irish racing communities are intertwined and in house fighting will only speed up the downfall of the sport at it's present level.

The wastage issue should have been seriously and actively addressed a long, long time back. Even amid a time when a long running, potent human plague dominates the daily news, it must be doubtful whether those running the sport can tidy this up and convince the public that the house is in order. They've only themselves to blame.

image 123rf.com

From an album released in 1972. When UK racing had a manageable fixture list with the jam spread wide and a containable thoroughbred population.