[Crimson Dynamo]

Grand National-winning trainer Gordon Elliott apologises after shocking picture
emerged of him sitting on a dead horse - as Irishman insists it was taken 'some
time ago' and says he was caught off guard when receiving a phone call

• Gordon Elliott has apologised 'profoundly' after picture of him sitting on dead horse circulated on social media
• Elliott insisted he puts horse welfare first and was sorry for any offence caused
• Image appears to show Elliott sitting on a dead horse making a 'peace' gesture
• He is cooperating with the Irish investigation after the photo appeared online
• Elliott's stock rose sharply after the Grand National victories of Tiger Roll

Could lose his license


Here is the vile pic:

Spoiler:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ra...ead-horse.html

[Niamh.]

Poor horse

[Cherie]

Grim

[Toy Soldier]

None of them give a **** about the horses, it's all PR bluster.

[Kazanne]

What an absolute dickhead of a person, should have been the other way round.

[Toy Soldier]

They'll likely make an example of him because the sport's survival relies on a serviceable public image, but the only difference between him and 9 out of 10 other trainers is that he was dumb enough to get caught treating the animals like a product/chunk of meat. The mindset is industry-wide.

And for a depressing add-on: the attitude with greyhounds is, if anything, even worse. I've known a couple of greyhound owners/breeders and they don't even talk about them like living things.

[Cal.]

Twat

[rusticgal]

You would think anyone who works with Horses would be heartbroken rather than posing like that...shameful.

[GoldHeart]

Wow tasteless much !

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

None of them give a **** about the horses, it's all PR bluster.

It's still shocking to see an actual picture of the offence though tbf.

[Vicky.]

I am struggling to get past someone thinking they would go and...sit on a corpse for a photo tbh.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

I am struggling to get past someone thinking they would go and...sit on a corpse for a photo tbh.

It honestly does look like he didn't even do that... he casually sat on it to make a call and then made a "peace" sign when he noticed his pal taking a picture. I'm not sure which is worse though. Deliberately posing for a shock picture, or just having such casual disinterest that you'd use it as a seat.

[joeysteele]

Sick, totally.

[Zizu]

I think it’s completely disgusting and disgraceful.

I’d imagine some of the owners of the horses in his ‘care’ maybe having a few concerns about their own horse .

I hope he gets a lifetime ban from keeping and working with animals but given he’s one of the biggest horse trainers in the whole country he’ll probably just get a warning.


I don’t see him being an animal lover at all .. when I find a dead critter or bird on our country walks I always move it out of sight ... only a few yards away.. I wouldn’t just leave it there to be constantly trod on or thrown around by a passing dawg ..

This guy presents as having zero ‘feelings’ towards the poor thing - sitting on a dead horse is bad enough but then posing for a photo with a smile / smirk on his face ...

In my humble opinion they should have covered or at least part covered it with a blanket or a coat .. if only out of respect .

Can’t imagine what the horse’s owner must be thinking today .



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[Zizu]

He’s been temp suspended per enquiry


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[Ammi]

...however ‘off guard’ he proclaims to have been taken, why would that in any way explain being photographed in a chilled and relaxed pose and showing the peace sign in the pose...taking and making calls on mobile phones etc...is something that’s become an every day thing for all of us and would be for him in his job as well, to be contactable and regularly contacted ...so the obvious ‘off guard’ would have been a ‘shock phone call’, surely...not one which someone would be smiling and chilled...as his profession is to train horses, then respect for them would be assumed as well...(...not that we can imagine anyone posing and smiling while sitting on a dead beast as if it were some kind of prop or something...)...


...it’s good to see that many news media didn’t show the actual pic out of respect or just showed the trainer posing but only the top half showing him and not the actual deceased horse...I also don’t see how ‘it was taken a while ago and an old pic’ would be relevant either in terms of how grim and disrespectful it all is...if this is him and how he is with a deceased horse, then would someone want to trust him to train their precious animal with any respect...

[Amy Jade]

Should be stripped of his job and banned from keeping or working with animals. People's disregard for animals lives and general well-being makes me sick.

[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Ammi

...however ‘off guard’ he proclaims to have been taken, why would that in any way explain being photographed in a chilled and relaxed pose and showing the peace sign in the pose...taking and making calls on mobile phones etc...is something that’s become an every day thing for all of us and would be for him in his job as well, to be contactable and regularly contacted ...so the obvious ‘off guard’ would have been a ‘shock phone call’, surely...not one which someone would be smiling and chilled...as his profession is to train horses, then respect for them would be assumed as well...(...not that we can imagine anyone posing and smiling while sitting on a dead beast as if it were some kind of prop or something...)...


...it’s good to see that many news media didn’t show the actual pic out of respect or just showed the trainer posing but only the top half showing him and not the actual deceased horse...I also don’t see how ‘it was taken a while ago and an old pic’ would be relevant either in terms of how grim and disrespectful it all is...if this is him and how he is with a deceased horse, then would someone want to trust him to train their precious animal with any respect...

Exactly


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[Zizu]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

Should be stripped of his job and banned from keeping or working with animals. People's disregard for animals lives and general well-being makes me sick.

Agreed


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[Zizu]

Now this clip has surfaced.. a jockey called Rob James ( who has ridden for Gordon Elliott ! ) filmed jumping on a mimicking riding a horse who’d just died on a training run !!





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[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

They'll likely make an example of him because the sport's survival relies on a serviceable public image, but the only difference between him and 9 out of 10 other trainers is that he was dumb enough to get caught treating the animals like a product/chunk of meat. The mindset is industry-wide.

Originally Posted by Zizu

Now this clip has surfaced.. a jockey called Rob James ( who has ridden for Gordon Elliott ! ) filmed jumping on a mimicking riding a horse who’d just died on a training run !!

Again I'm not shocked. Still disgusted, but not surprised at all. My only real surprise is that there aren't more pictures and videos like this out there, because the "word of mouth" attitude in the horse racing industry views the animals purely as commodities and always has done, their protestations and claims to the contrary are ENTIRELY because they rely on that public image to keep people betting. If people take a moral stand and switch more of their gambling money over to human sports, the horse racing industry will not survive. It's on the decline anyway but there's still a lot of money in it, so they spew nonsense about how much the owners, trainers and jockeys "love the animals". All BS. You might get a few owners who simply aren't aware of how it goes, but I don't think "disinterest in an investment" really counts as love & care either does it.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Zizu

Now this clip has surfaced.. a jockey called Rob James ( who has ridden for Gordon Elliott ! ) filmed jumping on a mimicking riding a horse who’d just died on a training run !!



https://twitter.com/AshBeeGeeGees/st...4%2Fframe.html


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omg the tweet has been taken down I think thankfully, this is just awful, neither of them should survive this, they should be stripped of their licences with no appeal

[Crimson Dynamo]

[Cherie]

Gordon Elliott will face a Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board hearing on Friday in relation to the controversial photograph which emerged in recent days, but his career as a trainer has today been hit with a seismic blow following confirmation that Cheveley Park Stud will move their horses to Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead.

The IRHB have moved to convene the hearing for the end of this week but it is not yet clear when a decision will be announced.

However, the loss of stable stars Envoi Allen, Sir Gerhard and Quilixios to fellow Irish trainers was announced at lunchtime today.

Envoi Allen, favourite for the Marsh Novices' Chase at Cheltenham, will move to De Bromhead's yard, along with Quilixios, while Sir Gerhard is heading to a new home with Mullins.

Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers has said that Elliott must be "held fully accountable for his actions" and that the photograph of the trainer astride a dead horse showed "a complete and profound error of judgement.

Chambers told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that he was "shocked, appalled and horrified" by the image of Elliot sitting on the body of the gelding Morgan in 2019, calling it "really disturbing from an animal welfare perspective".

While Elliott has sought to explain his actions by saying he sat down after receiving a phone call, Chambers said that in his opinion "Everything that has been said so far doesn't explain what everybody saw."

Chambers noted that an IHRB investigation was ongoing and added: "Consequences are important and he needs to be held fully accountable.

"Everything should be on the table. Ireland has to set a high bar when it comes to animal standards."

Elliott has two runners at Gowran Park today and, while the British Horseracing Authority have suspended him from racing in Britain pending the outcome of the IHRB investigation, he is free to saddle horses in Ireland.

RTÉ racing analyst Jane Mangan said that such a high-profile trainer being pictured in this manner had damaged racing's reputation.

"Our industry is built on a respect and a love for the animal," she told RTÉ Sport.

"This horse deserved his dignity and that was stripped of him in this image. It was an indefensible act and I think Gordon Elliott has admitted that.

"It is not only destroying his own reputation but what infuriates me is that it brings into jeopardy the integrity of the industry, the sport that employs so many people in Ireland.

"It does not fairly reflect how these majestic animals are cared for throughout the country. So many people in Gordon Elliott’s yard care for these horses so brilliantly and this image undermines all of that.

"If ever an image has spoken a thousand words it’s this one."

Mangan added that Elliott wouldn’t have enjoyed the success he has had if he hadn’t treated his horses well and that the image instead reflected "an idiotic moment he is going to regret for the rest of his life".

"They could have at least waited until the IHRB had concluded their investigation, which I imagine will happen in the coming days"

Elliott could be banned from Cheltehnham in two weeks after the British Horseracing Authority announced a provisional suspension pending the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s hearing outcome on Friday.

"To my mind, this interim ban suggest they (the BHA) are not happy that the IHRB permitted Gordon Elliott to have runners at Punchestown yesterday," said Mangan.

"He has three at Gowran Park today.

"He has no horses entered (in the UK) in the coming days (so) I didn’t think there was any need for the BHA to step in. It isn’t in their jurisdiction. They could have at least waited until the IHRB had concluded their investigation, which I imagine will happen in the coming days.

"I think it was a little bit inappropriate and certainly undermines the work of the IHRB."

https://www.rte.ie/sport/racing/2021...able-chambers/

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by Amy Jade

Should be stripped of his job and banned from keeping or working with animals. People's disregard for animals lives and general well-being makes me sick.

Honestly, this might be hugely controversial but I do think anyone who thinks horseracing is fine..doesnt give too much of a **** about animals. Yeah I know...'most are nice to them' 'only the bad ones abuse' blah blah. But...nah.

I kind of suspect a flood of these pictures coming out. As really, anyone who actually had any respect for the animals, would not be doing that job to start with. There will be worse than corpse pictures too. This is probably the tamest of it all.

This is a topic my opinion completely flipped on over the space of about a day. I did think...oh racehorses, well looked after by most, some bad trainers does not mean its all bad...etc. In my..ignorance..I did not know that usually multiple horses die on grand national day alone. Like..I couldn't stop thinking about it for ages as always thought it was all..well ok. But an event where multiple are killed each year yet still goes ahead..says to me neither the trainers, nor the fans actually care. They can talk the talk though and make the right noises of course

(I think what made the grand national thing worse too, was that I 'found out' on a shift at work, when the men in the bar were putting on their bets and that, but also putting a crapton of money onto the middle of the table. So I asked and wished I did not..that was a side bet, apparently, betting on how many horses died this year WAs then subjected to like..a bunch of men trying to explain why no, it wasnt horrible, its the circle of life and I just know nothing and blah blah )