Six horses killed at Punchestown racing festival

Petition updateIrish Government: Stop giving millions of euros to horse racingSix horses killed at Punchestown racing festival

Irish Council Against Blood SportsMullingar, Ireland

Jun 1, 2022

The number of horses known to have died at the 2022 Punchestown racing festival has risen to six.

Earlier this month, we reported that at least five horses are known to have died at the 5-day festival but a Dail Question from Paul Murphy TD has uncovered details about additional victims.

Deputy Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine “the number of horses that were injured and killed at the 2022 Punchestown horse racing festival; and if consideration will be given to ending State funding to Horse Racing Ireland in view of the growing number of horse deaths at tracks around Ireland”

In a response from Horse Racing Ireland, it was revealed that “there were six fatalities” at the festival.

“There are certain injuries which are irreparable and in these regrettable situations the vets euthanised the horses,” Deputy Murphy was told.

It has emerged that there were also “8 non-fatal injuries” at the festival.

The first of the deaths occurred on Day 1 (26 April) of event when 6-year-old Irish horse “How’s Trix” was destroyed. He fell and suffered a broken leg during the 3-mile “Kildare Hunt Club Cross Country Chase for the Ladies’ Perpetual Cup” race.

Later in the week on 29 April, Irish horse Rightplacerightime was also fatally injured in a fall during the “EMS Copiers Novice Handicap Chase”. See footage at https://twitter.com/watch_welfare/status/1520067977332334592

In the same race, two other horses were pulled up after bursting blood vessels – Blue Sari and Gevrey.

On the final day of the festival on 30 April, three horses are known to have died. They were:

7-year-old Irish horse Hes A Hardy Bloke, who “felt lame after the final hurdle”.

10-year-old French horse Class Conti who “stumbled and fell” and was “fatally injured” in the “Colm Quinn BMW Handicap Chase” race.

9-year-old Irish horse Ten Ten who was “fatally injured”. He was pulled up during the “Palmerstown House Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase” race. See footage at https://twitter.com/watch_welfare/status/1520428954536009733

The identity of the sixth horse who died is currently unknown.

Among the other horses who burst blood vessels during races at the Punchestown festival were

Only Sky (Specialist Joinery Group Handicap Hurdle, 28 April 2022). According to the Racing Post, “vet said filly had blood at both nostrils post-race”.

Best Behavior who weakened and dropped to the rear during the Dooley Insurance Group Cross Country Chase on 30 April. A vet noted that the horse “had blood at the nostrils post race”.

French horse Five O’Clock who was pulled up, with the jockey saying that “gelding burst a blood vessel”

During RTE’s coverage of the festival, viewers were left disgusted when horse trainer and racing pundit Ted Walsh berated a horse who refused to jump one of the obstacles in the 3-mile “Dooley Insurance Group Cross Country Chase” race on 30 April.

He described the horse as “a dirty, rotten so and so” and in a disturbing follow-up comment, he added: “Jasus, I’ll tell you one thing – a hiding wouldn’t be good enough for him.”

In a replay of the clip of the horse, Transprint, refusing the obstacle, Ted Walsh repeated: “Look at the dirty, rotten so and so. God, he’s a chicken-hearted so and so, a dirty, rotten, cowardly so and so.”

See RTE Racing footage at https://youtu.be/ue4WIWZXmTI

In relation to French horse “Somptueux” who was pulled up during the same race, Walsh commented: “I’D HAVE WHIPPED HIM IN UP THE ROAD”. A race commentator had earlier said that the horse (carrying Rachael Blackmore) was “really not enjoying it” and “doesn’t want to be here”. According to a report in the Racing Post, the 7-year-old horse “didn’t jump well”.

There are growing calls on RTE to drop horse trainer Ted Walsh from its panel of racing pundits.

Among those who condemned the comments are Green Party Senator and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Pippa Hackett. In a tweet on 2 May 2022, she stated: “This is completely unacceptable commentary from Ted Walsh on @RTEsport. I don’t think anyone in racing or bloodstock could condone the use of this sort of language in relation to a horse. It does nothing for Irish racing.”

We in the Irish Council Against Blood are well aware of the cruelty in horse racing, which mirrors the cruel greyhound racing industry, and these comments by Ted Walsh are very disturbing in that they convey the attitude of some racing people to horses that don’t do their bidding. What is even more worrying, given his nasty attitude to an unfortunate horse who didn’t want to jump an obstacle, is that Ted Walsh is a trainer with horses in his care.

The latest six fatalities at Punchestown follow the deaths of three horses who were used at Punchestown on 16 January 2022.

The dead horses were 8-year-old Farrawaybay who fell during the 1.45pm race and 7-year-old Montagne D’argent who fell during the 3:50pm “Total Event Rental” race. Also confirmed dead was 7-year-old Irish horse, Getaway’n’dance who was used in a race earlier in the day.

Since then, three more horses raced at Punchestown have been confirmed dead. They were: 5-year-old Irish horse, Cratloe Hill who was used in racing at Punchestown on 31 January 2022, The Dreams Alive who fell during a 23 February 2022 race and Brace Yourself who fell during a race on 13 February.

ACTION ALERT

Don’t bet on horse racing or greyhound racing or attend racing events.

Contact RTE and complain about Ted Walsh’s disgusting comments. Urge RTE’s Director General Dee Forbes and the head of RTE Sport, Declan McBennett, to drop Ted Walsh from its panel of racing pundits.

Dee Forbes
Director General, RTE
Tel: +353 (0)1 208 3111
Email: dee.forbes@rte.ie

Declan McBennett
Group Head of Sport
RTÉ Sport
Tel: 01 2082217
Email: Declan.McBennett@rte.ie

Make an official complaint to RTE.

RTE Complaints
3rd Floor Admin Building
RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
Email: complaints@rte.ie

Find out more about making a complaint at https://about.rte.ie/contact/complaints/

Since 2001, the Irish Government has granted more than €1.5 Billion of scarce public funds to horse and greyhound racing. That’s €1,240 million for horse racing and €309 million for greyhound racing.

Contact Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to these two gambling activities which cause much suffering and death to animals. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@finance.gov.ie
Tel: 01 604 5626
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please write your own personal letter)

Dear Deputy,

I am writing to urge you to please oppose any further funding to horse and greyhound racing.

The Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund has channelled more than €1.5 Billion of scarce public funds into the gambling activities over the past two decades.

Much of the money given to horse racing ends up as prize money in the pockets of wealthy horse owners and trainers, while the funding for greyhound racing continues despite revelations about obscene cruelty and killing and calls for a ban.

If you saw the “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary, you will understand why there should be absolutely no support given to this shameful industry. The programme revealed that around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win. We were shown horrifying scenes of greyhounds being delivered to knackeries to be shot in the head. One dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

The programme also highlighted the illegal practice of doping dogs to make them run faster or slower to influence the outcomes of races. Also shown were greyhounds with their ears chopped off or burned with acid (to remove identity tattoos before being dumped) and the hellholes that await Irish greyhounds exported to China and Pakistan.

A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Greyhound Action Ireland shows that two out of every three Irish adults want the government to stop funding greyhound racing [66% Agree, 16% Disagree, 18% Don’t Know] Petitions urging the government to stop the funding have attracted over 400,000 signatures.

It is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE that public funds have been pumped into horse and greyhound racing. It is time for this to be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Address]

Email the letter to all Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs.

Fianna Fáil TDs

john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Fine Gael TDs

JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie;
ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Sinn Fein TDs

john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Labour Party TDs

sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie

Irish Government grants to horse racing

2001 €47,110,330
2002 €54,452,651
2003 €51,348,800
2004 €53,531,200
2005 €54,680,000
2006 €56,047,000
2007 €58,539,000
2008 €61,028,800
2009 €54,502,000
2010 €47,411,200
2011 €45,830,000
2012 €45,032,000
2013 €44,016,000
2014 €43,376,000
2015 €54,400,000
2016 €59,200,000
2017 €64,000,000
2018 €64,000,000
2019 €67,200,000
2020 €67,200,000
2021 €76,800,000
2022 €70,400,000

Total: €1,240,104,981 / €1,240 million / €1.24 billion

Irish Government grants to greyhound racing

2001 €11,777,583
2002 €13,613,163
2003 €12,837,200
2004 €13,382,800
2005 €13,670,000
2006 €14,012,000
2007 €14,572,000
2008 €15,257,000
2009 €13,625,600
2010 €11,852,800
2011 €11,460,000
2012 €11,258,000
2013 €11,004,000
2014 €10,844,000
2015 €13,600,000
2016 €14,800,000
2017 €16,000,000
2018 €16,000,000
2019 €16,800,000
2020 €16,800,000
2021 €19,200,000
2022 €17,600,000

Total: €309,966,146 / €309 million / €0.309 billion

Source: Department of Agriculture