Probe into the death of four horses in one day at Lothian racecourse

A watchdog is launching an investigation after four horses died in one day at a racecourse.

Smart Ruler, Leather Belly, Sierra Oscar and Kensukes Kingdom were all fatally injured at Musselburgh on Monday.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is now to review what may have led to the equines’ deaths, with one seemingly related to a “sudden collapse”.

Bill Farnsworth, Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, said: “Our thoughts are with the owners, trainers and stable staff of these horses.

“The ground conditions and weather at Musselburgh Racecourse on December 3 were ideal for racing but until we have further information it would be wrong to speculate as to the cause of these tragic incidents.

“We will work closely with the BHA and assist its investigation to establish what happened and to ensure that Musselburgh continues to adopt best practice for all participants in racing.”

Having multiple deaths in a single day of racing has been described as “very rare” by the regulator, which said the fatality rate in Britain over the last few years has reduced to around 0.2% of runners.

Inspectors are due at the racecourse in the coming days.

Some of the horses are also being sent for post-mortems to garner more information.

Robin Mounsey, the BHA’S head of media, added: “The incidents at Musselburgh were extremely distressing for everyone involved in the sport, not least for the owners of the horses and the trainers and stable staff who cared for them through their lives.

“As the sport’s independent regulator we obviously treat issues such as this very seriously and work will now be undertaken to identify if there are any risk factors at the course or with the horses that might have contributed to these incidents.”

Four horses died at the track on Monday.