Calls for boycott of Cheltenham Festival after Springwell Bay death
Posted 13th March 2025
The first horse, Springwell Bay has died at this year’s Cheltenham Festival after falling at a fence while racing and sustaining a fatal injury.
It brings the death total at the Cheltenham Festival to 77 horses since the turn of the century with Animal Aid figures showing a horse dying at every single festival since 2000.
Emma Slawinski, chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, has expressed her concerns at the terrible news: “The profits of gambling companies and people’s entertainment are being put before the well-being of the horses.
“We are calling on people to boycott the festival by staying away, by refusing to bet on it, and by avoiding the TV coverage and advertising, which glosses over the cruelty of what is taking place.”
“The British Horse Racing Authority needs to be replaced by an independent regulatory body that has horse welfare as its number one priority and that moves to ban the cruel use of the whip.”
Emma added:
“We said in advance that it was almost inevitable we will see more horses being sacrificed during this year’s festival, losing their lives while people in the stands, unaware of the cruelty they are supporting, check their betting slips and phones. And now Springwell Bay lies dead.”
