A GRAVEYARD FOR HORSES.

​This will seem plenty dumb to the majority and perhaps impractical to others. I shall proceed, though, as I believe the idea, if taken seriously and debated in a similar manner, has the potential for changing hearts and minds in the world outside of racing.
I have long – campaigned is too strong a term – railed against the continued use of famous names, Coolmore’s use of Spanish Steps being such an example, and this piece is on similar lines.
The names of horses, especially those of our youth, are more than just names, they are strands of memory and building blocks of racing history. The name Spanish Steps links to Edward Courage, The Dikler, Captain Christy, Bobby Beasley, Red Rum, Crisp, L’Escargot etc. To reuse such names, names of horses that won important races such as the Hennessey, Ebor, Cambridgeshire, Royal Hunt Cup, any race at the Cheltenham Festival as examples, is to mix and mingle strands of racing history and to excite those of us who think it disrespectful, and in my case downright lazy when the possible names for horses is literally endless, to the horse, its connections and I would go as far as to claim the long-standing racing public.
Quite recently, after reading about the Irish National Stud and the ‘Living Legends’ that live in retirement there, I suggested British racing is missing a golden opportunity in not having a similar establishment. The Irish National Stud has a famed Oriental garden and people go there as much for that as for the horses.
It seems to me a perfect sort of venue to publicise British racing to an audience that might not be comprised solely of racing people, especially if the British version had an attraction not connected to racing as with the Irish National Stud’s oriental garden. Of course, it should have the British equivalent of the Irish Living Legends – Moscow Flyer, Hurricane Fly, Beef and Salmon to name but three – in retirement there. Can you imagine the draw horses of the calibre of Cue Card and Sprinter Sacre if they spent their summers at such a venue? Australia have such a place, America, too.
I also suggest such a venue might provide a resting place for all great horses. It may seem macabre to some, and perhaps downright silly to the cynics amongst us, to think anyone might be interested in the burial site of former racehorses. But that is not wholly the point of the exercise.
Believe me, I live outside of racing and people ignorant of racing believe racing people to be without sentiment, that they use horses for their own entertainment and for the purpose of gambling. If I campaign – again the word is a little strong for what impact I achieve – it is for the respect for the horse to be from birth to beyond death. Respect must not be couched in empty phrases said to impress.
The remains of Red Rum are to found near the winning post at Aintree; people regularly visit his grave, some even leave flowers. Fool-hardy romantic that I am, I believe a good number of people would like to do the same where Denman is buried or Kauto Star. If an equine cemetery were created at the British equivalent to the Irish National Stud we, the British racing establishment, would be making a brave and I hope heartfelt statement to racing’s critics – we respect the horse from birth to beyond death.
If such a place had existed for a hundred years imagine the horses that might be assembled there – Brown Jack, Persian Punch, Mill House, Foinavon – look the list is lengthy, the memories extraordinary.
I realise the establishment of such a venue, with stabling and pasture for the ‘Living Legends’, the creation of an arboretum, garden or park, the fuss and bother environment agencies make when it comes to the burial of horses, will be expensive and not done in a day. But such a venue would allow British racing to engage with people who might be paying at the gate to see the flowers, trees, wildlife and fauna and without being aware of it are also witness to a side of racing they did not know existed.