Hear the full interview
From 5:30 in Wednesday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Baroness Minette Batters says British racing wants to “lead the world on welfare” after the Horse Welfare Board launched its new five-year plan at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday night.
The reception was sponsored by Newbury MP Lee Dillon. Batters, the board’s independent chair, said more than 90 people attended. “The room was packed and remained packed,” she told Nick Luck. “A lot of MPs came in. Dan Carden, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group for racing and has Aintree in his patch, also spoke. It was very, very positive.”
Retraining of Racehorses chairman David Thorpe also launched RoR’s own strategy on the night. “What we’re trying to set out is lifetime responsibility for the horse, not just in its racing life, but from birth through to its second career,” Batters said.
‘An iterative journey’
The original “A Life Well Lived” strategy was launched in 2020. Batters said the new plan builds on it rather than changing direction. “This is an iterative journey. I think this time we’re looking more at life outside the racecourse,” she said. “Racecourses have invested a huge amount, and if you look back from 2003 to now, we’ve brought faller numbers down in National Hunt racing by 45%. We need to build on that success.”
The plan has four priorities: quality of life, safety, lifetime responsibility and trust. Batters stressed that the board is independent and not the regulator, and that it needs the industry with it. “The welfare of the horse cannot be done in isolation, and the people closest to the horse know the horse best,” she said. “You can’t sit in an ivory tower in London. You have to be out engaging.”
Wearable technology
Batters said wearable technology is giving trainers far more insight into their horses’ health. “I wear a Garmin watch all the time. I know if I’m going to be getting ill. I know what my heart rate is,” she said. “The wearable technology we have for our horses is really changing and giving trainers much more insight into the health and wellbeing of the horse at home.”
She admitted the response from trainers has been “variable”. “Some trainers are embracing these things, some are questioning, and some perhaps aren’t interested,” she said. “But the more information we can put out, the better. Everybody wants the best outcome for the horse.”
“We want to bring racing home, and we want to lead the world on welfare.”
Baroness Minette Batters
Traceability ‘for the whole lifetime’
Traceability is a big part of the new plan, and the board is working with Defra on a blueprint that Batters hopes will extend to other horse sports. “We had a massive outbreak of equine flu this year, and in many cases we didn’t know where our horses and ponies were,” she said. “Our ambition is to get to 100% traceability for the whole lifetime. That means we know who owns the horse in aftercare.”
Racing starts from a good place because thoroughbreds are microchipped, but she said the weakness is in aftercare. “The game changer will be the government putting the statutory instrument down, so that it is a legal responsibility,” she said. “As with the DVLA, when you sell your car, the new owner takes full legal responsibility for it.”
The board is also working closely with Ireland, where so many British horses are bred. “We want to be world leading,” Batters said. “Racing started here, and welfare is a real opportunity for us to set out our love for the horse and what we’re doing for it.”
