Moral questions after injured horses euthanised

The death of a racehorse on the track is a lurking nightmare that comes true for the racing industry from time to time.

- Mike Moon

For the humans involved, it's a horrific incident; for animal rights activists, it fuels calls for banning.

On Friday, two horses were "humanely euthanised" at Fairview in Gqeberha after a catastrophic accident during the fifth race, an MR 96 handicap over 1200m on the Polytrack.

The stipes reported: "Approaching the 950m Inherit The Rain (X Ndlovu) faltered and stumbled badly. As a consequence, Family Law (L Mxothwa), which was close behind, was unable to take evasive action and fell over Inherit The Rain, which resulted in both jockeys simultaneously being dislodged from their fallen mounts. Family Law and Inherit The Rain were attended to on course by the vet. Jockeys L Mxothwa and X Ndlovu were attended to by the paramedics and by the on-course medical officer."