Sports · Racehorse deathsVictoria horse deaths: Campaigners count 48, Racing Victoria says 22Aired October 26, 2026 at 10:39 PM UTCWritten October 26, 2026 at 10:54 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:07O'Hope Wins was euthanized after falling in the Caulfield Cup.0:10Her death brings fresh scrutiny to how racing counts its losses, while Victorian0:13taxpayers spend millions supporting the industry.0:16Which horses belong in the death toll, and will the regulator release the names0:19needed to check it?0:20The Coalition for the Protection of Race Horses counts forty-eight Victorian deaths0:24linked to racing between August20205 , and July2026.0:28Racing Victoria, which regulates thoroughbred racing in the state, says there were0:32twenty-two racing fatalities.0:34It calls the larger tally misleading, if not mischievous.0:37The coalition's death watch report two thousand and twenty-six puts Victoria above0:41every other state for the first time.0:42But calling a state the deadliest can suggest more than these figures show.0:46A death count alone doesn't tell an owner how likely an individual horse is to die.0:50New South Wales recorded the most deaths in the previous twelve death watch reports.0:54It runs about one zero more races each year than Victoria.0:57Comparing the state's fatality rates would require matching what each count includes1:00and how many horses or starts it covers.1:02The national figures describe a broader welfare problem.1:05The coalition includes deaths it links to the industry even when a horse dies away1:09from a race course.1:10The coalition attributes at least one hundred and sixty deaths nationally to the1:14racing industry in the two thousand and twenty-five-26 season.1:17It attributes more than fifty to front limb injuries.1:20General manager Heller Hardson says the minimum reflects deaths the group could1:24confirm, with others difficult to track.1:26Erhardson says the public can't see what happens during trials and training on1:29private properties.1:31The coalition also says nearly seventy percent of the horses began racing or1:34trialing at two.1:35It argues they were probably still growing.1:37That history alone doesn't show that starting young caused their deaths.1:41Racing Victoria points to horses that died from colic and paddock accidents.1:45It also identifies three killed in a road accident.1:47Horses whose last races were ten, twelve, and seventeen years earlier, and one that1:52died after a suspected stingray attack.1:54Those examples explain its objection to the coalition's wider definition.1:57Racing Victoria hasn't shown how every horse was classified against its own total.2:01A death away from the track can still follow a racing injury, which is why the2:04coalition argues for a wider register.2:06Erhardson says the coalition includes fifteen horses that died in the days after2:10racing injuries and nine that died from starvation.2:13She says those horses deserve recognition too.2:15Those subtotals weren't clearly identified as Victorian only, so they can't explain2:19the difference between forty-eight and twenty-two.2:22Any overlap would also need checking before those figures could be combined.2:25The coalition supplied its Victorian horse list and asked Racing Victoria for2:29equivalent transparency.2:30Racing Victoria said it couldn't supply a list of horse names.2:34Two more Victorian horses died after O'Hope wins.2:36A two-year Old Philly collapsed and died on track at Ballaret.2:40A six-year Old Gelding was euthanized after an injury in Alexandra.2:44Erhardson places them among twelve Victorian racehorse deaths over the preceding2:47nine weeks.2:48An October twenty coalition statement had counted ten deaths from racing injuries2:52over eight weeks.2:53The later figure covers a later, longer window.2:56These spring deaths also come after the annual tally closed in July, so they must be2:59kept separate from that season's figures.3:01Stewards cleared the jockeys involved in the Caulfield Cup fall.3:04They described OHOP wins' reason for euthanasia as a serious racing injury.3:08The online race replay has been edited to remove the fall involving OHOP wins and3:12Half Yours.3:13Erhardson says a high-profile race brought attention to deaths that happen3:16throughout racing.3:17She also says nearly all Victorian deaths receive that same unspecified injury3:21description in Steward's reports and criticizes the removal of incident footage.3:25Her wider criticism goes beyond the confirmed edit to this replay.3:28Racing Victoria says it has maintained a ninety-nine point nine five percent safety3:32record over the past decade.3:34It says Victoria averages more than forty zero thoroughbred starters annually.3:38It hasn't explained the calculation or how that percentage fits the coalition's3:42broader death categories.3:43Starters also don't necessarily represent distinct horses.3:46Racing Victoria says the industry generates five point five billion Australian3:50dollars a year in economic activity and supports nearly thirty-four zero full time3:55equivalent jobs.3:56Those are the regulators' estimates.3:58Full time equivalents measure the amount of work rather than the number of4:01individual workers.4:03The Victorian government has spent seventy-two million Australian dollars through4:06its racing industry fund over four years.4:08Labor promises to increase that figure to eighty million if re-elected in November.4:13A government spokesperson says it's working with Racing Victoria to maintain the4:16highest animal welfare standards.4:18Racing Victoria accuses groups such as the Coalition of trying to shut racing down,4:22threatening jobs and a lawful social activity.4:25The coalition's Nup to the Cup campaign continues through the spring racing4:28carnival, including the following week's Melbourne Cup.4:31Earhardson wants racing bodies to publish death records themselves.4:34The public still has two competing totals without a shared horse.4:38By horse register, explaining where they agree or differ.4:40Racing Victoria says it can't supply the names needed to make that comparison.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗
