Anyone researching historic racing venues such as Saratoga and Keeneland on Tripadvisor in recent weeks has been met with a stark message from the popular website. The pages for several American racetracks now include the following disclaimer: “This business does not currently meet Tripadvisor's Animal Welfare Policy.”Dig a little deeper and you will find Tripadvisor's corporate policy regarding activities that involve animals. It reads: “Tripadvisor will not allow ticket sales via its platform for, and will not generate booking revenue from, specific experiences where domesticated animals are put at heightened risk of injury or death for the sake of sport or entertainment. This means Tripadvisor does not enable booking for experiences that involve animal racing, such as most dog, horse, and camel racing, or for rodeo-style events, where the format of the activity typically creates these risks. Experiences with domesticated animals, such as working or riding animals, animal exhibitions, petting zoos and farms, community fairs or festivals, and cultural events, can still be booked on Tripadvisor when they follow responsible animal welfare practices guided by the Five Domains of Animal Welfare.”In 2016, Tripadvisor introduced the policy to stop ticket sales and bookings for attractions where tourists come into direct contact with captive wild or endangered animals.Tripadvisor is now no longer making its website available to anyone attempting to purchase tickets to horse racing events, a policy that apparently went into place earlier this month. The TDN reached out to Tripadvisor's media relations department Monday asking for a comment and for clarification. As of the deadline for this story, Tripadvisor had not responded to the email sent by the TDN.The new policy and the disclaimer have been put in place for racetracks all over the world.According to the Racing Post, the British Horseracing Authority has called the move “surprising and troubling” and has written to the company asking it to reconsider the classification. The Racing Post also reported that both the Racecourse Association and the Horse Welfare Board (HWB) said TripAdvisor should review its classification of racecourses, and that HWB chair Dame Minette Batters was claiming it was “misleading and does a disservice to the decades of investment, science and independent oversight that underpin equine welfare in British racing.”It appears that no U.S. racetrack has escaped Tripadvisor's new policy. A quick check found the same disclaimer on the pages for Del Mar, Churchill Downs, Santa Anita and Monmouth Park. However, the policy seems to cover only racetracks themselves. It is not found on the page for the Kentucky Derby or Royal Ascot, while it does appear on the page for Ascot Racecourse. There is no such page for the Breeders' Cup.Racing events that take place away from the racetrack do not seem to fall afoul of Tripadvisor's stance. For example, the pages for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the tours held at Claiborne Farm do not include the disclaimer.The post Tripadvisor Takes Anti-Racing Stance appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.