Animal welfare campaigners have called for the racing industry to be made more accountable for racehorse deaths after Ohope Wins was put down following a fall in the Caulfield Cup.
The Chris Waller-trained Ohope Wins was in the finishing straight of the 2,400m Group One race when it was brought down by last year’s winner, Half Yours, which had fallen at the 300m mark.
Half Yours got up and ran riderless down the straight, while Ohope Wins was assessed by vets as it lay on the track and was euthanased.
Half Yours received lacerations and abrasions after falling in the Caulfield Cup, but got up and ran to the finish rider-less. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
Half Yours’s rider Mark Zahra and Ohope Wins’s jockey Jye McNeil were taken to hospital for observation.
Racing Victoria confirmed Zahra was released on Saturday night, and McNeil would be released on Sunday, with both jockeys escaping serious injury.
Racing Victoria stewards will hold an inquiry into the incident, although a time has not been set for this to happen.
The Coalition for the Protection of Horses campaign director Elio Celotto said at least 160 horses have been killed as a result of injuries sustained in racing across Australia this year.
“When a horse falls their legs are very delicately poised when they hit the turf,” Mr Celotto said speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast.
“They’re a half a tonne horse and all they need to do is fall slightly off and it can result in damage to their bones and that is why we see so many horses killed on our race tracks.”
He said the racing industry was responsible for deaths on race tracks.
“The racing industry has got a lot to answer for. They say they are open and transparent, they are anything but,” he said.
“They really need to be made accountable for the thousands [over the years], not just the horse that was killed yesterday, but all the horses that are killed around Australia simply to make money and for the pleasure of punters. It’s simply not acceptable.”
Top racing trainer Peter Moody defended the industry, saying that safety improvements had been brought in since a series of deaths in the Melbourne Cup beginning more than a decade ago.
Moody told ABC Radio Brisbane there were less incidents in major races following the changes, including what he called “stringent protocols” horses go through before they are allowed to race by authorities.
Most of the deaths in the Melbourne Cup were standalone incidents, where horses broke down while running rather than colliding with or falling over other horses.
Racing Victoria requires all international horses coming for major races to have one CT scan of the distal (lower) limbs to identify possible bone damage before travel. They then must have a standing CT scan before every start in the Spring Racing Carnival.
There have been no further deaths in the Melbourne Cup since the introduction of scanning requirements.
Moody described the incident at Caulfield as “very sad and very disappointing”.
Moody was asked if there was any way such incidents could be avoided when big fields of horses were running around.
“Whether there were some misjudgements, some horses rolled around in the race, it got tight, one horse (Half Yours) stumbled and dislodged the rider, and then the second horse unfortunately got tangled in that horse and fell also,” he said.
“It’s just one of those unfortunate accidents. No-one sets out for that to happen. Everyone wants to see the horses and the riders come home safely.
“The love and care and attention [given] to these animals is second to none.
“Unfortunately in all walks of life, whether it’s horse racing, a football match, walking across the road to catch a bus and accidents do happen.”
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