Industry participants to fund working group to investigate equine welfare plan

Leading trainer Tony McEvoy has thrown his support, vocally and financially, behind a thoroughbred industry-led taskforce that has been established to develop a national equine welfare strategy.

Former Victorian Premier Dr Denis Napthine will chair the Independent Working Group (IWG), which has been put together by Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA), the Australian Trainers' Association (ATA) and the Australian Jockeys' Association (AJA) alongside prominent participants who include top trainers Chris Waller and David Hayes as well as McEvoy.

Ciaron Maher, Gai Waterhouse and Bjorn Baker, and studs such as Newhaven Park, Attunga Stud, Godolphin, Sledmere and Widden Studs, are also among the heavyweights to get behind IWG.

The IWG will be funded by the significant industry groups – trainers, owners, breeders, jockeys and individuals – who are financially supporting the initiative that was officially announced on Saturday. The group will review the current welfare landscape in the Australian thoroughbred industry, look to world’s best practice, consult with participants in the industry, and draw upon the learnings from other animal industries.

Dr Napthine will oversee the IWG panel that also includes Dr Bidda Jones, chief science and strategy officer for RSPCA Australia, Dr Ken Jacobs, a director of the Australian Veterinary Association, and Jack Lake, a senior adviser on agriculture in the Hawke, Keating and Rudd governments.

Gai Waterhouse: among the trainers supporting the IWGCredit: Edward Whitaker

They will focus on horses exiting the thoroughbred industry, whether as retired racehorses or unraced animals, through to end-of-life management.

McEvoy, speaking to ANZ Bloodstock News at Inglis’ Riverside Stables complex, said those invested in thoroughbred racing and breeding were the ones who needed to lead the overhaul of horse welfare.

“Welfare is a major issue and I like the way it is being managed now," said McEvoy. "This new initiative to put these people in place to manage it is going to help everybody and I am a supporter, like almost everyone is.

“I am very happy to invest in it. It will be better for everyone and, most importantly, it will be better for our horses.”

McEvoy said the calibre of the IWG panel members gave confidence to the industry that an adequate outcome will be forthcoming.

“I am sure they have thought long and hard about who to put on this board and these people are there for a reason,” he said. “They are good people and they are going to give it the time that it requires. I support it.”

The establishment of IWG comes after last year’s ABC 7.30 programme that aired claims of cruelty to thoroughbred and standardbred racehorses at knackeries in Queensland and NSW, as well as airing other alleged welfare concerns.

Tom Reilly, the chief executive of TBA, said the panel members were targeted to ensure the group’s independence.

“The challenges of the welfare, rehoming, retraining and end-of-life for thoroughbreds are national issues that are of concern to all participants in the industry,” said Reilly. “We have to acknowledge that if we can improve outcomes in these areas, it is our responsibility to do so.

IWG will produce a report outlining a framework for a national horse welfare regimeCredit: Robert Prezioso

“Too often our industry is fragmented along state lines. This initiative will facilitate a national discussion with the aim of finding national solutions. Everybody who I have asked for support has been happy to give it and get behind this.”

The IWG will produce a report outlining a practical policy framework for a national horse welfare regime, which will be the basis for a wider discussion with industry stakeholders and federal and state governments.

Andrew Nicholl, chief executive of the ATA, said: “It is important that participants from across the thoroughbred industry work together on what is a challenging issue.”

A steering committee, which will include Waller, will sign-off on the terms of reference for the IWG, which is expected to provide its recommendations later this year.

Waller said: “This initiative is an opportunity to start building a national approach to welfare in racing and all industry players should grab it.”

Racing Australia, the national body that is comprised of all the state racing regulators, said it “welcomed” the initiative and that they shared a “common aspiration of elevating the quality of equine welfare in Australia".

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