{"id":672779,"date":"2026-05-16T05:31:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672779\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T05:31:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T05:31:22","slug":"horse-hit-at-winnipeg-racetrack-in-hard-to-watch-video-prompts-calls-for-change-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672779\/","title":{"rendered":"Horse hit at Winnipeg racetrack in \u2018hard to watch\u2019 video prompts calls for change – Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

A video of a jockey hitting a horse at a Winnipeg racetrack is prompting calls for increased surveillance in private stables to ensure equestrian safety from an animal rights group.<\/p>\n

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In the video, which was shot in the track barns at Assiniboia Downs last year, a jockey is shown hitting a mare, Animal Justice said in a news release.<\/p>\n

The video from 2023 was recently shared with Animal Justice, an animal law advocacy organization operating across Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first saw the video, I had to turn it off. It was just so hard to watch,\u201d said Kaitlyn Mitchell, the director of legal advocacy with Animal Justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an individual who\u2019s hitting a horse over a long period of time. The horse appears terrified \u2014 she can\u2019t escape. I think what really struck me is that the person doing this was really doing it out in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The jockey was charged with animal cruelty, and those charges were stayed, according to Animal Justice. The rider was also subject to a one-year court order limiting their contact with animals in non-work-related capacities in March 2025, the organization added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt raises concerns for me about the incident, but also about the culture at the Downs and what\u2019s considered normal,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are extremely disappointed to understand that this very unacceptable situation occurred. We take the protection, safety and health of our equine athletes very seriously. We were unaware that this happened and only learned of the incident late (on Thursday),\u201d Assiniboia Downs said in a statement for Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe backstretch barn area has a security-controlled entrance, daily security foot patrol through the barn area, and the provincial government \u2014 through the L.G.C.A. \u2014 has a licensing process in place for trainers and jockeys,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Racehorses \u201care inspected by a licensed\u00a0veterinarian\u00a0to ensure maximum health, fitness\u00a0and well-being of the animals,\u201d\u00a0according to the Downs.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Animal Justice is calling for mandatory security cameras in Manitoba racetrack stables.<\/p>\n

Its legal advocate said the cameras could act as flies on the barn walls for regulators.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0one thing that the cameras would do\u00a0would be to, hopefully, deter conduct like this,\u201d said Mitchell.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy hope would be that if folks in that barn know that there are cameras and that the commission, or other overseers, can\u00a0actually see\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0happening,\u00a0perhaps they\u00a0would be less inclined to do something like this in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Animals can be victims of crimes and require protection from being victimized, the animal advocate added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that, actually,\u00a0facilities in other jurisdictions have done, and\u00a0continue to do. So, it is a\u00a0really reasonable\u00a0step that I\u00a0think that\u00a0they should take,\u201d said Mitchell.<\/p>\n

Looking to the rest of Canada,\u00a0the intensity of\u00a0surveillance regulations for non-racetrack areas varies.<\/p>\n

Following a\u00a02017\u00a0report, Ontario said equine welfare would be prioritized, among other issues including\u00a0addressing horses being fed\u00a0performance enhancing drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnhanced control and surveillance measures, such as \u2026 increasing surveillance cameras on the backstretch and in race paddocks,\u201d were said to be in the works in Ontario, according to\u00a0the\u00a0Alcohol\u00a0and Gaming\u00a0Commission of Ontario\u2019s\u00a0report\u00a0from\u00a0that year.<\/p>\n

Saskatchewan and Alberta have no specific stable surveillance requirements, but both provinces\u2019 regulators emphasized the importance of horse safety and race integrity.<\/p>\n

B.C. mandates cameras in restricted\u00a0areas. However, the\u00a0Gaming Control Act\u00a0does not\u00a0state\u00a0that they must be placed in individual stalls.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWinnipeg couple who created, sold animal torture videos get 12 years in jail\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A video of a jockey hitting a horse at a Winnipeg racetrack is prompting calls for increased surveillance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,57735,904,22073],"class_list":["post-672779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-horse-racing","tag-manitoba","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}