Ban call after death race

By Kath Gannaway
CALLS for the banning of jumps races is mounting after the death of a horse in a hurdle race at Yarra Glen on Sunday.
Families attending the Thanks Mate Day at the Yarra Valley Racing Centre watched in horror as Hanging Rock crashed to the ground, breaking its right front leg after stumbling on the last hurdle.
The crash happened just a couple of hundred metres from the main stand and in full view of the crowd.
A number of people, including one Yarra Ranges councillor, left the event, distressed as the horse bolted, trying to maintain its balance before being marshalled behind a screen and destroyed.
The death of Hanging Rock, trained by Cranbourne trainer Pat Hyland, is the fourth jumps fatality in four days. Hanging Rock was hailed on the Hyland website as a “superior wet tracker”.
“Considering the rain we have had yesterday, today looks promising for another winner. Fingers crossed!” the website reads.
The five-year-old had also been accepted to run at Warrnambool on 6 and 7 May.
Ward Young, spokesman for the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, told the Mail this latest incident proved the review of jumps racing conducted last year by Judge David Jones and the recommendations which have been put in place are not working.
“After three reviews since 2001 and the death toll and falls skyrocketing, it could not be clearer that jumps racing cannot be made safe,” he said.
“Rob Hulls (Victorian Racing Minister) recognised there was a problem and said last year he was putting the racing industry on notice in regard to jumps racing.
“He must stand by his word and take action immediately,” he said.
Healesville mother of three Ellen Largue added her voice to the call to ban the practice.
Mrs Largue was attending the Thanks Mate event with her family, including three children.
She said she would never have attended had she known it was a jumps meeting.
“I was furious, first that they ran a jumps race on a family day, and simply because there is no need for this type of racing at all,” she said.
“Our children saw it happen and there was a barrage of questions about why the horse had to die and why they are making horses jump in the rain,” she said.
“It ruined the whole day. We left,” she said.
Mrs Largue said the reaction from the families around her was one of horror.
“People were upset, crying and of course the kids were seeing all this and asking what was wrong with the horse.”
Two more races were run before the last three races were called off because of the wet track.
Head steward Mark Hill told the Mail an investigation would be held into the incident by Racing Victoria’s Jumping Review Panel on Wednesday.
He said he could not comment on the circumstances, only that it was not in dispute that the horse had fallen and broke its leg.
“The horse had been jumping reasonably well, other than that I can’t say any more,” he added.
He said it was obvious the horse was running out of touch with the jumps.
“He had negotiated his jumps quite well, unfortunately, for whatever reason, he didn’t meet the last jump as he would have liked to,” he added.