Horse Racing Ireland has this week confirmed the death of a horse who died after suffering an horrendous fall in a race 1 YEAR AND NINE MONTHS AGO.
In its latest Calendar Supplement publication (29 February 2024), HRI lists Elusive Rain among the horses who are "now dead".
The 5-year-old horse was fatally injured after falling in a race at Killarney Racecourse on 15 May 2022. That's 656 days before Horse Racing Ireland finally confirmed the death.
The horse, whose owner is listed as Cathal Byrnes, was carrying jockey Phillip Enright when he fell.
Shocking video footage captured the moment the unfortunate horse fell head-first into the ground. He managed to get up but he had clearly sustained an horrific injury, with a broken leg dangling. Three men ran towards him, waving their arms and trying to catch him. The race continued and jockeys could be seen whipping their horses past the disturbing scene https://youtu.be/sywQlnEH0bA
The UK's Racing Post website noted at the time that the horse fell in the "Seamus Weldon John Deere Maiden Hurdle" race and was "fatally injured".
In stark contrast, the Horse Racing Ireland website notes only that he fell. There is no mention of the fatal injury.
On a profile page on the Horse Racing Ireland website, there is no indication that Elusive Rain had been killed that day. The page just shows that he was born in 2017 and had one "notable win in Ireland (in terms of prize-money)". That was in his first race at Cork Racecourse on 9th July 2021.
Two weeks later, he was used in the "Monami Construction (Q.R.) Maiden" race at Galway Racecourse where he "weakened quickly" and finished last.
The following month, he was raced at Roscommon Racecourse (16 August 2021) where he was "always towards rear" and finished third last.
Elusive Rain was not the only horse to fall in the 15 May 2022 race at Killarney Racecourse. In the same race, Good Girl Robin also fell. She survived but less than two months later on 8 July 2022, she fell in a race at Cork Racecourse and was later confirmed dead.
Also dead is 7-year-old Ardla whose final race was at Killarney Racecourse on 15 May 2022.
At Killarney Racecourse, the next day, 6-year-old horse Second Phase finished lame in the “PitchSupplies.ie Flat Race”. This horse was also confirmed dead.
They are among an ever growing list of horse racing victims.
Find out more about race horse deaths at
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/horses-confirmed-dead-following-races-at-irish-racecourses/
Visit Animal Aid's Horse Death Watch websites
https://www.horsedeathwatch.com/
https://irishhorsedeathwatch.com/
ACTION ALERT
Don’t attend races or bet on racing.
Why you should say NO to horse racing – download and distribute the leaflet https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2023/08/05/new-leaflet-why-you-should-say-no-to-horse-racing
Demand an end to the government’s massive grants to horse and greyhound racing – more than €1.7 Billion (€1,736,071,127) handed over since 2001, including €95 million for 2024. Contact the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Finance Minister now.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Tanaiste Micheál Martin TD
Email: 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/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Michael McGrath TD
Minister for Finance
Email: michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; minister@per.gov.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michael.mcgrath.1614
X: http://twitter.com/mmcgrathtd
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
2023 €72,800,000
2024 €76,000,000
TOTAL: €1,388,904,981
(€1.38 Billion)
Source: Department of Agriculture
Watch the BBC Panorama documentary “The Dark Side of Horse Racing”
https://youtu.be/VlpQhJFd5Bo
#YouBetTheyDie Don't support horse racing