Fieldmaster Killed at Cranbourne

Fieldmaster was killed in a jumps racing trial today. He didn't even fall - demonstrating that this sport is much more dangerous than flat racing.

Write to Premier Daniel Andrews and Racing Minister Martin Pakula through our website at:

[andrewcahill]

Reading the title, thought we'd be seeing a man in charge of the grass killed

[harleypiper]

I've never told this to anyone except my wife. In 1981 I was riding a 13yr old mare in palos verdes, CA. She dropped quickly after we came back from trail riding . I was stuck under her for a good 15 minutes. She died of a heart attack. I was 19 . I cried and haven't rode since.

[Kayisluv.]

I remember this the horse had leg issues and was forced to race. These horses really deserve better, this just shows what horse racing does to the horse. It's stupid that people still don't see what it does to the horses.

[EquineEmma_Official]

The fact that they have these screens on handy just shows there’s something wrong with this sport

[_matea_m]

The poor soul was fighting for his life too! 😣💔

[emmar]

Treated like a machine, animals have a spirit too!

[justlooking]

Poor soul....It didn't seem like anyone he knew was there with him. Sometimes jockeys are paired up right on the spot before the race. He didn't deserve to die surrounded by strangers like that.

[chasehicks]

I just lost my best friend, a dog named Riley she was my wifes and my child. Since we can't have a human baby. When Riley got sick at 10 years old from cancer. 5 years sooner than the average life span of her breed. I've NEVER felt so broken. And when the day came when we knew it was her time it was and still is the worst day of our lives. Having to euthanize your animal isn't something I would wish on anyone...

[aresblue]

So sad, but the reality is that this sport will never be stopped, there's too much money in it, if people stopped betting on racing it might help.

[lisaallan]

Horses can still live a normal life without racing. I knew a horse who broke her leg. Was on box rest for quite a bit on her own. Was never to race again. Her leg healed and she's still thriving. She won't be used as an ability horse or show horse again. She doesn't seem to care about that.

[siennapenrose]

You can see how much pain that horse is from his breathing
my grandma was in a severe riding accident about a month ago and is still recovering

[ValleYung]

imagine spraining your ankle and you go see your doc and hes like “you had a good run Billy but looks like its your time to go”

[meoyx]

Kind of reminds me of that part in Black Beauty where B.B. sees his friend, dead, on a cart after being worked to death.

[kimfucku]

I want to see the green screen the next time a football player is injured

[snakesonaframe]

I can’t believe they euthanized him without a trip to the vet or an x-ray. Even if he never raced again, he might have been a good trail horse or even a pasture pony. SOMEONE would have been willing to take him in. He clearly was not ready to give up, but they made the decision for him.

[heatherkulsicavage]

Some people are defending the sport by saying that “we don’t understand. These horses live/love to run”. I’m sure they do! I’ll take it a step further and say they NEED to run. For their mental as well as physical well being. But you can exercise them and play with them and let them run and jump and get it all out of their systems w/o pushing them to extremes. One of my dogs NEEDS to run every day. I push him just so I see he’s benefiting from the exercise a couple times a day and then make him stop so he doesn’t overheat. He’s content and we’ll behaved because of it. Animals NEED exercise, yes, but they don’t need to be pushed so that their lives are in danger for our “sport”. It’s disgusting.

[chrisgreen]

Wait... so they killed this beautiful horse because they caused him to break/injure his leg? Gosh this sport is seriously barbaric if that is the case!!!

[penelope]

Just watching this makes me sick I grew up around horses and love them so much and seeing this brought tears to my eyes.

[robdavies]

I’m not a big horse fan, but I still think it’s cruel that this happens. Other sports that carry risks can be justified because the competitors understand the risks, but horses don’t. They’re bread to take part whether they like it or not. And the jockeys see them as lightbulbs - that one is finished so they’ll just jump on another one.

[ttsfish]

This is the hard thing about horse racing
You’re either fit to race or you’re deemed useless
That horse deserved a life and got it taken away from something they were forced to do