Second horse dies at Cheltenham Festival

A second horse has died at Cheltenham Festival after falling at the final flight in the BetMGM Cup Handicap Hurdle on Wednesday.

A statement from the racecourse said HMS Seahorse was attended to by vets "immediately" after falling, but could not be saved.

It follows the death of Hansard on Tuesday, who was put down after getting injured on the flat in the Singer Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices' Chase.

The Jockey Club, which runs Cheltenham Racecourse, said horse racing was the biggest investor in equine welfare in Britain. But The League Against Cruel Sports is calling for a public boycott of Cheltenham Festival, saying 80 horses have now died at the event since 2000.

In a short statement, a Cheltenham Racecourse spokesperson said: "HMS Seahorse was immediately attended to by a team of expert vets, but sadly sustained an injury at the final hurdle and could not be saved.

"Our heartfelt condolences are with connections."

In a press release shared before the start of the Festival, the Jockey Club said the sport had invested more than £63m in equine welfare since 2000 and out of 86,262 runners in 2025, only 0.22% were fatally injured.

However, the chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, Emma Slawinski, said 80 deaths since the turn of the century was "simply staggering".

"If this death toll happened in any other sport there would be a huge outcry so why is it any different for horses?," she said.

Slawinski is also calling on the government to deliver on a promise to boost animal welfare by introducing "tighter safety measures" in horse racing and banning the whip.

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