Trainer invites Green leader after racing ban call

Top racehorse trainer Nicky Henderson has invited Zack Polanski to visit his yard after the Green Party leader said he wants to ban horse racing.

Polanski previously called for the abolition of the entire horse racing industry, describing it as "animal cruelty".

Henderson, who is renowned for his success at the Cheltenham Festival where he has more than 75 winners, said he should visit Seven Barrows in Lambourn, Berkshire.

"I'd love to show him around... It's a five-star hotel for horses. These wonderful animals are bred to race," Henderson said.

"They enjoy racing and they are very well looked after. I had a horse – Lulamba – who dumped his jockey at Aintree [on Thursday] and carried on to jump all the jumps and win the race by himself," he added.

"The horse did that because he wanted to do that."

Henderson's comments came before Gold Dancer had to be put down after suffering a broken back when winning the Mildmay Novices' Chase on day two of the Grand National Meeting at Aintree on Friday.

Polanski previously stated on X (formerly Twitter) in 2024, as reported in The Sun, that the country should "remove all animals involved in sport".

But the leader of the Greens in West Berkshire, David Marsh, does not agree. His son is a former jockey and racecourse trainer.

"I don't know what Zack's view is, but no, I don't think it should be banned," said Marsh.

"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 advocated for removing all equestrian disciplines from the Olympic programme.

Great Britain has established itself as a dominant force in Olympic equestrian sports, achieving significant success at recent Games.

At Paris 2024, Team GB defended its Tokyo 2020 title to win team eventing gold and secured team jumping gold.