A horror weekend of jumps racing has spurred former Victorian Labor racing minister to call for an end to the oft-maligned sport.
Three horses - Mighty Oasis, Maserartie Bay and Buffalo Bill - were euthanised after they were injured in separate races during Sunday's Grand National Steeplechase meeting in Ballarat.
Jockeys Lee Horner and Will Gordon were taken to hospital after Mighty Oasis fell in the main event, with the former suffering a head injury and still in intensive care on Wednesday.
Ex-Victorian deputy premier Rob Hulls, who served as racing minister from 2006 to 2010, said the carnage has to stop.
"People within the racing industry have to actually get off their high horses and stop kidding themselves that this number of deaths and serious injuries to jockeys isn't tarnishing the racing industry as a whole," he said at state parliament on Wednesday.
"This is not just an animal welfare issue, this is also a reputational issue. Now is the time to end jumps racing."
Supported by Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell, Mr Hulls said there had been eight deaths of 168 starters across the 2024 jumps season so far, equating to one in every 21 starters.
"Can you imagine the public outrage if that number of deaths occurred in flat racing?" he said.
South Australia banned jumps racing in July 2022, leaving Victoria as the only remaining state to hold jumps events.
Queensland stopped jumps racing in 1903, WA in 1941 and the sport was banned in NSW in 1997.
The last race in Tasmania was held in 2007.
Ms Purcell said she hoped Mr Hull's intervention would put pressure on Racing Victoria and Racing Minister Anthony Carbines to "finally do the right thing".
"Every other state has ended it," she said.
"The Victorian government calls itself progressive, yet horses are being killed at a rapid rate."
The 2024 jumps season will be reviewed by Racing Victoria and each of Sunday's incidents probed by its jumps review panel, as standard.
Each horse will also undergo a post-mortem.
Racing Victoria said the fatal incident rate in Victorian jumps racing had reduced by more than 60 per cent from 2009 to 2023 but conceded its safety record had "regressed" this season.
"RV has consistently stated that it is committed to the safe conduct of jumps racing subject to appropriate safety standards and industry support being maintained," the body said in a statement.
Mr Carbines said it hadn't been as good a season compared to others over the past decade but gave the industry his backing.
"The government stands with 35,000 Victorians who draw their livelihoods and make a contribution to the sport of racing."
