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Race HorseDeathwatch:The First YearRACE HORSEDEATHWATCHA special report by Animal Aid’s Horse Racing Consultant, Dene StansallSummary and Key FindingsAnimal Aid’s Race Horse Deathwatch is aunique online record of horses who are killed onBritish racecourses. We initiated the projectbecause the industry itself publishes no such data.In the 12 months since its launch on March 13th2007 – the start of that year’s Cheltenham Festival– we have recorded, through diligent research, 161fatalities. The true figure is likely to be higher.On-course fatalities are just part of the story. Thebest available evidence suggests that theyrepresent around 38%* of the total number ofhorses who are ‘raced to death’ every year – that isto say, those who die from racing or traininginjuries or who are killed prematurely forcommercial reasons. The total raced to deathfigure is about 420 horses. Given that thereare some 15,000 horses currently in training,an annual attrition rate of 420 means thatone in 35 Thoroughbreds who start theseason will be dead by the end of it.• There were 161 on-course deaths during the firstyear of Race Horse Deathwatch. On average, fatalitiesoccurred at the rate of more than three per week.• The most lethal racecourse during the past 12months was Sedgefield, Co. Durham, where 11horses died in just 17 days racing. Most of Britain’s59 racecourses stage a similar number of meetingsin a year.• Wincanton in Somerset was the seconddeadliest with nine fatalities. Cheltenham (Glos.),Plumpton (E. Sussex) and Stratford (Warks.) eachsaw eight fatalities.• Ten racecourses experienced twoor more deaths in a single day.Four perished at Wincanton onMarch 19, 2007 and two more onDecember 26. Cheltehham and11

Stratford both saw two deaths in one day on twooccasions. And there were three deaths in one dayat Newton Abbot (Devon), Market Rasen (Lincs)and Ludlow (Shrops).• Richard Johnson and Tom Scudamore each hadseven horses die under them during the year –more than any other jockey. They were followedby Will Kennedy with five.• Philip Hobbs trained seven of the horses whodied – more than any other trainer. Paul Nichollstrained six of the victims.• Racing over the jumps was very much moredangerous for horses than running on the flat.National Hunt courses accounted for 85 per cent ofthe year’s victims. Seven horses died from racingon the artificial surfaces of All Weather courses.• Most horses died as a result of leg, neck or backinjuries. But 16 collapsed and died – all but onehaving been entered into a National Hunt event.• Summer jump races – introduced just a decadeago – killed 15 horses.• The most dangerous age for a horse was 7.Thirty-one of that age died.* The 38 per cent figure is derived from Animal Aid’searlier detailed research of deaths both on-course andoff-course. A key report is that which focused on NHfatalities during the 1999/2000 season. Mortality datafor Flat race horses – again both on- and off-course –were collated by Animal Aid for the 2000 Flat season.Both reports, and subsequent research, bear out the38 per cent /62 per cent relationship between on- andoff-course deaths.IntroductionAnimal Aid’s Race Horse Deathwatchwww.horsedeathwatch.com is an interactivewebsite that records detailed information relatingto on-course equine fatalities. As well as namingthe horse victims, it also specifies the jockeysinvolved, the course where the fatality occurred,the condition of the ground, the cause of death,the age and rating of the horse, and other relevantinformation.Little Brick, who broke a shoulder and wasdestroyed at the 2007 Cheltenham Festival, wasthe first Deathwatch entry. He was one of 23horses in the crowded 3 mile-plus race. He hadnever been tested on a course as difficult asCheltenham’s and had recently returned from aracecourse absence of 490 days. There is a questionas to whether his absence was caused by injuryand whether he was still suffering its effects. Thefinal entry of the first year of Deathwatch was EarlCompton. He had been raced five times in just 17days when he broke a leg at Southwell All Weathercourse in Nottinghamshire. In fact, he had beenworked hard – having been entered into a raceroughly once a week – ever since his newowner/trainer, Stef Liddiard, began racing him inDecember 2007.The alarmingly high number of horses killed aroundthe country goes beyond previous estimates madeby Animal Aid and puts pressure on the BritishHorseracing Authority (BHA) to take action. TheBHA has resolutely failed to put into the publicdomain the numbers of horses killed on- and offcourse,while dismissing those fatalities who doThe alarmingly highnumber of horseskilled around thecountry goesbeyond previousestimates made byAnimal Aid and putspressure on theBritish HorseracingAuthority (BHA) totake action.© BRIAN MOODY2

make the news as accidental or unexplained.Animal Aid’s previous calculations suggested afigure of 375 horses raced to death every year –these being animals from the ‘in-training’ pool ofactive horses who die from injuries incurred fromracing or whilst training, or who are killed forcommercial reasons. The best evidence suggeststhat 38 per cent of these fatalities result fromracing itself. Bearing in mind this percentage, thefirst year’s Deathwatch returns (showing 161 oncoursefatalities) mean that the annual raced todeath figure is around 420 rather than 375.This figure translates into 2.9 per cent of the15,000 horses in training. Or to put it at its moststark: around 1 in 35 of the horses who start theseason will be dead by the end of it. The attritionrate for horses racing over the jumps is considerablyhigher – about 1 in 27 horses dead. This is because85 per cent of racing deaths occur on NationalHunt courses.Sources of DataThe data for Race Horse Deathwatch have beenobtained from numerous sources, including theofficial racing returns printed by Raceform/RacingPost; communication with racecourse officials,trainers and journalists; and reports from membersof the public and race-goers whose informationhas been verified by recognised industry personnel.CoursesThere are 59 British racecourses and 45 of theserecorded at least one death. Race horse fatalitiesoccurred in all racing disciplines: National Hunt(NH), Turf Flat and All Weather Flat (AW).Many racecourses facilitate racing on both the Flatand National Hunt and some on All Weathersurfaces, too. At Ascot, there were Flat and NHfatalities, while at Lingfield, there were deaths onthe Flat, NH and AW surfaces.There was a significant variation in the deathfigures, indicating serious problems at a numberof courses. These include Sedgefield, Wincanton,Cheltenham, Plumpton, Stratford, Fontwell, MarketRasen and Uttoxeter. All are National Hunt coursesand had five or more deaths.Looking at All Weather course deaths, there werethree on each of the Polytrack surfaces atWolverhampton and Lingfield. One horse perishedon Southwell’s Fibresand track.Of the Flat racecourses, Bath had the worst record,with three deaths....around 1 in 35 of thehorses who start the seasonwill be dead by the end of it.Obstacles and Racing SurfacesBy far the most significant welfare problems arisefrom National Hunt racing, where horses jumpHurdle and Fence obstacles. As we’ve seen, NHcourses are responsible for approximately 85 percent of all the fatalities.Taking this further, Hurdles and Fences account forroughly an equal number of deaths and, in turn,experienced Thoroughbreds die at the same rateas Novice horses.The majority of the NH deaths followed falls thatcaused broken legs, necks and backs. Some of thevictims died instantly but most suffered until theirdestruction by racecourse vets. A smaller numberof injured horses were removed from the course toracecourse stables, horse hospitals or their trainingyards, where they were subsequently destroyed.The majority of falls occurred in the latter stages ofraces, when the horses were being pushed for achallenge or were tiring badly.Some obstacles produce a particularly large numberof fallers and fatalities, as borne out by historicaldata. A good example is the much discussed 14th3

Fence of Cheltenham’s Old Course. Another is theinfamous Becher’s Brook at Aintree, which remainslethal despite the introduction of highly publicised‘improvements’.There was a clear trend of taking horses from theFlat arena and sending them Hurdling. Equally,inexperienced Hurdlers were sent Chasing, withsometimes fatal consequences. It is hard toimagine a young Flat horse being schooledsuccessfully for a competitive Hurdle race withinweeks of running on the Flat. This is illustrated bythe case of North Fleet, a 4-year-old gelding whowas killed in his first Hurdle event.Whether entered into NH or Flat racing, horses arevulnerable if they lack experience and competence.Forty-seven horses who died during the past yearhad no official rating for the discipline in which theywere racing. Whilst the majority of the 47 wereNovices, as would be expected, the question must beasked: did these victims have the ability to competein the races in which they were forced to take part?Once a Flat horse gets a rating, however, it is themiddle rather than the lowest ranked Thoroughbredswho feature most prominently in Deathwatch. Thisruns contrary to the common industry assumptionthat horses rated below 45 are more likely to breakdown whilst racing. Despite this, the BHA isconsidering emulating Irish racing and barring thebelow 45’s from competing, on the assumptionthat they are of too poor a quality to race.The ground conditions on which the NH deathsoccurred ranged from Firm to Heavy. While this isproblematic in terms of assessing if there werecontributing factors associated with specific ‘going’conditions, it is well recognised that Firm surfacescause jarring, which can lead to trauma-relatedinjuries that often result in horses breaking downwhilst racing. A Heavy surface can produce asimilar outcome.Flat horses also died on various turf groundconditions, with more than 50 per cent of deathsoccurring on Good/Firm and Firm ground.However, 2-year-old Alpen Adventure wasdestroyed after racing on Heavy Ground atBeverley; he had stumbled and was pulled up.All Weather racing accounted for seven horse deaths.The Polytrack left-handed courses of Wolverhamptonand Lingfield each claimed three horses, whilstright-handed Kempton claimed none. Southwell,which stages races on a Fibresand surface,recorded one death. Some will explain the disparityby noting that Southwell and Kempton had fewerraces than both Wolverhampton and Lingfield.Against that is the fact that Lingfield also claimedvictims on their turf Flat and NH courses, givingthem a total of eight deaths.Horses Pushed to their LimitsA total of 16 horses died as a result of heartattacks or internal haemorrhages. This wouldindicate that horses are being pushed beyond theirphysical capabilities – the term ‘raced to death’being a fair description of what transpired.4

Because 15 of the 16 ‘Collapsed and Died’ victimswere racing over the jumps, we can draw anobvious conclusion that NH events put greaterpressure on the circulatory system and – becauseNH races are over longer distances than those onthe Flat – they will exhaust horses over a longerperiod. Around one-third of the horses whocollapsed did so after completing their races.Some actually won or were placed. Two of thethree oldest horses who perished on-course duringthe past 12 months were Collapsed and Diedvictims. They were Mighty Fine, aged 13 and15-year-old Wot No Cash.Animal Aid has selected four horses who arerepresentative of the majority of those whodied in the past year. They were not high-flyerswho received reams of racing news coverage,but the ‘bread and butter’ of the industrywho keep the bookies well fed. Their tragicstories are briefly told.Lochanee (IRE) was a brown 7-year-old geldingwho died at Sedgefield on the 17th November2007. He had been born in Ireland in June 2000and, in 2006, was bought cheaply at Ascotbloodstock sales to be an owner/trained horse at asmall racing yard. His record showed that he hadstruggled terribly in all of his previous six races,pulling up well before the finish in four of them. Heshowed absolutely no ability to meet the demandsof being a ‘race horse’ – he was, unfortunately, acomplete ‘no-hoper’. Starting the 2.05 race at oddsof 250/1 against, he had little chance of everwinning this lowly-rated Chase event for horses,who, like him, had never won before. He had tocompete by jumping 16 fences over a distance oftwo-and-a-half miles on a fast racing surface. Hechased behind the leading horses for just over amile then dropped right out of contention but thejockey continued before finally pulling him up threefences from the finish. Lochanee then collapsedand died.11-year-old mare, Priests Bridge (IRE), became astatistic of 2007’s worst day of racing when shewas one of four horses killed at Somersetracecourse, Wincanton. Entered into a NoviceChase with five other runners, Priests Bridge washaving her first race for three-and-a-half years – thelay-off having been caused by an injury. During herperiod away from racing, the mare was used forbreeding and gave birth before returning to...it is well recognised thatFirm surfaces cause jarring,which can lead to traumarelatedinjuries that oftenresult in horses breakingdown whilst racing.training. At an age when most horses are beingconsidered for retirement, Priests Bridge wasforced to earn her keep once more. She wasentered for a race at Towcester, a month beforeher fatal run, but was withdrawn shortly before thestart with a vet’s certificate. What is more, thedecision to run the horse at Wincanton in her firstever Chase, with a jockey who had never ridden thehorse in a race, was poor judgement to say theleast. It turned out that the jockey concerned, TomScudamore, went on to have six more of hismounts die. The start of the 3.30 race was delayedby 37 minutes, due to the destruction and removalof the bodies of two horses – Stars In His Eyesand Warlord – from the previous event. The stressof the delay must have affected all the runners and,once the race did get underway, Priests Bridge took adreadful fall at the second fence and broke her neck.5

Mighty Fine is a tragic example of a horse whowas exploited for his ability to win races. By the ageof 13, nearly all horses who have survived thehazardous life of racing have been retired, but notso for this grey gelding. He was bought on the 6thJune 2007 for £5,000, having taken part in aSelling Race – an event in which all the horsestaking part must be offered for sale. Trainer PaulBlockley wasted no time in getting the most out ofhis purchase for new owners, Cahill, Downs, Allenand Thomas. But 55 days after the bargain buy andwith winnings of more than £20,000 from fourraces won and a second place, Mighty Fine wasdead. In his final race he jumped 18 fences and ran3 miles, leading the other ten horses throughout. Inthe final 100 yards, he tired badly but held onto win. Moments later he collapsed and died. Thehorse’s previous owners accused Blockley ofabusing Mighty Fine. Ken Slack told the Racing Post(03/08/2007): ‘We were disappointed to see theold horse run into the ground the way he was.We’d had Mighty Fine since he was a yearling andhe’d become something of a family pet, so it wasvery sad for us when we lost him [at the SellingRace]. Blockley called Slack’s comments ‘sourgrapes’. And it can be noted that Mighty Fine’sprevious owners were not compelled to enter himinto the Selling Race and thereby be forced to yieldhim up to whoever offered the highest bid.Tom The Piper had his first and last race on 23rdSeptember 2007. For his introduction to racing,the 6-year-old bay gelding was placed in the handsof a conditional jockey, who himself had littleracecourse experience. The horse, possibly scaredand confused by the alien atmosphere of Uttoxeterracecourse, bolted and did a complete circuit of thecourse before the race had even started. At thispoint it would have been sensible to take intoaccount the welfare and safety of both horse andrider. The racecourse officials, the veterinarians andthe trainer – who also owned the horse – couldeach have put a case for withdrawing Tom ThePiper. But they did not and he was forced tocompete. He took a keen hold but was well behindother horses by halfway. He then suddenly ‘brokedown’ and was pulled up. Broke down is a termused to describe a horse who has suffered aserious, and often life-threatening, injury during arace. This was the case with Tom The Piper: thehorse was destroyed by vets at the course.The tragic events that led to these four horses’deaths could have been avoided if those responsiblefor their care had shown some consideration andexercised common-sense judgments.There are another 157 on-course equine victims ofthe past 12 months, whose lives and deaths willnot get the attention they deserve.ConclusionSurprising as it may sound, most of the 161race horses who died during the first year ofDeathwatch could still be alive today but for acombination of ignorance, apathy and callousnesson the part of those responsible for their welfare.Serious shortcomings by trainers, jockeys, owners,clerks of the courses and veterinarians must beacknowledged. The ultimate responsibility,however, must lie with the British HorseracingAuthority. The BHA structures and regulatesracing, not only on a day-to-day basis but it alsohas the power to devise and implement innovativeand fundamental change. The BHA’s inability toget to grips with the consistently high number ofrace horse deaths constitutes a failure in its Duty ofCare, under the Animal Welfare Act, towards thehorses who race under BHA rules.6

Statistics13th March 2007 (start of the CheltenhamFestival) to 12th March 2008TABLE 1Racecourses, Discipline & Number ofHorses who DiedCourse Discipline Nos. DeadHorsesSedgefield NH 11Wincanton NH 9Cheltenham NH 8Plumpton NH 8Stratford NH 8Fontwell NH 7Market Rasen NH 7Uttoxeter NH 5Carlisle NH 4Exeter NH 4Huntingdon NH 4Lingfield NH 4Ludlow NH 4Newton Abbot NH 4Towcester NH 4Aintree NH 3Ascot NH NH 3Bath Flat 3Cartmel NH 3Hereford NH 3Kelso NH 3Leicester NH 3Lingfield AW 3Wetherby NH 3Wolverhampton AW 3Worcester NH 3Bangor NH 2Chepstow NH 2Doncaster NH 2Haydock NH 2Hexham NH 2Kempton NH 2Musselburgh NH 2Perth NH 2Pontefract Flat 2Windsor Flat 2Ascot Flat 1Ayr Flat 1Ayr NH 1Beverley Flat 1Brighton Flat 1Catterick NH 1Chepstow Flat 1Fakenham NH 1Haydock Flat 1Leicester Flat 1Lingfield Flat 1Newcastle NH 1Newmarket RM Flat 1Salisbury Flat 1Southwell AW 1Southwell NH 1Taunton NH 1Total 161TABLE 2Racecourses with Multiple Deaths in a DayCourseMultiple Deaths in a DayWincanton 4+2Ludlow 3Market Rasen 3Newton Abbot 3Cheltenham 2+2Stratford 2+2Carlisle 2Fontwell 2Plumpton 2Sedgefield 2Worcester 2TABLE 3Racing Discipline in which Horses DiedDiscipline Nos. Dead %NH 137 85Flat 17 11AW Flat 7 4TABLE 4Deaths in National Hunt DisciplinesBreakdown NH DisciplinesDeathsChase 31Novice Chase 32Hunter Chase 2Hurdle 36Novice Hurdle 33NH Flat 3Total Chase 65Total Hurdle 69Total NH Flat 3NH Total 1377

TABLE 5All Weather surface DeathsBreakdown AW surfaceDeathsPolytrack 6Fibresand 1TABLE 6Disciplines in which Race HorsesCollapsed & DiedCollapsed & Died Nos. Dead % of TotalHorse DeathsNH 15 9.32AW 1 0.62Flat 0 0Total 16 9.94TABLE 7Jockeys with 5 or more Horses KilledJockeyNos. of Horses who diedwhilst ridingRichard Johnson 7Tom Scudamore 7WT Kennedy 5TABLE 8Trainers with 5 or more Horses KilledTrainerTrainers Nos. of Horseswho DiedPJ Hobbs 7PF Nicholls 6DE Pipe 5NA Twiston-Davies 5Miss Venetia Williams 5TABLE 9Horses who Died by AgeAgeNos. Dead2 43 84 195 256 267 318 209 1310 611 412 213 114 115 1Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge,Kent, TN9 1AW Tel: 01732 364546Email: info@animalaid.org.uk www.animalaid.org.uk8