Animal Aid’s Battle Bus visits Doncaster Racecourse

One of the most lethal in the country

On Thursday, 21 July, campaign group Animal Aid’s Battle Bus will be at Doncaster Racecourse to tell punters about the shocking number of race horses who have died at the course, and to show a short film that looks at the fate of race horses across the country.

Since 2008, no fewer than 38 horses have died at the venue: 12 on the Flat course and 26 on the Jumps course. In 2015, the racecourse was the joint fifth most deadly in the country, with five known deaths at the venue.

Four more horses have been killed at Doncaster so far this year – the most recent fatality occurred on 24 June. The course witnessed two deaths on 3 April 2016. Both were young horses, who collapsed and died in the same race – one while running and the other after the finish line.

Says Campaign Manager Fiona Pereira:

‘We have repeatedly called for racing at Doncaster to be halted. In 2009, three horses died on a single weekend of racing. In 2014, we released photographs that showed the final moments of the racehorse, Wigmore Hall, who had suffered a shattered foreleg and was unceremoniously killed with a bullet – behind a screen so as not to upset the racegoing public.

‘The following year, five horses were killed at the course but we can see no signs that effective action has been taken, either by the course officials or by racing’s regulatory body. Racegoers have the right to know about equine deaths so that they can decide whether they want to support the industry or, as we would urge, boycott it.’

With the help of local volunteers, Animal Aid will also be handing out free information to passers-by about the racing industry and urging people not to support it with their attendance fees or betting money.

Notes to editors

• To find out more, or to arrange an interview, please call Fiona Pereira on 01732 364546 ext 228
• Visit Race Horse Deathwatch, our online database of on-course Thoroughbred fatalities in Britain

Animal Aid will be showing the following film:

Since this film was made, the number of horses who die on British racecourses each year is now around 200. A similar number die in training or are killed when they are no longer viable investments. Altogether, around 1,000 horses from racing are sent to abattoirs each year.