The British Horseracing Authority came out punching last week when news of the Green Party’s policies on the sport penetrated racing’s tough outer cocoon. These include an immediate ban on the whip, the use of injury and death statistics to “close dangerous tracks and ban trainers with poor records” and a “high level of compulsory levy on betting” to be used “solely for welfare improvements.”
“To be clear, thoroughbred horses bred for racing are not exploited and we fundamentally reject this suggestion,” Robin Mounsey, the BHA’s spokesman, said. “We welcome scrutiny of equine welfare policies and would be happy to demonstrate to the Green Party the high welfare standards that exist within British racing and how the sport already exceeds most of their key requirements laid out in their policy proposals.”
Since there is no chance that the Green Party will be in a position to implement its proposals after the election in May the BHA’s comments were designed for its internal audience as much as anything else. When racing’s opponents attack the sport on welfare grounds, it is the authority’s job to respond and stress it always does that for everyone in the sport horse welfare is an issue of “paramount importance”.
But is it? In the aftermath of the West Wales National at Ffos Las on Saturday, and in particular what unfolded at the final fence long after the winner had crossed the line, it is a fair question to ask.
Ten horses set out on the three-and-a-half mile course on ground that was as close to unraceable as we are likely to see this winter. Eight were pulled up as the conditions took their toll, while only one completed the course without mishap. And then there was Gorgehous Lliege and Callum Whillans, who managed to do a little bit of both.
Bob Ford was all but over the line when Gorgehous Lliege came to the last. The Racing Post’s race-reader described what happened next. “20 length 2nd and extremely tired when initially pulled up nearing last,” the in-running comment reads. “Retraced steps, clambered over last and eventually completed.”
It is a very fair and concise summary and on the face it evidence of a clear breach of Rule 46.4: “Where a rider pulls up for any reason he must wait in the area where he pulled up until all contenders in the race have passed by and, if the race is a steeple chase or hurdle race, he must refrain from jumping any further obstacles.”
The Ffos Las stewards, though, thought otherwise. They decided instead that Whillans had not pulled up but had actually managed to complete the course and should keep second place, which was worth £8,065 to Gorgehous Lliege’s connections.
The BHA seems inclined to let this stand. “The horse wasn’t officially pulled up,” Mounsey said later. “ “You are not officially pulled up until the race is completed and the judge confirms the race has finished,” said Mounsey. “The vets examined the horse after the race and it was in perfect health and its welfare wasn’t compromised by completing the race.”
But that is not the point. If welfare is truly of “paramount importance”, the question is whether Gorgehous Lliege’s welfare could have been compromised by Whillans’ decision to carry on after clearly pulling up, because his actions seemed to suggest that in his mind, the eight grand for finishing second was of at least equal importance. The rule is there to protect jockeys and horses. It makes up their minds for them, so that they do not feel the need to take unnecessary risks. Had Gorgehous Lliege sustained a fatal injury when he finally “clambered” over the last, the repercussions would have been grim for Whillans as well as racing’s image in general.
This has also set a precedent. What if we get a mudbath Grand National like 2001, when only two horses completed without being remounted? Will jockeys be “slowing to a walk” on the second circuit,and then waiting around on the track just in case? What price “paramount importance” then with the sport’s biggest annual audience watching?
The BHA recently decided that it was in racing’s best interests to charge Aidan Coleman with a whip offence a fortnight after his winning ride in the Welsh National. It has now nodded through an incident that had the potential to cause far more damage to the sport’s image than a couple of taps with a bit of foam-padded plastic. This time racing got away with it but that could also mean that it will be all the more damaging if or when it does not.
