Reduced fields at Cheltenham in bid to improve safety

THE British Horseracing Authority has warned that a failure to address safety and welfare concerns would be a threat to the future of jump racing, as it unveiled 17 recommendations following its review into fatalities at last season’s Cheltenham Festival. Six horses lost their lives and a seventh had to be put down due to complications following an operation to treat injuries it had sustained at the meeting. The review concludes non-raceday factors were as significant in the fatalities as the racecourse. Among the changes to be implemented for March’s Festival are stricter pre-race veterinary checks. Every runner will have a veterinary examination — compared to around a quarter last season — and its recent medical record will be examined. After three of last season’s fatalities occurred in the two-mile Grand Annual Chase, all steeplechases over that distance will have the maximum number of runners reduced from 24 to 20. Changes will be made to the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle to encourage more experienced riders to be used. As reported in

Racemail yesterday, the recommendations also include analysis of the faller rates of jockeys and trainers in an attempt to analyse factors which contribute to risk. The review covered all races at the Festival from 2007 to 2018, including 5,451 runners and 308 fallers. As well as the Grand Annual Chase, the races with the highest percentage of fallers were the two-mile Queen Mother Champion Chase and the four-mile National Hunt Chase for amateur riders. The BHA hopes its recommendations — arising from its 67-page report — will have positive wider implications for jump racing. But in a stark warning, the BHA report also stated: ‘It is clear that public and political attitudes to any actual or perceived shortcomings in animal welfare standards are toughening. Any failures around equine welfare standards constitute a serious threat to the future of our sport.’ BHA chief executive Nick Rust warned: ‘We have to listen and stay ahead of public opinion and stay in control of the outcomes for our sport. We have to invest in future audiences and part of that is addressing public opinion around welfare. We must not just do all we can to minimise risk but be seen to do all we can to minimise risk. We must go further and faster.’