The National Horseracing Authority is to bring in a rule making owners responsible for ensuring that their horses are given good homes when they retire from racing.

Retired Racehorses (Supplied)

The NHA has given notice of this on its website, saying: “Thoroughbreds are not designed to withstand meagre or rural conditions, every effort must be made to prevent them ending up in circumstances where they would be neglected or abused, and owners have certain obligations to make sure that their horses do not end up in unpleasant conditions.”

There are already certain charitable organisations, such as the Western Cape Equine Trust’s racehorse rehoming programme, which finds suitable homes (at no cost to owners) and these are capable of handling more horses.

However recent letters to newspapers would suggest that some owners – and indeed racing as a whole – do not do enough to prevent suffering in horses’ post-racing lives.

The Byerley Turk at Greyville on Friday week could be next on the agenda for last year’s Cape Of Good Hope Nursery winner Captain Chaos who is on secondment to Mark Dixon in KZN.

Ronnie Sheehan said: “The owners wanted me to take the horse to Durban but it was impractical to go with one horse and they already had others with Mark. Captain Chaos needed his first run up there as it was his first since being gelded and he was second at Greyville last week. He will come back to me at the end of the Durban season.”

Andre Nel has abandoned plans to send Lohnromance to join his Durban string, saying: “She hasn’t wintered well so far but she might run in the Olympic Duel Stakes (at Kenilworth on May 21) if she is right.”

By Michael Clower