HRA Looking Into Venn Death

Horseracing Regulatory Authority officials have stressed they plan to speak to all connected with Venn Ottery before 'drawing any conclusions' from the horse's death at the weekend.

The 11-year-old suffered a fractured pelvis and was put down after being pulled up in a high-class renewal of the totepool Game Spirit Chase at Newbury.

Trainer Sue Gardner was quoted in the Racing Post as saying the Oliver Carter-owned gelding was running in the Grade Two race ? in which he was one of two runners sent off at 200-1 ? against her wishes.

'It is certainly something we will be looking into. We will need to speak to Sue Gardner and also Oliver Carter to gather the actual facts,' HRA spokesman Paul Struthers told At The Races.

'Any horse that runs for a trainer for the first time or runs in a tongue-tie has to pass our veterinary officer on course. Venn Ottery was looked at on Saturday and the vet could see nothing visibly wrong with the horse.

'In fact, some paddock judges have told me he looked better than he has done for a long time, so we need to establish what went wrong.

'We rely on trainers to act in the best interest of the horse and if they are licensed we have judged them as a fit and proper person to do that.

'Even though the owner makes the final decision, the trainer still has the right to decide not to run the horse, but it puts them in an unenviable situation.

'Essentially the final decision does still rest with the trainer, and they can ring us with their concerns in advance of the race. But that didn't happen on Saturday.'

He added: 'A Jockey Club vet can look at a horse on course and if they do not think that horse is fit to run, the rules allow them to withdraw the horse.

'But there is only so much you can see with a pair of eyes and we are relying on the post-mortem. Until then we will not know the full cause of death.

'We know he suffered a fractured pelvis, which is why the horse was put down. But we will have to look at this thoroughly before we draw any conclusions.'

Venn Ottery has had a colourful history, winning four races for Paul Nicholls and finishing a creditable fifth in the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2004 after being sent to him by Devon-based permit-holder Carter.

The horse also had a spell with Martin Pipe and ran in the Champion Chase and Gold Cup of 2005, beating one home in the former and being pulled up in the latter.

(C) PA Sport