Media releases

Greyhound and harness races cancelled – but horse races still scheduled for Morphettville this Friday evening despite 44C forecast

RSPCA South Australia applauds the decisions of Greyhound Racing SA and Harness Racing SA to cancel and reschedule races this week in response to the current heatwave being experienced across the State.

However, RSPCA South Australia is concerned for the welfare of horses participating in an 8-race meeting at Morphettville that Thoroughbred Racing SA has scheduled for this Friday, with the first race set to run at 5pm. The current forecast for Friday is 44C.

Aside from the risks for horses racing in high temperatures, RSPCA South Australia is also concerned at the risks horses will be exposed to if required to travel long distances during the heat of the day to attend the meeting.

Animal welfare legislation does not have a capped temperature above which racehorses cannot be raced.

Thoroughbred Racing SA has a hot weather policy which outlines extra steps required if horses are running in high temperatures, but decisions on whether scheduled races go ahead or not are made by stewards and vets from the racing industry. The advice and guidelines contained in TRSA’s heat policy are not prescriptive in terms of mandatory actions to be taken.

RSPCA is advocating for mandatory standards for all racing codes which include provisions to cancel races in extreme high temperatures. Addressing this issue requires urgent attention, given climate change predictions that hot weather events will become more frequent in the future.

RSPCA South Australia is monitoring weather conditions, and definitely does not believe the races scheduled for Morphettville this Friday should be run if the current forecast of 44C for Friday does not change over the next 24 hours.

More information about RSPCA’s position on horse racing in the heat can be found at:

https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/should-horse-races-be-permitted-in-very-hot-weather/