Tasmania harness racing industry abuse claims: Ben Yole Racing denies poor treatment of horses

Amid calls for an inquiry into allegations of poor animal welfare and race results in the harness racing industry, a leading stable has hit back at the “utterly disgusting” abuse levelled at them.

Harness racing in Tasmania. File picture.

AMID calls for an inquiry into allegations of poor animal welfare and race results in the harness racing industry, a leading stable has hit back at the “utterly disgusting” abuse levelled at them.

A representative of Ben Yole Racing Pty Ltd, who runs the state’s biggest harness racing stables at Sidmouth, in northern Tasmania and has been Australia’s leading harness trainer for the past two years, rejected suggestions of poor treatment of their horses and unfair tactics.

“I guess we try our best to ignore it,” the spokesperson said.

“We love what we do, we feel that we do a lot for the industry in terms of support for young and up and coming drivers.

“We have to have a tough skin because what we’re subjected to in terms of messages and social media is not overly pleasant to deal with.

“It is hurtful and some of the messages we receive are just utterly disgusting.”

Both the RSPCA and Office of Racing Integrity say the Yole stables have not breached any animal welfare standards.

However, calls for an inquiry by the Office of Racing Integrity into the state of harness racing in Tasmania continue to grow.

A Facebook page Save Harness Racing in Tasmania has attracted photos and comments.

Trainers, owners and drivers who spoke to the Sunday Tasmanian would only do so without their names being used.

They said they feared retribution for speaking out.

Ben Yole.

A letter from an industry veteran recently sent to MPs urged the government to act on the industry’s concerns.

“To say that the state of harness racing in Tasmania is at its worst would be a complete understatement,” the letter said.

“It is abysmal and so poorly regulated it makes me both very angry and extremely sad that it has come to this.

“I implore you to address this at your utmost urgency. If this requires moving people aside to get a result, then so be it.

“A full inquiry needs to be undertaken by independent parties who have an understanding of the industry but are in no way affiliated with anyone in Tasmania.”

ORI general manager Justin Helmich, a former police officer, said the ORI “affords procedural fairness to all parties” and did not comment on current investigations.

“In any instance where a matter has been the subject of an investigation, the ORI publicly reports on the matter investigated and determined,” he said.

“The Yole Racing stable is the subject of regular inspections by the ORI.

“No breaches of the Rules of Racing have been identified as a result of inspections.

“Further, ORI collaborates with RSPCA and Biosecurity Tasmania as fellow regulators when it comes to animal welfare to share and update intelligence on a range of matters including those relating to the Yole Racing property.

“There have been no compliance risks identified in respect of the Act. Monitoring of this and other properties is ongoing.”

Mr Helmich said animal welfare was a high priority for the ORI and stewards routinely conducted inspections on properties used by industry participants across all three racing codes and betting integrity was monitored.

Lake Eyre (Mark Yole) brings up trainer Ben Yole's 100th winner for the season in Hobart last night. Picture: TASRACING

“This is to ensure that racing animals are properly cared for before, during and after their racing careers and licensed participants are complying with animal welfare legislation and the racing rules,” he said.

“The role of the Office of Racing Integrity is to ensure that racing is conducted in a safe, fair and credible manner by enforcing the Rules of Racing.

“The Rules include provisions that prohibit collusion between participants impacting on the credibility of racing in Tasmania. These Rules are actively regulated by the stewards.”

RSPCA CEO Jan Davis said complaints by the public and industry against Mr Yole had been investigated and there was no basis for any charges on animal welfare grounds.

She said recent complaints about not enough shade or shelter and that horses were rugged and did not have enough feed had been investigated.

One harness racing stalwart said there had been concern for the past five years about where the industry is headed.

“The Office of Racing Integrity has been asleep at the wheel,” he said.

“This is a good industry, with a lot of good people in it and they are just hanging in by the skin of their teeth.

“Some drivers are leaving the industry.

“The domination doesn’t worry me but some of the tactics do.”

The Yole racing spokesperson rejected questions about race results.

“We have too much to lose. We have our income, our owners and the people we employ would lose their jobs so we would never be part of that,” the spokesperson said,

“We might have 10 horses in a race, but they could all have different owners.”

Mr Yole employs 24 staff and has about 30 horses in Victoria and 120 in Tasmania.

Originally published as Tasmania harness racing industry abuse claims: Ben Yole Racing denies poor treatment of horses