17/05/2024
President Richichi: “We have faith in young people and their sensitivity. The government should rather explain what happens to horses when they leave the racecourses at the end of their careers.”
The first stage of the “Palio delle Regioni 2024-2025”, an initiative promoted by Masaf with the aim of revitalising Italian horse racing, will take place next Sunday, 19th May. This is a promotional horse racing circuit, consisting of 21 “Grand Prix races for galloping and trotting” selected by Masaf from the grand prix calendar to represent the Italian regions where racecourses are recognised by the Ministry. Starting from Sunday and until May 2025, 21 races will take place in as many Italian racecourses.
“It is the Ministry’s latest gimmick to try to revive horse racing, which has fortunately been in a deep crisis for years, with no known remedy,” comments Sonny Richichi, president of IHP. “We have confidence in Italians, especially the young, in their civic sense and their growing sensitivity towards animal rights. We believe that, despite the efforts of institutions and those who profit from the exploitation of horses, people will increasingly distance themselves from these events. The fact that young people are increasingly distant from these barbaric forms of animal exploitation is demonstrated by the Palio delle Regioni regulations, which aim to focus on families and young people: a profoundly miseducative message that we hope will fall on deaf ears.”
“We reiterate once again, without fear of being contradicted, that horse racing is a criminogenic activity: numerous investigations, including recent ones, indicate that horse racing is a potential driver of serious crimes. It is intolerable that in a country which holds the sad European leadership in horse slaughter, where there is a total lack of transparency and traceability of horse identification and consequently their final destination, where nothing is known about the fate of horses leaving the racing circuits, horse racing continues to be promoted through events,” concludes the president of IHP. “Most of the public today see horses as companion animals. We once again call on the Government to accept our request for a meeting to open a discussion on the exploitation of horses and the management of their lives after their use in horse racing and equestrian sports.”
We point out that Trenitalia-Frecciarossa will be the main sponsor of the Palio delle Regioni: a degrading choice for a company that should express far higher values instead of promoting the exploitation of animals.
(photo: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1651444/)
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