Britain’s Gay Kelleway claims trainers are running lame horses

The trainer has made a strongly worded call for more pre-race checks of horses and accused colleagues of sending racehorses to the track which are not fit to race.

The Guardian newspaper reports:

Gay Kelleway has made a strongly worded call for more pre-race checks of racehorses and accused some of her colleagues of sending horses to the track which are not fit to race. The veteran Newmarket trainer, known for being outspoken, is at odds on this subject with many of her rivals, who insist that trainers can be trusted to send only sound horses to the races.

“There’s a lot of horses running with injuries before they start,” Kelleway said. “We’ve got to start being a bit stricter. I’m sick of it.”

“What they don’t seem to pick up, the BHA, is how chronically understaffed everyone is, so corners get cut. I got to the stage last year where I was a bit disillusioned. I thought, do I want to be involved in this sport?”

“I think things have improved a lot for the staff but I think it’s got worse for the horses’ welfare, because things are rushed. You can’t count hours with animals. You might need to do that bit of extra time if a horse is sick.”

“I believe they should bring in what they do in Sweden, where you have to trot horses up to show they’re 100%. I’ve been to Stockholm and they were doing this before every race.”

She declined to elaborate on her planned actions but said: “I don’t care who I upset. All I care about is the horses. I don’t do it for the money and I never have done.”

FEATURED IMAGE: Newmarket trainer Gay Kelleway pictured at the Sales. Photograph: Steven Cargill/Racing Fotos/Rex/Shutterstock.

2 thoughts on “Britain’s Gay Kelleway claims trainers are running lame horses”