Trainer invites Green leader after racing ban call
Green leader Polanski called for the abolition of the entire horse racing industry in 2024.
Nicky Henderson made the offer to Zack Polanski, who became the Green Party's leader in September [Getty Images] 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.
Polanski's comments, made originally in 2024, were reported in The Sun on Friday [Getty Images] "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.