Further implications It seems highly unlikely that calls to ban horse racing in Australia will be successful. The sport is economically and socially important and remains popular with racegoers and punters. Calls to have racing generally banned are very recent and seem to have been in large part triggered by high profile horse deaths at two consecutive Melbourne Cups. There has, however, been a concerted campaign to have jumps racing abolished over many years. This form of racing is only conducted in Victoria and South Australia and attracts lesser crowds. It has a significantly higher fatality and injury rate. It seems likely that if any racing-related sport is to be immanently banned it will be this. Though in the aftermath of the current controversy that may be less likely as flat racing compares well to jumps racing from a safety point of view and is therefore easier to defend. There may also be concern within the industry that were jumps racing to be banned, then animal liberationists would be motivated and free to direct their full attention toward flats racing. Despite claims that the two horse deaths after the Melbourne Cup were ‘freakish’, it is likely that there will be even greater efforts to ensure that risks are minimized in subsequent years. Such highly publicised fatalities are very unfortunate for the industry, particularly from a public relations viewpoint. Within a day of Araldo’s death, Victorian race officials had moved to restrict the size of the flags that can be brought onto the track. The future of the industry appears to lie with ever more sophisticated measures to gauge the wellbeing of a horse prior to racing. The further question of what happens to the thousands of horses annually retired from the industry remains a vexed one. In the absence of secure figures on the number of horses that end their lives at knackeries it is difficult to speak confidently of the dimensions of the problem. There is a livestock identification scheme operating in Australia which enables the full tracking of tagged animals up to their slaughter. It has been argued that a similar program should be put in place for horses, especially those previously used for racing, so that their ultimate fates can be determined with greater certainty. It might also be in the industry’s best interests to respond positively to the call from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses for a retirement fund to be established to secure the futures of unwanted racehorses. Internationally horse racing is in decline. Part of the problem for horseracing is the proliferation of other forms of gambling and the ease with which modern technology allows bets to be placed on almost anything. The increasing urbanisation of the United States and Australia, which has reduced followers immediate contact with and knowledge of horses, is said to be likely to cause a further decline. Equally, the urbanisation of the Australian population is likely to make people more sensitive to horse deaths. The public perception of the sport is likely to have been tarnished by the recent high profile fatalities. Questions about jockey welfare and remuneration also have to be addressed. Jockeys are not the well-paid superstars that most prominent sports men and women are and yet the risks they individually face are said to be greater than those confronted by professional boxers. |