Santa Anita on a knife-edge as old failings return to haunt Breeders' Cup party

Some racing professionals were scathing in their criticism when this newspaper published extracts from a leaked BHA report on bloodstock industry practices in August. They maintained it was a shocking own goal just ahead of the annual round of yearling sales, where buyer confidence was bound to suffer.

In the end it made no difference at all. Average prices at Tattersalls’ four quality-graded auctions all but matched last year’s figures, which were themselves record-breaking. And when it comes to timing, it’s as well for Britain’s horsemen that they don’t have to contend with recent developments to the east and west.

In Australia, the Melbourne Cup preamble, effectively a national celebration, has been usurped by a television documentary which claimed that more than 50 per cent of the 8,000 racehorses retired annually end up in slaughterhouses. Horses were covertly filmed being beaten and kicked about the head before they were killed.