Royal Ascot trainers cut social media engagement over ‘appalling’ abuse

A training couple has announced they will stop posting comments on their runners after receiving an increasing amount of abuse.

Husband and wife Daniel and Claire Kubler have runners at Royal Ascot this week and saddle Astro King in the Wolferton Stakes on the opening day. They have regularly tried to engage fans by providing a verdict on each of their runners on their website.

But on the eve of the five-day royal meeting, they declared this would cease owing to the level of hostile messages they had received. The couple, who train in Lambourn, made the announcement in a post on X.

The couple said: “Ever since we started training we’ve tried to post our honest thoughts on each of our runners on our website. We have always appreciated the kind words from people who enjoy this.

“However, increasingly we’re receiving unkind texts, emails and offensive phone calls. We train racehorses for their owners, the aim is always to win. Sometimes things don’t work out. Nothing is more disappointing to us than a poor performance.”

They continued: “To then get abused and have your integrity questioned when you’ve put in a huge amount of work to win isn’t pleasant.

“Therefore, for the foreseeable, we’ll be posting details of our runners but keep opinions to ourselves and the horse’s owners, like other yards.

“It’s a shame that people feel they can behave appallingly behind the veil of anonymity. In doing so they spoil enjoyment of others. Whilst we’re sure it won’t stop all the unpleasantness if it reduces, it will be a plus. It will also allow us to focus more of our time on the horses we care for and delivering results for owners.”