A moment of reflection
An entrant in yesterday’s Devon Mile road race through New Plymouth takes a breather next to the mirrored walls of the Len Lye Centre after crossing the finish line. Despite yesterday’s downpours, the event was a huge success, with more than 220 runners of all ages taking on the 1.6km challenge.
The boss of Taranaki Racing has scotched safety concerns raised by animal welfare groups after a horse injured during a race had to be put down.
At Friday afternoon’s Twilight Fiesta meet at the New Plymouth Raceway, 5-year-old gelding Holyell fractured its femur during race three.
Following a post-race examination, the decision was made for a vet to put the horse down.
In a media statement, Taranaki Animal Save and the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses said members of its groups had been protesting outside the meet.
Summer Aitken, a spokesperson for the group, believed the track posed a danger to the horses, and that racing should have been abandoned.
‘‘The ground was saturated and extremely slippery. Forcing the horses to run in those conditions is knowingly putting them at risk of slipping and being injured, and now, likely because of this irresponsible call to go ahead a horse is dead. It is completely unacceptable,’’ Aitken said.
However, Taranaki Racing chief executive Carey Hobbs denied this was the case.
He said while it did rain on Friday, the weather in no way jeopardised track safety.
‘‘The track was 100% safe.
‘‘It was a very unfortunate accident.’’ Hobbs said it was rare for a horse to be put down after being injured during a race but it did happen on occasion.
He said it was sad, and the trainer and owners of the horse were visibly upset at the outcome. ‘‘These horses are loved.’’
Hobbs said the animal welfare groups were entitled to their opinion and had a right to protest, and there was a regular presence by a small group when race meetings were held in New Plymouth.
He confirmed the rest of the races continued as scheduled on Friday, following the incident.
Track safety at the New Plymouth Raceway has been an issue in the past and a six-month stand down had been imposed in order to address concerns.
As a result, extensive remediation work was undertaken, and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing gave the allclear for it be used again from July this year.