Dear David,

I am writing, in light of the death of three horses at this year’s Grand National, which follows the death of a further three horses at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year, to urge you to give renewed consideration to the establishment of a new, independent body with responsibility for race horse welfare.

In your Answer to Parliamentary Question 210054 in January, you stated that “the number of racehorse fatalities at racetracks has been falling steadily since 2012”. However, in 2018, there were 202 such fatalities – the highest number since 2014. This suggests to me that the British Horseracing Authority, the racing industry’s self-appointed regulator, is failing in its role to protect race horses, and that it is time for the Government to step in and to take responsibility for the issue of race horse welfare. As you will know, last year, more than 105,000 people signed an e-petition calling for race horse welfare to be handed over to an independent regulator. 

I hope that you and the Secretary of State will now give this matter further consideration, and look forward to receiving your response.

Yours,