Victoria crowned 'deadliest' state for racehorses by activists

The group behind the "Nup to the Cup" anti-horseracing campaign has declared Victoria the deadliest state for horses last racing season, in a contested report released today.It is the first time Victoria has topped the annual DeathWatch report by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR), which tracks racing-related deaths nationally.The past 12 DeathWatch reports have recorded the most deaths in NSW, which runs about 1,000 more races than Victoria each racing year.Another two Victorian racehorse deaths have been recorded since Ohope Wins was euthanised after falling in the Caulfield Cup: a two-year-old filly collapsed and died on track at Ballarat, and a six-year-old gelding was euthanised after an injury in Alexandra.CPR general manager Helle Erhardson said they are among 12 racehorses that died in the past nine weeks in Victoria."[Ohope Wins's death] was not news. This happens all the time, the only difference is it happened at such a high-profile race," she said.The DeathWatch report details the death of 48 horses in Victoria between August 2025 and July 2026, the racing season.Racing Victoria, the body that regulates thoroughbred racing in the state, said that figure is "misleading, if not mischievous" and that there had been 22 racing fatalities."The list of fatalities CPR has attributed to Victoria … includes horses that died of colic attacks and in paddock accidents, three horses that tragically died in a road accident, horses that last raced 10, 12 and 17 years ago respectively, and even a horse that died of complications from a suspected stingray attack," it said in a written statement.Ms Erhardson said the CPR recognised off-track deaths, including 15 that died in the days after sustaining race injuries and nine from starvation."We're not claiming these are all on-track deaths, these are the ones we know are racing-related," she said."We need to honour them as well."Helle Erhardson and the CPR want to see more transparency from Racing Victoria. (Supplied: Helle Erhardson)The CPR gave the ABC a list of the Victorian racehorses in its report and asked Racing Victoria for the same transparency, to verify the non-racing-related deaths.Racing Victoria said it was unable to supply the ABC with a list of horse names.Transparency questionsThe DeathWatch Report 2026 attributed "at least" 160 deaths nationally to the horseracing industry, with front limb injuries the cause of more than 50 deaths.The CPR said nearly 70 per cent of the horses had started racing or trialling at two years of age, before they likely reached full skeletal maturity.Ms Erhardson said the CPR uses "at least" because of a lack of transparency and the difficulty in confirming the cause of racehorse deaths."These are only the horses that we know of and we can get confirmed," she said."The public don't have insight into what happens during trials and training at private properties."Half Yours continued on without a rider during the Caulfield Cup earlier this month. (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)The Victorian government has spent $72 million through the Victorian Racing Industry Fund across the last four years, a figure Labor has promised to increase to $80 million if re-elected next month.Ms Erhardson said racing bodies should be publicly tracking deaths themselves."The public has a right to know what sort of industry they're supporting."In Victoria she said nearly all deaths were listed in stewards' reports as due to an unspecified "serious racing injury" and race video of incidents erased.The Caulfield Cup replay online has been edited to remove the fall involving Ohope Wins and Half Yours.Stewards cleared the jockeys involved and said Ohope Wins was euthanised following a "serious racing injury".'Lawful, social activity'Racing Victoria said Victoria averages more than 40,000 thoroughbred starters each year, with a safety record of 99.95 per cent for the past decade."The Victorian racing industry contributes $5.5 billion in economic activity to the state each year and supports nearly 34,000 full-time equivalent jobs," the statement said."Organisations like CPR want to deprive thousands of Victorians of their jobs and the enjoyment of a lawful, social activity by shutting down racing."A Victorian government spokesperson said it was working with Racing Victoria to ensure the industry "continues to meet the highest standards of animal welfare".Ms Erhardson said CPR's Nup to the Cup campaign will continue throughout the Spring Racing Carnival, including next week's Melbourne Cup.