A prominent horse racing presenter has been taken off air after posting a tweet in which he said “cheating” and “death” were part of the sport.
Ken Rudulph, a longstanding contributor to US horse racing channel FanDuel TV, subsequently deleted his post and apologised for his “poor choice of words”.
But on Wednesday FanDuel announced Rudulph would not be appearing on its platform while the company carried out a full review.
US Racing has been hit by a spate of controversies in recent weeks with eight horses having died during the Churchill Downs meeting where the Kentucky Derby favourite was scratching by vets and trainer Saffie Joseph banned from the track.
At the start of the week Rudulph posted: “Horse racing needs to stop pretending and just be what it is. It's a great combo of WWE/reality TV/sports with a healthy dose of BS on the side.
“It's a great game. Cheating is part of it. Death is part of it. Losing is part of it. Winning makes it all worthwhile.”
His comments did not go down well on Twitter after which he claimed he was not advocating fatalities but was trying to start a conversation about the industry’s issues.
After further reflection he said: “Monday evening I made a mistake and used a very poor choice of words to make what I hoped would be a compelling thought regarding horse racing.
“I apologise to my colleagues and the industry for my lack of proper forethought. I truly felt you all would have the open dialogue with me. I will find a better way in the future.”
FanDuel is a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, owners of Betfair and Paddy Power.
In a statement the network said: “Recently, FanDuel TV host Ken Rudulph made disappointing comments online about the integrity of horse racing, as well as the safety and welfare of its participants.
“As the market leader in legal sports wagering, FanDuel takes the issues of sports integrity and track safety very seriously, and we disagree in the strongest terms with the sentiments expressed by Mr. Rudulph.
“Fanduel Strongly supports equine safety reforms, including our longstanding support of equine retirement and aftercare programs as well as organizations focused on the heath and safety of jockeys.
“We also work in close partnership with international and North American-based sports integrity monitoring agencies to identify any potentially illicit activity occurring within our racing or sportsbook platforms.
“Pending a full review of this matter, Mr. Rudulph will not be appearing on FanDuel TV.”
