I'd heard the rumours and seen the news that racing in Beijing had been shut down but today's article by Nicholas Godfrey in THE GUARDIAN took me completely by surprise.

Headlined "Horses pay price for tycoon's lost gamble" the article reports that "about 600 thoroughbreds based at Beijing racecourse are believed to have been slaughtered in the past month.

"Racing on the outskirts of the Chinese capital was abruptly stopped at the beginning of October because of the continuing reluctance of the communist government to sanction gambling in a country where illegal betting is endemic.

"Since then it seems that a quarter of an equine population in excess of 2,000 has been put down. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source at the scene said: "They have culled 600 to date, 400 racehorses and 200 mares. It is an open secret here. They are being culled by injection in humane fashion."

There are 2 articles in The Guardian on the subject - they can be found at the following links: 1 and 2.

In terms of the horses, the future of the sport, the people who have spent so many years and so much time and money building the Industry ... and just having seen how far it has all progressed in recent years, this is a staggering (and bitter) blow.

A mare I had a fair bit to do with some years back was part of one of the first Australian shipments of mares to China. She produced a stakes performer after arriving too - Ming Dynasty. One can't help but think of her on days like today and just hope that she's ok.