Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
As reported to the NSW Racing Integrity Unit:
Please find attached a video featuring licenced trainer Daniel Stanley, owner of D.A.S. Racing, Breaking and Pre-Training in Granton NSW, demonstrating to a new staff member how to break in a racehorse.
On behalf of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, I hereby wish to report the abusive treatment of the horse undertaken by Mr Stanley in the video. The horse is being violently forced to comply without even knowing what they are required to comply with.
The pulling of the horse’s head into a deadlock through the bit, the kicking of heels into their ribcage immediately followed by consecutive beatings with a whip at full force (which is in a manner that is not even allowed on the racetrack) is extremely traumatising to the horse both physically and mentally.
The footage was taken on 5 September 2024, and clients of Mr Stanley confirm that the training methods displayed in the video is still to this day the way Mr Stanley finds appropriate to train racehorses. We also note that Mr Stanley was suspended for three months as per the NSW Stewards Report dated 18 February 2025 after being found under the influence of drugs.
Furthermore, we’d like to draw your attention – as we have through several submissions to various reviews and inquiries into the welfare of racehorses in NSW, the lack of education requirements for trainers and horse handlers before obtaining a license with Racing NSW.
If Racing NSW wants to prevent horses being “trained” in the way displayed in the attached video, up-to-date education in horse behaviour and humane training methods must urgently be implemented as a mandatory requirement to obtain a license and continue to hold a license to work with horses. Please refer to page 5 in our latest submission.
Scientific research has firmly established that the brutal type of negative reinforcement Mr Stanley makes use of, will imprint on the horses for life. When horses are “broken” in this way, it will result in 1), dangerous, reactive behaviour, or 2), mentally shut down horses who become unresponsive as they learn no matter what they do, there’s no way out.
We would appreciate your confirmation that you will investigate the conducts of Mr. Stanley immediately and take appropriate action to ensure he as a minimum is disqualified from training horses as a result of his actions.
#horseracingkills
As reported to the NSW Racing Integrity Unit:
Please find attached a video featuring licenced trainer Daniel Stanley, owner of D.A.S. Racing, Breaking and Pre-Training in Granton NSW, demonstrating to a new staff member how to break in a racehorse.
On behalf of the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses, I hereby wish to report the abusive treatment of the horse undertaken by Mr Stanley in the video. The horse is being violently forced to comply without even knowing what they are required to comply with.
The pulling of the horse’s head into a deadlock through the bit, the kicking of heels into their ribcage immediately followed by consecutive beatings with a whip at full force (which is in a manner that is not even allowed on the racetrack) is extremely traumatising to the horse both physically and mentally.
The footage was taken on 5 September 2024, and clients of Mr Stanley confirm that the training methods displayed in the video is still to this day the way Mr Stanley finds appropriate to train racehorses. We also note that Mr Stanley was suspended for three months as per the NSW Stewards Report dated 18 February 2025 after being found under the influence of drugs.
Furthermore, we’d like to draw your attention – as we have through several submissions to various reviews and inquiries into the welfare of racehorses in NSW, the lack of education requirements for trainers and horse handlers before obtaining a license with Racing NSW.
If Racing NSW wants to prevent horses being “trained” in the way displayed in the attached video, up-to-date education in horse behaviour and humane training methods must urgently be implemented as a mandatory requirement to obtain a license and continue to hold a license to work with horses. Please refer to page 5 in our latest submission.
Scientific research has firmly established that the brutal type of negative reinforcement Mr Stanley makes use of, will imprint on the horses for life. When horses are “broken” in this way, it will result in 1), dangerous, reactive behaviour, or 2), mentally shut down horses who become unresponsive as they learn no matter what they do, there’s no way out.
We would appreciate your confirmation that you will investigate the conducts of Mr. Stanley immediately and take appropriate action to ensure he as a minimum is disqualified from training horses as a result of his actions.
#horseracingkills
