IOL NEWS - LATEST- Racehorse stabbing

Are race horses being targeted?

August 27 2008 at 12:40PM

By Leila Samodien

A racehorse trainer is concerned about the safety of the animals at the Gold Circle Training Centre in Milnerton after a talented racehorse was stabbed in the neck at the weekend.

Piet Steyn said Divine Prince, a five-year-old stallion, was stabbed in the early hours on Sunday morning and would not be able to race for the next two months.

Steyn said no other horses were harmed and nothing was vandalised or stolen at the stables.

Veterinary bills alone have cost the trainer more than R1 000.

But this is the least of his trainer's worries as Divine Prince will miss out on a race at Kenilworth next Tuesday, for which he had been touted as a possible winner.






The racehorse was placed second at a race this month and a win this time around would have earned him up to R40 000 in prize money.

While Divine Prince will be able to race again, Steyn expressed concern about the safety of the racehorses at the stables.

He said many of them were worth more than R1 million.

However, Gold Circle's racing manager in the Western Cape, Mike Greeff, said on Tuesday the security at the stables was sufficient and that this had not happened before.

On the morning of the stabbing, Divine Prince was left overnight in a paddock.

Steyn said he got a call from one of his grooms at about 7am on Sunday, saying the stallion had a large stab wound to the neck.

Milnerton police spokesperson Inspector Daphne Dell confirmed Steyn had laid a charge of malicious damage to property.

Now Steyn fears that the same fate could befall other winning horses.

Steyn owns 20 horses and is considering moving them away from Milnerton after Divine Prince's stabbing.

While security guards patrol the stables, some of the boundary walls are low, making it possible "for anyone to just jump over" undetected, he said.

Greeff said the group provided alarm systems at every stable, but the matter of additional safety measures, such as security guards, was the responsibility of their tenants.

He said Gold Circle could also not unfairly be held liable for the actions of possibly "aggrieved" employees.

Part of the investigation is whether it was "someone on the inside".