Horse racing fans – and I know there are millions of you who read this blog – will have been reassured by all the comforting comments by the racing industry about just how much they care about horses. “We love horses,” they said during the Aintree Grand National Meeting, “And only a few of them actually die when racing.” The media follows much the same line, perhaps even more aggressively, criticising those who suggest horse racing is cruel and should be banned. I’m not in the banning camp, but I do feel there is plenty of evidence that horse racing is cruel.
The good news is that so far in May 2026, no horses have died on a British race course. Not a single fatality. I know it’s the morning of 3rd May and we’ve only had two days of meetings, but I’ll take it. April was not quite such good news for race horses.
No less than 15 horses died on British race courses during April. In the interests of full disclosure, let’s record each one:
To my mind, that’s a grim litany of carnage. Since records began in 2007, just the 3173 horses have died over 6992 days, which is a death every two and a bit days. At a time when we are being told that animal concern is greater than ever and more measures are being taken to protect horses, April 2026’s total is exactly a dead horse every two days. It doesn’t feel like things are getting much better, does it?
It is even worse when you see the descriptions. They’re all pretty sad and horrible but some sound worse than others. How about this one? ‘Fell – Broke Neck – Dead‘. Or ‘Fractured Near-Foreleg Jumping Water Jump – Destroyed.’ And finally, for now: ‘Broke Sacrum Jumping Fence – Destroyed.’ The last one was Gold Dancer who actually won a race at the Grand National meeting, despite breaking his back at the last fence. But don’t worry, though. No one in the crowd saw anything. Once the suits found the poor horse was catastrophically injured, the usual tents were erected before the vet put a bullet through its brain. And the bookies were still paying out, with the closing odds being 3/1. So everyone, except the stricken horse, perhaps, was happy. Trebles all round.
It’s the terms used that get me. A horse was ‘destroyed‘. It’s literally true, I know, but it sounds so cold, clinical and, to me, heartless. Other horses just died, ‘naturally‘, as we are told, sometimes through utter exhaustion. Some sport. Imagine if participants in other sports died, or were destroyed? “There’s going to be substitution in this game because the visiting team’s centre forward Wayne Scrote has broken his leg. Once he has been euthanised and the tents removed from the pitch, we will get on with the game. We’ll be right back after the break.” That doesn’t happen of course because footballers don’t usually die of their injuries during the game, but if they did, do you honestly think we would tolerate it? The answer is probably yes given the amount of money circulating in The Beautiful Game.
There are numerous reasons why I would never attend a horse race, other than not wanting to see one of these beautiful horses die in front of my eyes. I don’t see the attraction of a sport in which the main participants have no idea they are actually competing. But right up there in my considerations is the grim possibility of having to watch one of those wretched ‘After The Racing‘ events featuring the likes of Ronan Keating, Craig David or, I’m sorry if anyone is offended (I’m not really) Madness. Or to have to wear silly clothes and pay a tenner for a pint of bat’s piss (Madri).
I’m hoping May remains a horse death free zone. As we enter the flat racing season, hopefully there won’t be too many fallers or horses dropping dead due to being so knackered.
My plan to kill off horse racing is not to ban it, just not to go to the meetings or piss away one’s hard-earned cash on betting. My plan won’t succeed, though, because it’s all about the vested interests and the horse racing establishment which extends right up to the royal family.
Every horse that dies is one too many, apparently. 3173 since 2007 is, I would say, 3173 too many but nothing changes. Sadly, it never will, so expect me to update you all with new death figures in due course. And when the commentator declares: “They’re off!” just remember he could be referring to the Knacker’s Yard for some of the horses. What a way to go.
