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.