Cheltenham Festival Loses Sponsor!

JRL Group has stopped sponsoring the notorious Cheltenham Festival. The company no longer supports these deadly races after thousands of messages from PETA supporters. Thank you to everyone who spoke out.

Seventy-six horses have died at the Cheltenham Festival in the past twenty-five years. Each animal who lost their life for cheap bets was a living, feeling individual – they were someone. Horses deserve more than being whipped and forced to run at a breakneck speed for human entertainment.

What Happens at Cheltenham Festival?

Skittish horses are forced to run up to three miles at the Cheltenham Festival at breakneck speeds while tackling up to 22 huge fences. The course is designed to be difficult to draw in the crowds.

Horses pushed to race may suffer from heart attacks, bleeding from their lungs, and broken bones. At the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, Highland Hunter and Ose Partir were euthanised after suffering from fatal injuries from falls. Malinello died in 2023, and four horses were euthanised at the 2022 event after suffering serious injuries.

Lajos-Eric Balogh / Action Plus Sports Images /Alamy Stock Photo

Racing Kills Horses

It is estimated that nearly 3,000 horses have died in UK horse racing events since 2007 – and that’s just on the course itself. Horses who can’t run fast enough are often discarded like used betting slips – handed over to rescue charities, left to languish in fields, shot at stables, or sold for slaughter.

David Davies / PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

RTÉ’s documentary ‘Horses: Making a Killing’ revealed that equines were hit with pipes until they collapsed at Ireland’s major horse slaughterhouse. Of those killed, 71% were thoroughbreds from the racing industry, many of whom had been raced in the UK. Some were killed just days after their last race; then, their body parts were sold to the meat trade in Europe. PETA has documented how some individuals endure a terrifying journey to South Korea to be violently killed and sold for meat.

Tim Graham /Alamy Stock Photo

What You Can Do

Horses are raced to death so that jockeys, owners, and trainers can collect prize money, and spectators can experience a few seconds of fleeting excitement. Horses are not servants, athletes, or willing participants in these races.

Please never bet on horses, and tell your friends never to attend horse races. Help PETA end this cruel waste of life by urging other companies to join JRL Group and stop sponsoring the Cheltenham Festival.