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Young horse rider weighs in on welfare perception

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Mon, 16 Sep 2019, 4:38PM
Photo / Getty

Young horse rider weighs in on welfare perception

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Mon, 16 Sep 2019, 4:38PM

Does horse racing have an image problem on its hands?

Top trainer Shaune Ritchie thinks so, and told Mike Hosking this morning that perhaps it's time to scale back the use of the whip, or the riding crop.

"What they see is horses coming down the home straight and being hit with the whip in the last 200 metres of the race, and it looks like it's for their entertainment and for us gamblers, and that perception is what we've got  to lose."

Luke Kemeys is the leader of Boys Get Paid, a movement with a huge social media following, which is designed to get young people into racing.

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan that racing's image problem is probably because some find it boring and outdated. 

"It's been left behind a little bit in terms of a sport." 

Kemeys says that the industry would be lying if they didn't think there was an animal welfare issue. 

He expects that the whip is likely on the way out anyway. 

 

 

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