charity should begin at home.

​I am a fierce defender of our sport and I would hope when I level criticism at the B.H.A. and others it is a demonstration of how much I care about the past, present and future of the sport. For many years I was critical of the after-care that was in place for ex-racehorses and had several letters published on the subject in the Sporting Life and in the early years of the Racing Post. Thankfully, not because of any comments of mine, I admit, it is a situation that has remarkedly improved during the past decade.
What does irk me, though, and this will make me seem a real old grouch, which perhaps I am, is how the sport can raise millions of pounds for human-based charities through designated race-days, as at York with their cancer charity meeting in June and in Ireland the cancer charity in the name of the late and much missed Pat Smullen. I am not suggesting these money-raising days should be jettisoned. I just wish the industry could achieve similar amounts of donations for equine charities.
Yes, Newbury has a day’s racing dedicated to the Greatwood charity and there are other related racing days for similar causes. But nothing that goes anywhere close to emulating York’s charity day.
2024 might be a good time to start to place our house in order on this subject. When it comes to defending our sport against those who wish the sport to go the way of badger-baiting and cock-fighting we are always on the back foot. It does the sport no favours that the B.H.A. is a reactive body and not proactive. Instead of being on top of developing problems the B.H.A. always lags behind and to catch-up they will latch on to any proposal that fools the public into believing they have everything in hand.
‘From Birth to Death’ is a heart-warming initiative but it has to be delivered in full. No ex-racehorse should end up in a general slaughterhouse. Racehorses are the heartbeat and soul of the sport and deserve to be treated as royally as is practically possible right till the moment of their last breath.
The equine charities of this country should never be allowed to be sort of funds and it is the duty of everyone who derives their living off the back of their efforts and sacrifices to ensure they have funds beyond the amount required for day-to-day expenses. If only a fraction of a per-cent of the purchase price of every horse sold at auction during the year could be donated to equine charities the sport might be able to finance retirement homes fit for ex-racehorses.
I have suggested to deaf ears that the Grand National might be linked to equine charities to help horses in trouble and at risk at home and abroad. Why can’t the powers-that-be understand that our Achilles heel is horse welfare? Remember the song and the film ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ That’s the opinion of Animal Rising and other critics have of our sport. Every horse that dies on our racecourses is manna to them. They rejoice in going on social media armed with the latest death and paint us as horse murderers fuelled by cruel hearts. We cannot prevent death on the racecourse. It is always a tragedy; it is a part of life. We hate it; we regret it, but ultimately it is something that is out of our capabilities to prevent. Ensuring no ex-racehorses suffers neglect is within our reach. Ensuring every retiring racehorse has a life outside of the racehorse is part and parcel of our duty of care.
The public must be given the opportunity to witness that our kindness to racehorses extends to their years beyond the racecourse. We can only achieve this aspiration if the funds are in place for equine charities to be able to extend their good work. I know it is now a dead duck but a fifth-day at the Cheltenham Festival could have been a day dedicated to raising funds for equine charities. ‘Super Saturday’ might be linked to the same cause.
Charity begins at home. Let’s get some unity amongst the factions and aspire to raise huge amounts of money every year so all our brave heroes are rewarded with a secure and happy retirement. Why can’t we organise ourselves to show the rest of the world how much we care about the horses that are pivotal to the earning potential of every human who works in the industry.
If it is good publicity to raise money for cancer research, why can’t it be good publicity to raise similar amounts of cash to support equine charities? Many times, we are our own worst enemies!