Majority of 4,000 slaughtered racehorses were Irish-trained

Trainer Gordon Elliott at Cheltenham. Some of the successful trainer's former horses were slaughtered in England. Picture: Dan Sheridan

Successful racehorses linked to some of the biggest names in Irish racing were among 4,000 horses slaughtered in British and Irish abattoirs since 2019.

Three horses that had previously been trained by Grand National winning trainer Gordon Elliott were among them, while the majority of the 4,000 were trained in Ireland, a BBC investigation has found.

The Panorama programme, which airs tonight, includes footage filmed inside one of the UK’s biggest abattoirs, Drury and Sons, by campaign group Animal Aid.

Filming took place at the end of 2019 and the start of 2020, and captured dozens of former racehorses being slaughtered, the majority of which were from Ireland.

Three of them, including High Expectations and Kiss Me Kayf, had once been trained by Gordon Elliot at his stables in Co Meath.

However, Mr Elliott told Panorama: “None of those animals were sent by me to the abattoir.” He said the horses had retired from racing due to injury and were not under his care or ownership when they were killed in England.

Mr Elliott said two of the horses, High Expectations and Kiss Me Kayf, were sent to a horse dealer “to be rehomed if possible, and if not, to be humanely euthanised in line with the regulations.” He said he gave the third horse to another rider as requested by its owner.

Mr Elliott said no money changed hands, and the first time he learned of the horses’ fate was when Panorama contacted him.

He said he has ensured the appropriate and proper treatment and welfare of animals that have been in his possession.

Many of the racehorses killed while Animal Aid cameras filmed had travelled more than 560km from Ireland to England by road and sea.

Veterinary expert Hannah Donovan said making animals, some of which were carrying career-ending injuries, travel 560km was “not a humane process”.

Dr Donovan said: “The bottom line is these horses, if they are to be euthanised, could and should be euthanised at home. Simple as that.” 

Drury and Sons told Panorama: “We take great care to maintain high welfare conditions and do not accept any form of animal abuse. All horses are humanely destroyed and on occasions where issues do occur, we take swift action to review and rectify.” 

British regulations insist that every effort should be made to ensure a rapid death, but footage showed a number of horses shot from a distance. 

The regulations also state horses should not be killed in sight of each other. The footage recorded horses being shot together 26 times over the four days of filming.

Horse Racing Ireland, the governing body for racing here, said it places great importance on the welfare of the people and horses in the industry. It did not respond to Panorama’s questions regarding the number of racehorses being slaughtered.