The news that a disturbing picture of Gordon Elliott - trainer of two Grand National-winning horses - has led to widespread condemnation and an investigation by racing authorities, only touches on the truth about this brutal “sport”. We delve deeper into the murky world of horse racing.

Sitting astride the body of a deceased horse in a picture currently circulating on social media, trainer Gordon Elliott is seen making the ‘V’ sign - but peace has nothing to do with the sordid world that those involved in the horse racing industry inhabit. Because that’s what it is - an industry of exploitation, misery and death all for our entertainment under the guise of being a sport.

Elliott has seen back-to-back Grand National victories when a horse he trained, Tiger Roll, won in 2018 and 2019, and also a third previous win in 2007 with Silver Birch. By all accounts, he’s well accomplished and, until this weekend, well respected in the horse racing world. However, that has all changed with a statement of apology issued today confirming that the picture is genuine, leading to him being dropped by Betfair as one of their ‘ambassadors’ and investigated by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) and possibly the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). Not that any of that means very much to the horses.

“Firstly, I apologise profoundly for any offence that this photo has caused and can categorically state that the welfare of each and every horse under my care is paramount and has been central to the success that we have enjoyed here at Cullentra,” said Elliott. “The photo in question was taken some time ago and occurred after a horse had died of an apparent heart attack on the gallops. I appreciate that an initial viewing of this photo suggests it is a callous and staged photo but nothing could be further from the truth.”

As much as we all now loathe Elliott, he is but one person in a vast, profit-driven industry that has little care at all for the wellbeing of horses despite the theatrics of throwing him under the bus because of an ill-advised selfie. For all the IHRB and BHA’s huffing and puffing for the press, Elliott was just the one to get caught out. As unsavoury and disrespectful as it was to sit on a dead individual to take a phone call and pose for a picture, it pales in comparison to the hidden litany of exploitation that goes unphotographed and off the radar of journalists and social media. For every horse who dies of a heart attack like the one pictured under Elliott, there are many others who fall badly, break their legs and have to be shot at the side of the track as workers hold up sheets to stop racegoers from seeing the reality of their drunken ‘day at the races’.

One of the most eye-opening resources when it comes to shedding a light on horse racing is Animal Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch website, which tracks all the fatalities that occur at races in the UK. The list is up-to-date with deaths almost every other day, such as in February this year when there were 17 recorded fatalities at courses like Ascot, Carlisle, Warwick and Newcastle. Southwell in Nottinghamshire has the dubious honour of being the racecourse with the most deaths in 2020 at 12.

According to their Death Watch Report for 2019, 186 horses lost their lives at UK tracks, suffering a range of injuries - such as broken necks, smashed knees and torn tendons - or simply dropping dead from heart attacks of which the risk is increased with the forced exercise that is racing at the behest of a human rider with a whip. Those horses who don’t die immediately from their injuries are ‘destroyed’ if it is decided by the vet and trainer that the injuries are too severe… or too costly to treat. Sadly this happens all too often, but even one death as a result of a race draws to attention the callous disregard for life all for the sake of entertainment.

“The economics behind racing add a further burden to the horses. Both the racecourses and the racing connections of the animals (owners, trainers, jockeys) depend upon profit,” said Animal Aid at the time of releasing its 2019 report. “For example, racecourses go to extreme measures to ensure racing takes place when abandonment would be the common-sense option with regards to horse welfare. Added to a ‘win at all costs’ attitude for connections, young horses are often divested of a future life, dying prematurely.”

Trackside killings are relatively well-known, with coverage in the mainstream press regularly reigniting the debate surrounding animal welfare at races. But what racegoers sometimes witness is just the tip of the iceberg. For starters, Animal Aid estimates that its figures are some 30 per cent short of the true figures for track fatalities as evidenced by disgruntled insiders who they say have provided them with documents that show the real cost in lives.

According to an article in the journal Equine Vet, which published the results of a study into horse fatalities at a racecourse in California over a two-year period, “most of the injuries occurred while racing (42%) and in training sessions (39%); with fewer non-exercise (12%) and accident (7%) related injuries or illnesses.” Of the injuries sustained, most were musculoskeletal, in other words, broken and fractured bones or torn tendons and ligaments, while “other major causes of death included respiratory, digestive and multi-organ system disorders.”

The data they gathered tells us that what we see in the press - the trackside shootings and horrendous falls - account for less than half of all horse deaths. Almost as many occur during training. So if we apply that proportion to the 186 UK horses who died in 2019 as a result of actual races, 170 more died during training. An investigative report by the Guardian from 2006 reveals more:

“The Equine Fertility Unit in Newmarket attempted to track 1,022 thoroughbred foals born in 1999. It discovered that only 347 were ever entered for a race in the UK and fewer than 200 remained in training as four-year-olds. More than 100 had been destroyed, died or were untraceable.”

It would seem a great many young horses are not even making it through early training to become racehorses, which makes sense when you consider the extreme forces exerted on their bodies when running at high speeds, with most injuries affecting the front lower legs. According to The Age:

“With a 500-kilogram horse galloping at 50 kmh, at some point during each stride all the weight and forces are carried by only one front leg. Indeed, it has been speculated that this translates into forces equivalent to at least one tonne of weight and high-speed concussion being absorbed by the lower limb.”

This is a lot for even an experienced and fully developed adult horse to go through, but training starts much younger when their skeletal systems are still growing and are unprepared to handle the pressures of running on a hard track at high speeds.

For older horses, we’d all love to think of them being retired to green pastures to live out their lives in peace having provided their human owners years of service. Nevermind the fact that there aren’t always individual owners, but instead lucrative syndicates of investors who together pay tens of thousands for horses with the expectation of big returns. Are we to believe that they’ll also pay indefinitely for a horse’s retirement?

The Guardian’s investigation revealed “two British slaughterhouses whose 'knackermen' kill more than 5,000 horses a year, many of which were bred to entertain punters and racegoers.” 

“There has always been a mystery about what happens to the 4,000 British racehorses that are 'retired' each year from the sport or the hundreds of young thoroughbreds not good enough to make the starting post. Even the sport's official body, the Horseracing Regulatory Authority, admitted to The Observer that 'racing doesn't really know what definitely happens to the horses when they stop racing'. Some will be retrained for hunting or eventing; others will be used for breeding. But the physical make-up of racehorses means that many are not suitable for riders who want a gentle hack on a Sunday afternoon.”

So much to do with horse racing is rotten to the core and much of it is discussed in this article from PETA which we recommend you read. All animal exploitation is abhorrent, but horse racing is tied to all the very worst aspects of our inhumanity, breeding and racing horses to their deaths for greed and entertainment if indeed they even make it to the racetrack. And for those who do and put in the few short years they’re considered profitable, they can look forward to a gruesome death at the hands of the knackermen.

So for all your indignation at the picture of Gordon Elliott, remember that there are hundreds, if not thousands of horses every year in the UK alone who suffer and die terribly at the hands of people just like him or worse.

Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager at Surge.

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