WHY DO THE BRITISH HORSERACING AUTHORITY FINE LICENSED TRAINER AIDEN O’BRIEN £10,400 FOR CARRYING OUT HIS DUTIES IN CARING FOR CAPE BLANCO WHEN HE NEEDED IMMEDIATE FIRST AID ATTENTION TO AN OLD WOUND HE AGRIVATED IN RUNNING TO WIN, PULLING UP AFTER LAME AND IN PAIN?
BRITISH HORSERACING AUTHORITY TO LAZY TO ACT IN EMERGENCIES
WHAT WOULD CAPE BLANCO'S OWNERS HAVE SAID IF O'BRIEN AND HIS TEAM HAD NOT ACTED SO QUICKLY TO AID CAPE BLANCO'S INJURY?
These British horseracing parties state the following on their website, the whole lot a totally dishonest statement. May look impressive in theory. But the sad facts as this issue shows in practice, is totally untrue.
British Racing’s Commitment to the Welfare of Racehorses
Everyone in the sport - racecourses, trainers, owners, breeders, stable staff, jockeys,
owners, administrators, officials and veterinary professionals - is committed to and
has a role in ensuring and enhancing horse welfare.
The British Horseracing Authority is the governing body of the sport and, through the
Rules of Racing and its licensing and inspection of participants, education, training and monitoring, ensures horse welfare, including compliance with UK Animal Welfare legislation.
Some risk to horses is inherent in the sport, as it is to differing degrees in the life of a
horse in any environment, but we recognise our responsibility to care for our horses and reduce unnecessary risks.
Horseracing has close and constructive relationships with animal welfare
organisations, such as the RSPCA, SSPCA, World Horse Welfare and Retraining of Racehorses, and works with these and other groups to understand and reduce ris
Horseracing’s welfare initiatives focus on the following:
• Care – those involved in horseracing have every incentive for horses to race to the
best of their ability, so wish to see them well cared for from before they enter racing,
throughout their careers in the sport and beyond. Breeders and the sales industry
have every interest in the welfare of horses. In training and on racecourses the horses are in the care of experienced horsemen and women whether licensed trainers, stable staff or jockeys.
Expert veterinary care is always available. Horses are reviewed before racing by one
of the Authority’s Veterinary Surgeons and medication controls ensure they do not
race under the effect of any drugs.
When a horse retires from racing there are many avenues open to them, and the
Industry supports and monitors the work of trainers and owners, and organisations
such as Retraining of Racehorses to assist with finding new homes and careers for horses.
• Surface – all courses are licensed annually by the Authority
and work with the Authority’s trained and experienced Inspectors of Courses and
independent agronomists to provide the best and safest racing surfaces, to minimise the risk of injury, and to encourage owners and trainers to run their horses.
Courses are limited in the use of their turf, and racing on hard ground is not
permitted in jump racing. Trainers also have every incentive to provide safe training
grounds and all recognise their duty of care to their horses.
The Authority provides specific annual reports and statistics on ground conditions
and casualties at every course, and inspects trainers’ facilities and provides advice to enable trainers to meet licensing criteria.
• Obstacles – All racecourse obstacles are designed in line with the
specifications of General Instructions, agreed in liaison with the Authority’s
Inspectors of Courses, and both hurdles and fences are regularly renewed and reviewed.
The BHA collates statistics of fallers and casualties from each race meeting, including Point to Points, and reports to racecourses to assist them in identifying and improving any individual
obstacles which may pose a problem. Racecourses invest substantially to improve horse safety.
To underpin these, and other, industry horse welfare initiatives and the Authority’s
regulation, horseracing provides assistance and support for numerous research
projects designed to improve racehorse welfare. This includes commercially funded
projects, and the Horserace Betting Levy Board’s veterinary programme which invests several million pounds every year in research projects to enhance horse health and welfare.
The Authority ensures personal confidentially and commercial competiveness is
respected to encourage reporting from participants and shares appropriate data with
participants, other racing authorities and research groups. More information is available on the BHA Website:
www.britishhorseracing.com/inside_horseracing/about/whatwedo/Veterinary/default.asp
FURTHER FACTS RELIVENT
“The BHA veterinary officer Lynn Hillyer observed CAPE BLANCO coming off ther course and noted that he was three tenths lame on his left fore leg. (Near fore leg)
She felt it was clear that the lameness required further examination. CAPE BLANCO was noted to have bandages on his left fetlock (near fore fetlock) and the lad informed them that he had ‘bashed’ an ergot a few days earlier. The lad was asked to jog (trot) the colt for a few strides on grass. He obliged but the colt did not trot freely and was still lame. The vets assessed the lameness to be five tenths at the trot on soft grass.”
“HOURS LATER, AFTER THE LAST RACE, the vets undertook a further examination of the colt, who’s leg had, by this time, been cooled, and iced and bandaged. The colt was brought out and it was clear that the lameness had improved since mid afternoon, the colt being perhaps one tenth lame at the walk on the soft grass.”
“PAT KEATING was polite and apologised for not co-operating but made it clear he would not allow the colt to be trotted up without Aiden O’Brien’s permission . He asked Robert Earnshaw to speak directly to O’Brien, which he did. O’Brien informed Earnshaw of his view that it was ‘insane’ the vet should request the colt to be trotted up because, in his opinion, it would only aggravate the colts injury. Earnshaw explained the vet merely wished to ensure he was fit to travel.”
“The panel were informed that O’Brien had seen the colt on television after the race being trotted downhill and across a slope when lame. The colt had aggravated a pre-existing overreach during the race and O’Brien was concerned during the second examination that further trotting would risk opening the would unnecessarily . As to the refusal to attend the inquiry, explanations were provided as to the need to catch a plane and the uncertainty of air travel following the ASH CLOUD ERUPTION in Iceland.” (Which the whole country knew about, or should have known about)
“In respect of KEATING, the Panel has determined that no penalty is due. On both the occasions that KEATING refused to obey the stewards, he was acting under the direct instructions of O’Brien. The Panel recognised the difficult position in which Keating found himself.. As to O’Brien, he falls to be censored not only for his breaches in causing KEATING to refuse to comply with instructions given by the stewards, but also for acting in a manner prejudicial to the proper conduct of horseracing in Great Britain.”
“It would have taken KEATING a matter of ten minutes to attend before the stewards to explain his position. If necessary he could have made other arrangements to rendezvous at the airport with those transporting the horses. The ash cloud was not mentioned on the day..”
NO WAY CAN THESE BHA AUTHORITIES LAZY WORKING PRACTICES BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE ON IN SUCH SHODDY WAYS. A DISGRACE.
END
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