NEW DATA SHOWS the number of horses dying within a month of a race in the multimillion-euro racing industry reached more than 240 last year.

However, fewer than half of the death toll is counted by the industry as a race day death, due to current industry policy which requires an animal to die within 48 hours of participating in a race, prompting concern from animal welfare campaigners.

It comes as the industry regulator says it’s engaging with two racecourses over deaths at their tracks last year.

This includes a review into a spate of horses dying in the days following a racing week at Listowel racecourse in Co Kerry.

The industry figure of 111 deaths last year – which is lower than the actual toll – means that the total number has reached into triple figures every year for more than a decade.

When contacted, industry representatives and the racecourses defended themselves. 

Punchestown pointed to how it has invested millions to improve its track, while also not recording a death at its racecourse in a recent busy four-month period which saw 943 horses take to the track. 

However, figures it provided to The Journal still showed that more than 80 horses were unable to complete a race having either ‘fell’ or ‘pulled up to exit’ – with the “unusually heavy” ground blamed by the course after a wet winter.

In Britain, some racecourses have had to suspend events for over a year after a high fatality rate was recorded at their tracks.

One track, Southwell in the British midlands, was closed after it recorded eight deaths in a six-week period in 2020. Another, Sedgefield near Newcastle, has also seen a number of interventions over the past 15 years.

The most recent closure at Southwell happened in 2022 when it recorded two fatalities in a single day.

One of the country’s most famous race tracks, Punchestown in Co Kildare, saw 17 horses die within a month of taking part in a race across last year’s events. Campaigners have said this number raises questions about how the industry categorises deaths at tracks.

A race day death is categorised by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) as such when it occurs within 48 hours after the horse ran a race.

Using this measurement, there were 111 racecourse track deaths in 2023. With 33,542 runners, it amounts to an average fatality rate of 0.3%.

The year before, in 2022, there were 107 horse fatalities at Irish racecourses, and in 2021 there were 113.

However, The Journal has found there to have been at least 140 more deaths recorded as happening in the month following a horse’s participation in a race last year. At least half of these occurred within a week of the race event. 

Despite that proximity to the horse competing at an official raceday, the deaths are not included in the final tally for last year by the industry.

The deaths are published by Horse Racing Ireland and detailed information about each animal’s racing record and ownership is carried in publicly accessible trade media.

The Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB) told The Journal that it is engaging with the management of both Listowel and Punchestown over the deaths at the tracks last year. It said it has also spoken with other racecourses in relation to fatalities at their tracks.

The difficulty in accessing the figures 

Campaigners have also criticised the level of transparency in the industry around the issue, with the IHRB, HRI, Punchestown and Listowel either unable or declining to provide figures on deaths at specific racecourses.

Industry sources who spoke to The Journal said that a high number of fatal injuries can due to various factors.

These include how Ireland has more jump racing than flat racing, which has been found to be riskier. 

Other factors can include a higher number of horses running in a given race. Some safety measures introduced at courses in the UK in recent years include the painting of different obstacles which have a better chance of being visible to a horse.

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who has submitted numerous queries about the industry in the Dáil over recent years, told The Journal that he believes there is “effectively an understatement of the number of deaths” as a result of how the industry counts the figures.

He said an independent investigation is required to study the number of deaths which may be attributable to a race outside of the 48-hour timeframe.

“Horse racing is in receipt of significant public money, up to €60 million a year these days, so there needs to be full transparency about the sport,” Murphy said.

The response from the industry

The IHRB said it is not in a position to provide information on a course-by-course basis but said it was able to provide figures for the combined number of runners at Punchestown and Listowel in 2023. The figure came to 2,782.

Figures show that there were 814 runners at Listowel last year, but with seven deaths occurring in the space of a five-day period in September, it meant that the track’s fatality rate was 0.85. This was more than twice the average fatality rate seen across Irish racecourses last year. 

When Listowel racecourse was contacted, it declined to provide figures on the number of runners or fatalities. 

“The company very much regrets any equine fatality and the company is currently engaging in a review with IHRB in relation to the September Race Meeting,” it said.

A spokesperson for Punchestown racecourse told The Journal that it takes horse welfare “extremely seriously and all possible measures are taken to ensure” animal safety during competition. 

The course had a total of 1,968 horses compete at Punchestown last year but the spokesperson said that it was unable to provide figures on fatalities, adding that it requires consultation with veterinary staff and licensed trainers.

“Therefore that detail is not available to us,” the spokesperson said.

According to figures collected by The Journal, there were no deaths within 48 hours of a race last year. However, there were 17 deaths within a month of a race – one of the highest in the country.

Punchestown says it ‘does not take welfare for granted’ 

After this was put to Punchestown Racecourse, its manager Richie Galway replied and stressed that standard industry practice is to record deaths that occurred within 48 hours of a horse racing. 

He added that it seemed “unfair to attribute with any certainty the deaths of horses directly” as a result of their participation in a race at Punchestown, as the deaths fell outside the 48-hour period.

“In any case, we do record, analyse and react to any injury that we know happened on our track,” he said, and the work in relation to track improvement and animal welfare is an ongoing process. Some of the recent investments in that regard include the investment of €1.5m in a track development, drainage and widening project to provide additional racing ground, and the installation of a “state of the art” irrigation system to provide a safe surface in dry conditions.

Galway said the course has also created improved access for both veterinary and ambulance emergency vehicles.

“What we can measure accurately is the location and obstacles that we have incidents/fallers around the track. We do this on a constant basis and react where we deem necessary.”

He said that an analysis carried out on events between October last to February of this year shows a 91% completion rate from a total of 943 runners.

This means that 84 horses did not complete the race in that four-month period.

Punchestown’s data recorded this being due to 6%, or 56 horses, pulling up before completing the course. Galway said this was due ground being “unusually heavy” following a wet winter.

The remaining 3%, or 28 horses, had fallen and were not able to complete the events at Punchestown.

According to the Punchestown data, none of these horses were recorded as a death by the industry measurement of 48 hours.

Galway told The Journal that the course does not “take welfare for granted” and hates to see animals injured on the track.

[We] strive constantly to minimise them. We are also very aware that if trainers see an increase in injuries to their horses following runs at Punchestown, they will not maintain their support of our track.

The IHRB said it initiated a large-scale scientific analysis in 2022 which is to assist it in better understanding racecourse injuries at each of the 26 racecourses in Ireland and the “associated risk factors” so it can mitigate the risk of injury in the future.