The traditional horse racing event in honour of the St Margaret feast in ta’ Sannat will go ahead as planned despite it not being endorsed by the Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare.
Conversely, the horse race event was endorsed by the Ministry for Gozo, whose logo appears on the poster of the event.
The horse race is a major event at the feast in the Gozitan village. The first horse race took place on 22 July 1810 in honour of St Margaret. This year, the race will take place on Sunday 24 July at 1.30pm, at the peak of a hot, summery day.
Sannat mayor Philip Vella is known to have made a request to the Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare for a no-objection letter so that the local council could apply for the necessary permits.
The no-objection letter was not granted, as Animal Welfare Commissioner Alison Bezzina told the Sannat Local Council mayor that the office is “against this practice because tarmacked roads are not ideal for horses to race on.”
However, Bezzina provided the local council with a number of guidelines and encouraged it to adhere to them.
Maltese laws prohibit karozzini from being on the road between July and August between 1pm and 4pm, Bezzina said. Having horses racing in the sweltering afternoon summer is even worse.
She added that “though legally this might not strictly apply to horse racing, the principle of Animal Welfare and the spirit of the law should be applied to all horses. The ideal place for such races to occur are the horse racing track which provides the best conditions and safety measures for the horses and audience.”
In spite of this, the races will be held in roads which are not deemed adequate for such a practice.
Amongst the guidelines provided, Bezzina said that no horse races should take place during sunlight, but only after sundown, and that the roads should be wide enough to offer safety for the horses, the riders the onlookers.
Bezzina noted that parts of Triq Tabib Anton Tabone, the road where the horse race is expected to take place, are not wide enough.
In addition, the guidelines also stated that the horses should not be left waiting before sundown (6:30pm), there should be no hills, not even when the race ends but the horse is still running and trying to slow down, there should be easy water access, no traffic, no whips and there should be vet on site and emergency carrier too.
Bezzina also encouraged the local council to organise the horse race with owners’ horse carriers kept close by, to avoid any horses walking a long distance after the race, and lastly, to ensure that there is adequate shelter for the horses while they wait.