3 MINUTE RADIO PACKAGE FOR MY PORTFOLIO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiII9sO0wTg

Please find the hard copy of my speech from the radio package:

On May 4th the annual Guineas 1000 race will take place at the Rowley Mile racecourse in Newmarket, Suffolk. The event take place at round this time every year, with the Guineas 2000 race shortly following on the Sunday.

With the year starting off with an outbreak in equine flew (which did affect Newmarket) , and the constant controversy behind the moral rights of horse racing as a sport, it seems fairly controversial that year in and year out, these races take place without a question.

The Guineas is one of five classic races in the UK. This specific race is for three-year-old thoroughbred fillies to run over a distance of 1 mile. It was first run in 1814 and has been run in the last weekend of April or the first weekend in May ever since.

Horse racing in general is an event that is watched throughout the country for the duration of the spring and summer seasons, and is endorsed by many celebrities who enjoy the concept. But what is it about this particular animal race that attracts a flood of viewers to each event?

This Vox material taken at the Guineas, from attendees this year, should give you an incite to what is so enjoyable about the annual event.

(vox material)

Horse racing as a sport takes criticism every year and the season started off no differently in 2019. General public members were extremely upset and took to social media to bash the sport, over 3 horse needing to be put down, after becoming injured whilst taking part in the Aintree grand national.

Popular social media influencer and reality TV star Chris Hughes has been on ITV reporting the horse racing in 2019, and now linked to taking part in the sport. He took to twitter earlier this year to defend the races saying: "Quite simply race horses are looked after and cared for better than us humans care for each other. They love every second of being on a race track. Many people can be easily educated by visiting yards of all variety’s and having a stable tour, it’ll be a real eye opener."

This defence came quickly after the Aintree incident, when comedian Ricky Gervais started the hashtag "#youbettheydie" to encourage people to stop betting on the sport, insinuating that if you do place a bet on a race, you are partly responsible for the fate of that animal, which is a controversial view in itself.

It's clear that each side of this "Is horse racing cruelty?" battle both think they're correct. And the arguments for both sides are not going to go away, but it's fair to say that the horse racing is making a lot of money each year and jockeys aren't likely to give up their jobs any time soon. So, for now, the battle will continue or many years to come.