Making racing safer

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LadyRascasse

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"In light of the fatalities in racing today at Aintree, my thoughts turned to how we could possibly make racing safer and how would this be financed..... Well how about any monies taken in bets on fatally injured horses, get ploughed back into a central fund to finance this area? Bookies earn a living from racing..... its about time they put something back into the system!!!! "

please follow us of facebook to get momentum behind this amazing idea. Peoples opinions count!!

https://www.facebook.com/MakingHorseRacingSafer
 
I think at least some of it starts with the breeders, to be honest. If the only criteria for a horse becoming a sire is its speed, problems will turn up eventually. There are responsible breeders, obviously, but it's all down to self-policing.

And can I imagine any racing body enforcing soundness criteria on the very many very rich owners who dominate the sport? Not really. You just have to look at the whole HYPP thing in quarter horses in the US.
 
SusannaF said:
I think at least some of it starts with the breeders, to be honest. If the only criteria for a horse becoming a sire is its speed, problems will turn up eventually. There are responsible breeders, obviously, but it's all down to self-policing.

And can I imagine any racing body enforcing soundness criteria on the very many very rich owners who dominate the sport? Not really. You just have to look at the whole HYPP thing in quarter horses in the US.
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I don't know where you get the idea that speed is the only thing considered with stallions, no one is going to use a stallion with a congenital defect, super aggressive or over-sexed..... these types tend to be cut before they run if they are un-manageable.
You should be aware that most NH stallions are identified by results of their progeny, six years or more after the sire has been selected, often they are not bred for jump racing, for example, Strong Gale was a flat-bred stallion whose became famous as a NH sire, but his fee would have been far beyond the pocket of most NH breeders, his progeny were initially bred for the flat.
I don't think "grading" of Warmbloods and dressage horses is good for the breed, they are taught to "trot for a ten" or some such, produced and assessed for the professional market, and yet the grading failures tend to be passed on to amateurs as general riding horses.
There used to be stallion licencing in the UK, but that seems to have died out.
 
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Cappuccino said:
Um, sorry, but what good is taking money from the bookies going to do?
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Sorry it wasn't made clear the idea is that the money taken in bets from fatally injured horses is put in to central fund that goes towards improvements in safety.

For example Aintree spent millions on that new covered area, spray misted ect that money has to come from somewhere. The money for yesterday alone on synchronised would have to be near 1 million. When you get to a stage where no horses die you wouldn't need the money as safety would have been achieved.
 
Did you know that 3 horses died in the recent Dubai World Cup - that's a flat race.

This happens after every Grand National, oh its cruel, its not safe. Give it a few weeks and it will all blow over.

There is lots already being done to ensure the safety and welfare of racehorses.
 
horselover522 said:
Did you know that 3 horses died in the recent Dubai World Cup - that's a flat race.
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Yes I am very aware that 3 horses died flat racing same as I am aware that Gottany O's broken down between fences on the flat and the same a rewilding last year. Its not just about the National its about ANY horse who dies under rules
 
Ceris Comet said:
Why punish the bookies for something they Havnt done ?
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No-one is on about punishing the bookies, It would be with there agreement, not a change in rules. It would all be done with the best intention to promote safety in racing and the bookies would come out in a good light and potential earn more from this as people would be more likely to bet.
 
Well then the only way to stop that is to ban racing all together.

And then what about the horses that break there legs in the field? Or suffer an injury under saddle with a leisure rider that results in them being put down?
 
I realise the original post isn't written in the best way, If you click the link you will see its a quote from the page not directly from me.

I am happy to answer any questions but I genuinely think this could work if enough people got behind it to show the bookies that we feel its a good idea. I am NOT against horse racing in fact I watch it every weekend, I think we need to do something to put racing back into a good light before the propaganda show by some gets out of hand. I love racing and feel every horse death makes me feel sad but I feel me can make something good happen from a sad situation
 
Oh I'm sure if enough people asked the bookies to give their money away they would be only too delighted to !!!
Again, start living in the real world. How about getting the burger vans to give 10% of their profits for every horse that dies and the bars etc
 
horselover522 said:
Did you know that 3 horses died in the recent Dubai World Cup - that's a flat race.

This happens after every Grand National, oh its cruel, its not safe. Give it a few weeks and it will all blow over.

There is lots already being done to ensure the safety and welfare of racehorses.
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And your post just highlights theres still not enough, when there are still regular fatalities
 
marydoll said:
And your post just highlights theres still not enough, when there are still regular fatalities
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The problem is that in spite of all current safety precautions two horse died, one was brought down, so we could argue that fewer horses might have prevented that, but Synchronised seemed to be on his own, and in spite of being an experienced jumper, something went wrong at that fence , he may have been unhappy with those fences, but I am sure Jonjo [trainer] would have schooled him over similar ones, and if he had been refusing or schooling badly, they would have not gone for the Grand National, but kept him for the next years Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
We don't know "why" he died, and we don't know how to prevent accidents like this, if we did, then the fences would be altered. The fact is that the public want to see a spectacle, and the racing fraternity want the kudos, the excitement and the big money. When I was in racing, even in a top yard we might only have one "national type": they have to be good jumpers, and have a good engine to maintain a good gallop over four miles and still be able to finish in good style. Other yards may have Gold Cup horses, but few have National types, however as changes in race conditions and the fences and so on continue to evolve, the two types start to converge.
 
horselover522 said:
Did you know that 3 horses died in the recent Dubai World Cup - that's a flat race.

This happens after every Grand National, oh its cruel, its not safe. Give it a few weeks and it will all blow over.
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You want it to blow over? Fair enough.

There is lots already being done to ensure the safety and welfare of racehorses.
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Can more be reasonably done, or is this the best it's going to get?
 
fburton said:
You want it to blow over? Fair enough.


Can more be reasonably done, or is this the best it's going to get?
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What else do you want them to do?

They have vet checks before they are allowed to race. Extra facilities put in at the racecourse to help recovery afterwards.
The height of the fences and the drops after them have been reduced.
They have altered sections of the course so the loose horses can go round the jumps.

But galloping and jumping will always hold risks at whatever level you do it at.

Nobody wants horses to die, but its quick and the horse most likely doesn't know anything about it because their adrenaline is up.

And personally I think its a lot better then a lot of horses owned by amateurs/pleasure riders who put up with a life time of low grade abuse/cruelty through the ignorance of their owners who then spout all over internet forums about how cruel racing is.
 
It's true that Synchronized was an experienced jumper - but not a particularly good jumper, poor lad.

The only way to make the National safer is to raise the height of the fences again that were reduced, and to cut the size of the field. There should also not be a handicap.
 
horselover522 said:
What else do you want them to do?
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I honestly don't know what else would help. Reducing the size of field in the case of the GN is one suggestion that has been mooted, and that seems logical. Worth at least a try, surely?

I really wanted to know whether you/people thought racing is already as safe as it can humanly be (short of banning it completely, and I'm not in favour of that), and therefore it's not worth trying to improve the fatality statistics.
 
They need to keep the fences big, reduce the amount of runners & make sure the ground is never too firm. That's all it takes to make the grand national safer.
I've heard that they are thinking of removing becher's brook from the race but I, personally think that would be unnecessary if the size of the field was reduced.
I think they need to look at the start of the race too though. Every year there are false starts - the jockeys tried to go off when a man was on the track in front of them this year!, then a horse was facing backwards when they tried to line up again, you think they would develop a better system.
 
LadyRascasse said:
Sorry it wasn't made clear the idea is that the money taken in bets from fatally injured horses is put in to central fund that goes towards improvements in safety.
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Okay, but you did know that improvements are being made all the time in racing? For instance that white rail around the track? Used to be solid concrete, then wood, then plastic, now it's sections that fall apart if a horse hits it. That was to make things safer for the horses.




amymay said:
The only way to make the National safer is to raise the height of the fences again that were reduced, and to cut the size of the field. There should also not be a handicap.
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Reducing the size of the field would be my preference, the fences are already considered to be "far too big" by the anti-national peeps.

I'm wondering if the weights should be raised back to a max of 12st 7lbs, instead of the current max of 11st 10lbs (or whatever it is) wouldn't heavier weights = a slower pace? It does seem that the speed is causing a lot of problems
 
Miss L Toe said:
When I was in racing, even in a top yard we might only have one "national type": they have to be good jumpers, and have a good engine to maintain a good gallop over four miles and still be able to finish in good style. Other yards may have Gold Cup horses, but few have National types, however as changes in race conditions and the fences and so on continue to evolve, the two types start to converge.
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Look at how many, Rummy included that have made their way from flat to NH racing. One time, never the t'wain would meet, now it's the norm; they don't breed many chasers like they used to which is a crying shame and as the flat horses become stallions, so it will be perpetuated.
 
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