The death of a horse in an Adelaide steeplechase has rekindled the debate on banning the controversial sport. The horse, Virvacity, stumbled on landing at a jump on the back straight during the second and final lap in the Von Doussa Steeplechase at the Oakbank Easter racing carnival on Saturday.
Horse death in controversial sport
The 10-year-old gelding Virvacity broke its shoulder and was subsequently put down.
The 10-year-old gelding broke its shoulder and was subsequently put down.
Jockey Trent Well was not badly injured but was sent to the Royal Adelaide hospital for observation.
Oakbank Racing Club Chairman John Glatz said the death was unfortunate. "We do everything to make sure we have the safest possible race," he told AAP. Mr Glatz said these measures included growing softer jumping hedges to make jumps racing easier on the horses. "They allow for any error to be corrected," he said.
RSPCA spokeswoman Jennifer Salter said an RSPCA inspector was at the scene and did not observe any breaches of law. However the organisation was still against the sport.
"What we are saying is the fall is further evidence that jumps racing is dangerous," Ms Salter told AAP on Saturday. "Till horses stop falling we'll continue to campaign to have it banned."
South Australian Greens MP Tammy Franks has called for a ban on the sport after the similar death of horse Jotilla in the Victorian Sandown steeplechase event in March.
"If the industry cannot self-regulate to stop the carnage then perhaps the courts will," she said in a statement.