THERE was an unusual incident at the Curragh last Friday whereby two horses, Camdeboo and Higher Kingdom, were withdrawn at the start after refusing to enter the stalls for a seven-furlong handicap. The stewards held an enquiry into the incident when it became apparent Higher Kingdom had to be led from the stalls back to the stableyard, as Camdeboo had already been taken back in the Blue Cross Horse Ambulance.

Having considered the evidence, the stewards felt a resources issue appreciated to be the main reason for Higher Kingdom having to be led back and deemed this to be unacceptable, opining that there should be two Blue Cross Ambulances at each race meeting. They referred the matter to the CEO of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for further investigation.

Blue Cross, an animal welfare charity, operate a horse ambulance service for all Irish race meetings, working in conjunction with the IHRB.

The organisation’s CEO, Chris Conneely, told The Irish Field: “In a scenario in which you were to have two ambulances for every race meeting, it would cost in the region of €250,000 extra to operate.

“We currently have two ambulances available for 10% of Irish race meetings. We work extremely closely with IHRB, who are well positioned to know how many racecourses/race meetings require two ambulances.

“I think it’s important to note, that the incident involving Higher Kingdom and Camdeboo was an unusual one, and that Higher Kingdom was seen trotting back up, which aligned with the advice from the vet down at the start, that he was fine to do so. There was no compromise on welfare in this incident.”

The IHRB had no update on any investigation yesterday.