Jump racing at Southwell suspended after two more fatalities

[Tiddlypom]

There have been 8 fatalities at the course since 1 July, 2 of them this evening . Is Southwell normally a decent racecourse, or is it known to be a rough one?

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and Arena Racing Company (ARC) have jointly made the decision to suspend Jump racing at Southwell until further notice.

This is to allow a comprehensive investigation to take place following two further fatalities at this evening’s fixture.

A process is already underway to investigate the circumstances around the six fatalities that occurred at the track since between 1 July and 24 August.

This involves the racecourse and the BHA’s veterinary team, racecourse department and course inspectors looking into the specific circumstances to understand if there are any common factors.


https://www.britishhorseracing.com/...ing-company-suspend-jump-racing-at-southwell/

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

It's not normally too bad as jumps tracks go. I am glad it's been suspended for now until they do a full investigation. I am in two minds - part of me hopes they can find something and fix it but then I also hope there is nothing to find but incredibly bad luck.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Sometimes it seems to me as if fatal racing accidents can come in unexplainable clusters. Some of the times they find a common factor behind the accidents, but other times it was simply accidents.

 

[Frumpoon]

They ran a couple of weeks ago when the course was much too wet which caused a heap of accidents, that suggests to me that the course clerk is not good at judging and mitigating risks

On a super wet day a soft going course can be mush by race 3 and that adds up to 6 inches on the height of the fences

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I don't know what the investigation found but I seriously hope they stop jumping there again now! 2 more fatalities today alone, I know of 3 others in 2 previous meetings since restarting. It really isn't looking good for the track at all!

 

[Tiddlypom]

On no, ???.

There must be something wrong with the track.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Just looked for the results of the investigation - nothing wrong with the surface, they had to resite the last fence in the back straight and the first in the home straight. That's it. Clearly something else is amiss! 5 that I know of dead since racing resumed at the start of November? Less than a month!

I have to say I am utterly, utterly appalled! I know horses die racing, it's part and parcel of life but to have such a high fatality rate at one course is horrendous! Most tracks dont have that many fatalities in 5 years!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

That's awful , and so sad for those involved.

Although it is possible for accidents to happen in completely accidental clusters, it sounds worrisome to say the least.

 

[Orangehorse]

"My" syndicate horse was running today and I was worried when I saw he was entered at Southwell. Luckily he ran well and was OK.
Pretty relieved really.

The description of the course says it is fast when the going is good but can be very heavy when wet, which is actually a bit strange if you think about it, almost as if there is something odd about the sub-soil because you would think that a fast track would be well drained for the wetter weather.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Unless it's clay soil - rock solid in a dry summer and holding bog when wet.

 

[Orangehorse]

I watched the re-run of the race and the course looked lovely, it was a nice sunny day. Looked like plenty of grass cover, but did one horse do the splits and fracture its pelvis? I know that everyone, me included, says that an accident can happen to any horse at any time and a racing fatality is public, but I agree that there do seem to be too many fatal falls at Southwell.

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

Not linked to Southwell however similar topic, apparently Whisper, who i can recall being quite good, was killed racing today.

However looking at his racing record why were they still going with him? Looks like he's changed trainers a lot recently and had some huge gaps and was 12. I know some struggle with retirement but surely there's a job they could find for him

https://www.racingpost.com/profile/horse/806143/whisper/form

 

[Orangehorse]

A horse came back after 2 years to win the other weekend, after some dismal results too.

As for Whisper, it said he unseated the rider, not a fall, so don't know what the circumstances were.