A champion English racehorse with three career victories was secretly slaughtered and turned into food before its identity was exposed when an electronic microchip was discovered by a diner inside his cooked meat dish served to the public.
The incident was uncovered in Yenisehir district, Mersin province, southern Turkey, in February 2026 after a resident found a strange object inside a portion of kavurma, a traditional Turkish fried meat dish distributed from a municipal soup kitchen, local media reported on 12th March.
Horse slaughter for meat is prohibited in Turkey, especially for registered racehorses, which are typically protected or rehomed. This incident sparked public outrage in Turkey, with many highlighting the cultural taboo against eating horse meat, especially when it is a former racehorse seen as a “companion animal” and not food.
As a result, it has triggered an investigation by the Mersin Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry, which determined the object was an electronic identity chip used to register racehorses.
Inspectors carried out a formal inspection at the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality soup kitchen on 4th February and collected samples from batches of kavurma prepared on 3rd and 4th February.
Laboratory testing conducted by the Mersin Food Control Laboratory Directorate confirmed that the samples contained meat from a single-hoofed animal, a category that includes horses.
Authorities later traced the chip to a four-year-old English thoroughbred racehorse named Smart Latch.
Records from the Turkish Jockey Club show the horse had won three races during its career and earned a total of TRY 1,125,000 (GBP 19,200) in prize money.
The horse was last recorded racing in Adana on 14th October 2025, when it reportedly suffered a broken leg during the event.
According to its owner, Suat Topcu, the horse had later been handed over free of charge to be transferred to riding clubs after its racing career ended.
Officials said an investigation is continuing to determine how the animal was slaughtered and how its meat entered the municipal food supply chain.
Following the laboratory confirmation, authorities destroyed 213 kilogrammes of kavurma produced at the soup kitchen.
The facility involved was added to the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s public list of foods considered to pose a risk to public health, and a criminal complaint has been filed with prosecutors as the investigation continues.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Aloysius Fernandes, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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