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Do you know how many horses have died at the Cheltenham Festival since 2000? As many as 76 animals. That’s more than three per year.
Horses are raced to the death so that jockeys can collect prize money and spectators can experience a few seconds of fleeting excitement. Horses are not servants, athletes, or willing participants in this race. Help PETA end this cruel waste of life – urge these companies to stop sponsoring the Cheltenham Festival.
What Happens at Cheltenham Festival?
At the Cheltenham Festival, skittish horses are forced to run over three miles at breakneck speeds while tackling 22 huge fences. The course is designed to be difficult to draw in the crowds.
Horses pushed to race may suffer from heart attacks, bleed from their lungs, or develop painful ulcers. At the 2023 Cheltenham Festival, 8-year-old Malinello died from injuries sustained after hitting the 16th fence and falling. Four horses were euthanised at the 2022 event after incurring serious injuries.
Racing Kills Horses
According to Race Horse Death Watch, over 2,500 horses have died in UK horse racing events since 2007 – and that’s just on the course itself. Horses who can’t run fast enough are often discarded like used betting slips – handed over to rescue charities, left to languish in fields, shot at stables, or sold for slaughter.
BBC Panorama’s The Dark Side of Horse Racing - featuring undercover footage from animal protection group Animal Aid - revealed that thousands of ex-racing horses from the UK and Ireland were sent to abattoirs every year. PETA has documented how some individuals endure a terrifying journey to South Korea to be violently killed and sold for meat.