A second horse, HMS Seahorse has died at this year’s Cheltenham Festival after sustaining a fatal injury, reinforcing calls by national animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports for a public boycott and government intervention.
It brings the death toll at the Cheltenham Festival to 80 horses since the turn of the century with Animal Aid figures showing a horse dying at every single festival since the year 2000.
The death of HMS Seahorse follows the death of Hansard earlier in this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
At last year’s festival there were also two deaths, Springwell Bay being the first casualty before Corbetts Cross died in the festival’s flagship Gold Cup event.
Emma Slawinski, chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “Every year horses are raced to their deaths at the Cheltenham Festival and while the death of HMS Seahorse will sadden all animal lovers, tragically it is not a surprise.
“The death toll of 80 horses at Cheltenham festival since the turn of the century is simply staggering.
“If this death toll happened in any other sport there would be a huge outcry so why is it any different for horses.”
Emma added: “We are calling on the public to boycott the Cheltenham Festival by staying away, not betting on the races or watching the ITV coverage and advertising which accompanies it.
“The government promised the biggest boost for animal welfare in a generation and now it needs to deliver by tackling the terrible death toll at Cheltenham and introducing tighter safety measures in horse racing and banning the use of the whip.