Southwell

I would be surprised if any racing fan hadn't had some sort of say on this story, this is difficult however and the mud slinging or blame game has turned this subject into something of a no go zone. Within a month of racing's resumption, six horses had tragically lost their lives whilst racing at Southwell on the National Hunt course. The BHA appeared on the ball, they initiated an investigation into the matter and by this point my take should stop.... Though it doesn't, because Southwell staged a card on Thursday and two more horses were added to the list of fatalities, taking the total to eight.

Personally, given the sensitive nature of the subject, I lack the appetite to start pointing fingers and upsetting people. My immediate thoughts are with those most affected - the lads and lasses, trainers and owners, now minus horses they had dedicated so much time, care, attention and love to. Questioning the level of wisdom involved in running horses at a venue already being investigated would appear fairly legitimate, had I been an owner I think I would have bypassed Southwell although that is easy for me to say. And what about the BHA and officials at the venue, should we now take aim at the policing body for allowing a card to be staged given the circumstances?

This whole episode is a sorry mess, my overwhelming feeling is that racing on Thursday should not have happened.... Surely the most sensible course of action would have been to cancel jumps racing at Southwell until the findings of the investigation were complete. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, racehorses need to race. The current climate has probably forced trainers into preparing their horses as quickly as possible given the amount of racing and opportunities to race which have been lost, and you could understand that. Ultimately I feel there now has to be an investigation within an investigation, I can't see how heads fail to roll and unfortunately.... I truly believe that once more, the BHA have shown themselves to be incapable of showing the strong leadership qualities that racing so requires. For the record, future national hunt cards at the Nottinghamshire based venue have now been cancelled pending the results of that investigation.