South Australian sports minister Leon Bignell has used the death of an NZ-bred horse in Adelaide this weekend to push for a ban on jumps racing.
Five-year-old gelding Wheeler Fortune, trained by champion horseman John Wheeler, was involved in a fall in the Somerled Hurdles, when fellow contender Searaven fell at the final hurdle in the home straight.
Searaven regained his footing and galloped on, but he brought down Wheeler Fortune, which suffered a serious injury to a foreleg and had to be euthanased by course veterinarians, minutes after the race finished.
Jumps racing is "barbaric" and trainers and jockeys who are opposed to it should push for the sport to be banned "to save the reputation of horse racing in South Australia", said Bignell afterwards.
However, he said it was "up to the racing industry" to impose the ban.