BHA express sympathy after six horses die at Cheltenham Festival

The BHA on Friday night expressed sympathy to the connections of the six horses who lost their lives at the Cheltenham Festival this week.

In addition, racing’s rulers will examine whether existing penalties for misuse of the whip are an adequate deterrent to jockeys after five riders at the meeting - three of them amateurs - broke the rules in winning races.

On Friday, Richard Johnson, the champion jockey, was banned for seven days and fined £6,550 for using his whip above the permitted level on Gold Cup winner Native River.

Tremendous action over the four days of the meeting, featuring 462 horses, was marred by the heavy death toll.

There were two fatalities on the first day of the meeting - Mossback, trained by Gordon Elliott, and Report To Base (Evan Williams) were lost after falls - and four more perished in front of a sellout crowd of more than 70,000 on Friday.

Sandsend (Willie Mullins) had to be put down after appearing to lose his footing between the final two flights in the County Hurdle, while Dresden (Henry Oliver), Some Plan (Henry De Bromhead) and North Hill Harvey (Dan Skelton) died following falls in the Grand Annual Chase, which was the final race on the card.

Johnson, in the lead on Native River, was fined and banned for breaching the whip rules in the Gold Cup (PA)

In addition, several horses needed attention for varying levels of heat exhaustion. All quickly recovered.

“I must first express my sympathy towards to all those who will have loved and cared for the horses who suffered fatal injuries this week," Jamie Stier, Chief Regulatory Officer for the BHA, said in a statement.

"Everyone who follows this sport does so because we love these fine animals and it is extremely sad when we lose any horse.

“The BHA will be reviewing the circumstances leading to the fatalities at the Cheltenham Festival.

“We will examine the evidence from the past week over the next few days before deciding how we will pursue the review.

“We continue to use research, safety measures, regulation and education to reduce fatality rates to as close to zero as possible. This is what has contributed to the overall fatality rate within British racing reducing by a third in the last 20 years, and the fatality rate in Jump racing reducing to below 0.4% of runners.”

It had been believed that a rare soft-ground Festival would make for safer conditions for all competitors, but it did not prove the case.

Snow in the build-up to the meeting, followed by rain this week, made for testing, tacky ground. And on Friday alone, at least 13 horses lost shoes.

Harry Skelton, the rider of North Hill Harvey, went to hospital for a check-up on Friday evening before being released.

Ruby Walsh was also hurt on Wednesday, aggravating a leg injury. He will see a specialist next week to find out the extent of the damage.

On the issue of the whip, which it should be stressed was not connected with the deaths, Stier said: “We will be examining whether the existing penalties for misuse of the whip, and how they apply, constitute an adequate deterrent to jockeys.”

First prize for winning the Gold Cup was almost £370,000 compared to £139,000 for second.