After two horses were put down yesterday on the final day of the Warrnambool May carnival, Racing Victoria Limited called an emergency review of jumps racing and said it would make an announcement on its future next week.

Animal welfare campaigners welcomed the suspension as the first step toward scrapping the sport altogether, while the state government also welcomed the move after the deaths of five horses at jumps racing events this year.

RVL chief executive Rob Hines said after the feature Grand Annual Steeplechase at Warrnambool yesterday, ''We have asked the jumps review panel to make a report to the board by early next week on the season so far and on all the incidents that have occurred.

''The RVL board will be having an urgent board meeting next week and making a decision on the future of jumps racing and making a statement next week.''

Topweight Clearview Bay had to be put down after falling at the fourth-last fence of the gruelling Grand Annual, run over 5500m and over 33 fences.

The nine-year-old suffered the same fate as Pride Of Westbury who broke his neck after falling at the last jump in the Galleywood Hurdle on Wednesday, while his stablemate Hassle had to be put down after shattering a leg bone in a hurdle earlier yesterday.

Victoria's Deputy Premier and Racing Minister Rob Hulls said the recent spate of deaths had horrified many Victorians.

''I have always maintained that the death of any horse is not an acceptable by-product of racing and the rate of deaths so far this season is unsustainable,'' Hulls said.

''It is incumbent upon the industry to show leadership to ensure the controversy surrounding jumps racing does not taint the entire racing industry.

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