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British Racing Launches New Campaign to Address Welfare Concerns

A new communications campaign, HorsePWR, has been launched by British racing, designed to share and promote the facts around welfare in horseracing.

HorsePWR will have its own dedicated website to provide information about the sport and the thoroughbred, the lives they lead and the high welfare and safety standards within racing. The website also explores the areas that racing has committed to improve, from reducing risk on and off the racecourse to better supporting horses when they leave the sport.

The campaign has been led by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Great British Racing (GBR) and racing's Horse Welfare Board (HWB), with additional funding provided by the Jockey Club.

Kinross-based National Hunt trainer Lucinda Russell said of HorsePWR, “This is just what racing needs. We must provide the facts, help educate and confront the tough questions head on. The facts matter. We understand our responsibility and respect our horses and we want to make sure the public know this too.

“It's good to see us taking a new approach, showing pride in the lives we give our horses and challenging and correcting inaccurate information which is put into the public domain by those who are opposed to the sport.”

Robin Mounsey, BHA head of communications and HWB member, added, “The HorsePWR campaign sees the sport take a new approach when it comes to talking about welfare. It is about being up-front, open and transparent. It is about tackling head-on the elements of the sport that we know are areas of concern and providing information to educate and reassure.

“Those who work in the sport are rightly proud of our record and standards when it comes to welfare. This campaign provides a platform to allow those connected with the sport to share their pride. It will be aimed at racing's current and potential fans, seeking to ensure that future generations of racing followers are not lost to the sport due to negative perceptions around the welfare issues which are tackled by this campaign.”

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‘He’s just Dad to me but to other jockeys he’s a God!’: Graham Lee won the Grand National on Amberleigh House 20 years ago. Now paralysed from the neck down after a horror fall, his family and racing greats have raised £200,000 for his care

DOMINIC KING: Lee holds a place in racing that will be his alone for time ever more, the only man to partner the winner of the world's greatest race and then switch codes to win Royal Ascot's Gold Cup.

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Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Thursday, April 4

Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Thursday's meetings at Lingfield, Warwick, Southwell and Wolverhampton.

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Street Boss Colt Tops Texas Sale

A colt by Street Boss (hip 28), one of six to share the furlong bullet of :10 1/5 during the under-tack preview show Monday, topped the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale when bringing a final bid of $265,000 from Tracy Williams Wednesday at Lone Star Park. The Texas-bred juvenile, the first foal out of Gemmizell (Gemologist), was consigned by Pike Racing at Highlander.

“To be honest, when we came here, we thought he would be one of the better ones,” said consignor Al Pike. “You never know if you're going to top the sale or not, but we thought he would be one of the better horses because he's shown that he was a pretty special horse at the farm.”

Of the colt's final price, Pike admitted, “I wasn't expecting that kind of price. At any market, when you bring a horse who looks like he's the real deal, they usually bring some money. So I was very pleased that he showed up and did his job. And there were some very good judges of horseflesh here and they appreciated what we brought.”

The dark bay colt was purchased for $72,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Sale.

“[Trainer] Scottie Gelner picked him out as a yearling and he did a great job of picking him out,” Pike said.

Pike Racing, which was bringing its first group of horses to sale from its new base at Highlander Training Center, sent eight horses through the ring Wednesday. The consignment was represented by four of the six horses to work the bullet furlong Monday.

“This is our first year partnering with Highlander Training Center,” Pike said. “The facility has been good to us and, by the breeze show, you can tell they came from a good place. We broke all of these horses there and they came in here and did a good job. I'm very proud of our team at Highlander and all of the people involved there.”

Pike continued, “I am from Texas and we try to bring a nice group here every year because this is home. We try to bring horses who fit this market and we think we did a pretty good job. These are all client horses, but luckily they sent us some nice horses and they performed well. And for the most part, they sold pretty well.”

Hip 28 was one of three at the one-session auction to bring six figures Wednesday. Whispering Oaks Farm, Coteau Grove Farms, Jackpot Farm and Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt teamed up to purchase a filly by Vino Rosso (hip 26) for $170,000 from AsmussenEquine.com and the same partnership returned later in the session to acquire a filly by Cinco Charlie (hip 49) for $100,000 from Asmussen Horse Center.

From a catalogue of 130 horses, 64 horses sold for a total of $2,199,500. The average was $34,367 and the median was $24,500. With 49 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 43.4%.

At last year's Texas sale, 107 head sold for $3,470,500. The average was $32,435 and the median was $17,500. The buy-back rate was 35.9%.

“It's like everything else, it is kind of hit or miss,” Pike said of the market at Lone Star Park Wednesday. “There were some new people here–there was some money for good horses. We were fielding calls from as far away as Kentucky and California on horses and they were watching their breezes. When you've got a good horse, it's hard to keep it a secret.”

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