Bold Rover Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I'm at Cheltenham. The first race today was delayed because the favourite, Sir Erec, had a problem. Seems it had "spread a plate" but the farrier gave him a new shoe and off they raced. Early in the race, Sir Erec buckled. Turns out he broke a leg and animal welfare charities allege it was inappropriate for him to race after emergency reshoeing. Good day for the bookies as none of the big favourites won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofarl Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Exactly. There’s was no way the favourite for that race was not taking part. Profit before welfere. There was no way that horse would have won. Better for it to race than void all bets. I’m not racing’s biggest fan, I’ve stated my objections to it on here before. But I do believe that most people betting on the sport want to see a competition that’s humane and fair. But I don’t believe they’re being sold one. I’m not a vegan, I wear a nice leather jacket. I acknowledge I’m a bit of a hypocrite. But I don’t think animals should die needlessly for the sake of sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold Rover Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Leaves a bad taste after a good day out. Another one died in the Gold Cup and there was a faller in the final race at the last fence in front of the stands; the screens went round but I don't know the outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 20 hours ago, Lofarl said: Another dead horse that’s two for the festival. Relatively low when compared to the 7 fatalities last year. Still plenty of time. I know Horseracing won’t ever be banned but it’s clear that welfare is second to profit. I wouldn’t say that’s the case yet, certainly in Britain where jumps racing is as prominent. If the welfare of the horses came before profit we wouldn’t be running horses over hurdles for 4 miles. I’ve watched the racing for years but seeing the state of some of the horses that finished the cross country the other day on heavy ground, I did think to myself do we need to put the horses through that for our entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_for_life Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Yeah I have to agree I get the dangers of the sport and when a horse falls badly it’s always a tragedy. I bet on racing always and love to do so I know the risks but with Sir Erec it leaves a very nasty taste in my mouth that’s one that should have been avoided Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamond_for_life Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 28 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said: I wouldn’t say that’s the case yet, certainly in Britain where jumps racing is as prominent. If the welfare of the horses came before profit we wouldn’t be running horses over hurdles for 4 miles. I’ve watched the racing for years but seeing the state of some of the horses that finished the cross country the other day on heavy ground, I did think to myself do we need to put the horses through that for our entertainment. This reminds me of Many Clouds. My fav horse of recent times. A tragic story that actually brought a tear to my eye. When I take the betting blinkers off the likes of the Grand National just looks like a death race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 1 hour ago, diamond_for_life said: This reminds me of Many Clouds. My fav horse of recent times. A tragic story that actually brought a tear to my eye. When I take the betting blinkers off the likes of the Grand National just looks like a death race I think the world is moving on from watching horses getting whipped until they bleed and seeing horses come into the paddock dripping in sweat. There is still a place for jump racing but running horses over 3 or 4 miles on heavy ground is just asking for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bold Rover Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 32 minutes ago, IrishBhoy said: I think the world is moving on from watching horses getting whipped until they bleed and seeing horses come into the paddock dripping in sweat. There is still a place for jump racing but running horses over 3 or 4 miles on heavy ground is just asking for trouble. I'm only an uninformed tourist but for clarity: the longest race yesterday was 3 miles and the going was good to soft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrishBhoy Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 2 minutes ago, Bold Rover said: I'm only an uninformed tourist but for clarity: the longest race yesterday was 3 miles and the going was good to soft. On Tuesday there was a national hunt chase over 4 miles where only 3 horses finished on heavy ground. The 3rd horse finished 47 lengths behind second. Most of the horses were falling over the fences from exhaustion. On good ground where the horses are bred to ride over there’s no issue but it was a bit uncomfortable watching that race and seeing the distress some of the horses were in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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