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12. Moreover, the angles of the Race Track mean that acts of trespass during a race are
particularly dangerous for all those present – human and equine. This is because there are
several ‘b l ind corners’, which mean that a protester may be unable to see the horses and
jockeys running at pace down the track, and vice versa. Indeed, the suffragette, Emily
Davison, lost her life on one such blind corner in 1913.
13. I also confirm that, as set out at paragraphs 28 to 34 of Truesdale 1, equine safety remains
fundamental to everything the Claimant does and to the sport of horse racing. The Claimant
continues to invest in its facilities to ensure it offers equine participants the best, and safest
possible experience. This ranges from investments in safe racing surfaces and cushioned
horsewalks to state-of-the-art misting fans, washdown areas, appropriate trot up areas to
allow for detailed veterinary evaluations and padded hurdles. Every aspect of care and
safety is considered. The racing industry has heavily invested in statistical analysis of falls
and fatalities in order that we can understand where the risks are and improve safety. A
recent British Horseracing Authority report found that 99.5% of horses that race finish safely i.e., without any form of long-term injury 14 .
The continued compelling need for an injunction
14. As noted above, animal rights protesters affiliated with AR caused significant disruption to
numerous racing events in 2022 and 2023. Such disruption continued even with the interim
injunction in place, which Mr Newman knowingly breached (as he admitted in the Committal
Proceedings) on 3 June 2023. It was not until after the successful Committal Proceedings
against Mr Newman in October 2023, that I believe the full force of the injunction was
understood by prospective protesters, such that no disruptions have since occurred at the
Racecourse. In my view, this shows that the injunction is working, and that if it were no
longer in place, there would be a real and imminent threat of further disruption to the races
at the Racecourse.
15. Disruptive protests were not staged at the Grand National held this year on 5 April 2025, or
the Epsom Derby on 7 June 2025. In that respect, the situation remains the same as it was
in July 2024, when the five-year injunction was granted over the Epsom Racecourse, shortly
after the running of the 2024 Grand National and the 2024 Epsom Derby without disruption.
AR has, however, continued publicly to call for an end to horseracing, and to celebrate
direct protest action at horseracing events, as set out below. Accordingly, I do not consider
that the threat of disruptive protests, absent an injunction, has truly gone away.
16. As addressed in paragraphs 6 to 9 of Diaz-Rainey 2, AR updated its website shortly before
the Final Injunction hearing on 8 July 2024, removing references to its plans to disrupt
horse-racing activities (as referenced in paragraph 22 of Truesdale 2). However, AR
continued at that time to trumpet its disruptions of horseracing in the “ previous campaigns ”
14 Pages 19 – 59 of CB1
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