Top Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson has invited Green Party leader Zack Polanski to visit his Seven Barrows yard after Polanski said he wants to ban horse racing, calling it "animal cruelty".
Henderson challenged Polanski to see the yard for himself, saying the horses are extremely well cared for and bred to race. He recounted one example where a horse, Lulamba, dumped his jockey at Aintree, carried on to jump all the fences and win the race - something Henderson said showed the horse wanted to race.
Henderson is famed for his Cheltenham record, with more than 75 winners, and has trained legends such as Constitution Hill, Sprinter Sacre and Altior from Seven Barrows, with over 2,000 career wins.
Polanski previously said on X in 2024 the country should "remove all animals involved in sport".
West Berkshire Greens leader David Marsh, whose son is a former jockey and trainer, disagreed. "I don't know what Zack's view is, but no, I don't think it should be banned," he said. "I support Green Party policy which is to ban the use of the whip and set up a single regulatory body for horse racing to maintain strict standards of animal welfare funded by a levy on the gambling industry."
Polanski has also advocated removing equestrian disciplines from the Olympic programme. At Paris 2024, Team GB defended its Tokyo 2020 title to win team eventing gold and secured team jumping gold.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
