Horses getting killed in grand national your views ( poll )

[jimmywomble]

Again very sad and feel for the connections.

Presumably the animal welfare brigade will be calling for a ban on horses spending time in the field now as well?

[johnwilly]

Of coarse they might get struck by lightning

[rasputine]

As someone has died running the London marathon are we to stop this race
I know some people enjoy it and like to watch it but I am not one of them and therefore my opinion is more important than theirs

[unapit]

Some posts on this thread are bigotry.

No one should feel devalued because they don't agree with another's view.

There's no hypocrisy between liking Horse Racing, belonging to forum, but disagreeing with the Grand National.

The fact is, statistically, a horse is twice as likely to be killed at the Grand National then other races. If that affects some people's conscience then have the grace to at least respect their view.

Personally, I think people with an open mind get on with life, those who don't don't and have nothing better to do.

[goodisonpark]

The grand National is the best steeple chase race in the world (Fact)

Race horses are looked after better than children

I hope the Grand National course does not get modified any more than it has been

The race is a test of the race horses ability in jumping and stamina, if a horse didn't want to run then it won't, if a horse didn't want to jump then it won't

I think every horse that ran in yesterdays grand national really enjoyed it!!
great race

I am a fan of the Grand National race. leave it be now, all modifications have been made maybe for the better but again leave it be now.

[Kazuno]

The thing is we are all fans of the sport of horse racing but unfortunately these accidents do occur and I don't think anyone just say oh it's JUST another horse I know the majority of people feel quite upset when it does happen as a great animal is lost but I've heard trainers before say accidents can occur at home on a gallop etc horses are not machines things can go wrong it's just a sad part of racing but if you think about the ammount of racing that goes ahead the death rate is fairly low although it would be great if there were zero deaths.

It annoys me at The National etc when a horse dies the anti racing brigade get on the moral high ground these animals are bred to race it's what they want to do. A great example of this is when a jock fallsoff a horse the loose horses continue running taking fences if they really hated racing they would surely just stop and lets face it if a 500kg horse doesn't want to do something a little man with a whip won't make him.

[jpaul71]

It's a hard one and we have had this debate before. My tuppence it's horse racing, I feel very sad when a good horse (or any horse for that matter) dies for the sport we love but millions of animals are slaughtered for humans benefit every day for food so it seems a little ridiculous that horse racing is picked on for the loss of life when I think in this country at least everybody loves these horses including the owners and the stable staff and feels there loss deeply.

[ken678]

Forgive me if I have already posted this or similar - at my age these things happen.

Almost everyone involved with racing love their horses and if you have ever seen distraught connections after a fatality you couldn't, for a moment, be anything moved. But life is full of risks - remove all of them and you remove so much that is makes life worth living.

The "do-gooders" in this, as in so much else, do infinitely more harm than good. I was lucky enough to know Des Dartnall a small trainer and father of current trainer Vic, who was involved in racing all his life from leaving school at 13. He said his first "gaffer" told him that you shouldn't run a horse in the National unless you could get your bowler hat between its front legs!

The do-gooders who have buggered about so much with the fences have increased the risks of injury. So many of the horses that take part these days simply aren't National types but the easier (much easier) fences mean that non-steeplechase sorts take part. They can't jump as well and are also likely to be travelling that much faster - aggravating the effects of any fall.

Fine, if you don't like the National don't watch it but stop the bleeding hearts meddling with stuff they don't understand. My other great love is rugby and the same noxious crew are at work there too - scrums will be gone by 2025 and a big part of the appeal of the game will go with them.

[Shrews]

I had seen horses killed in The National even from a young age. Dark Ivy springs to mind s a youngster, however the death of Synchronised was a real choker for me. I absolutely hated it and it put a big question mark over the race for me. It just felt a bit sickening and 'not right'

And this is coming from someone who has been involved in racehorse ownership. I know that the horses are highly privileged and love their lives. They have the best feed, the best veterinary care (imagine being a 'free' pony, covered in ticks and suffering from a whole number of curable ailments), they are groomed fantastically and are super-fit. For that luxurious lifestyle us humans expect them to 'race' for our entertainment every now and then. A very small die because of it. But I'd know which lifestyle I'd choose.

However, on average the National does have double the amount of fatalities as compared to steeplechase races in general and that stat is notable and needs improving on. It'll never be risk free of course, however surely in this day and age more can be done ? It's really a race for the public and I believe more than anything that the public don't want to see dead horses in what is a British Institution and a chance for racing to show off that it is a great sport and to encourage more people to go and watch it.

I don't buy into the whole argument of 'making it easier will ruin the race'. It won't, as said, this is the publics race, the race for a once in a year bet, the public will bet on it no matter how easy it is.

I have never heard anyone say 'i'm not betting on the National because they've made it easier'

Personally i'd like to see a few changes:

Increased watering to try and ensure softer ground
4m maximum distance (and not just The National)
30 runners, not 40

With National Hunt in general, no horse should ever be expected to jump on Firm ground EVER. With that in mind there should never be any Summer jumps meetings IMO. The Flat is for the Summer, the jumps are for the Winter.

Hopefully, they will continue to improve the race and we will get to enjoy the race without wincing that horses are going to die in front of our eyes when it's meant to be a showcase race to show our sport off to the world.

[geordieracer]

1 anyone who has ever ridden a horse will tell you that if it does not want to jump you won't be able to make it jump

2 horses die when they jump AT SPEED .The faster the race the more dangerous

3 what slows a horse down in a race is when it has to jump.

4 therefore all the do-gooders moaning about the national should consider this.... if you make the fences stiffer, so the horses have to slow down to take the safely they will be less likely to suffer fatal injuries

5 improved drainage has made it almost impossible to produce ground softer than good in the middle ofmarch and into april. Che.tenham has been overdrained ever since the water table was lowered by the creation of that stupid cross country course in an area which had previously been a rather boggy water retaining area. Aintree has always been fast-drying but it seems that the ground is firmer than it was in the past, the fence are far easier so the horses dont slow down and as a result they have sacrificed the special nature of the national to solve the "problem" which was of their own creation

Most sports have some inherent danger in them. Once you start to equate the loss of an animal's life to the loss of a human's you are in serious trouble (Ruby had it exactly right at Cheltenham). Racehorses are cared for better than most humans, are loved by those who own, train,ride and look after them, but at the end of the day they are horses. They are bred to race, to jump, to compete. The injury or death of a horse is a sad event, of course, but it isnt a tragedy or a disaster. Lets put that in perspective and keep it there,

[man o bong]

Looking at Bechers Brook yesterday,the fence has been destroyed

Unfortunately Racing has been trying to appease the unappeasable and in turn have ruined a world wide spectacle of a race that was never waining in popularity except for those that never watched the race in the first place and still wont watch it now despite the changes that have been made at thier calling

NH racing has got to man up and look after it's own - Thise that complain about will always complain about it,so long as there are jockeys on the horses backs and more than one in a race _ Making changes will not change the mindset of the stupid who's interest in racing will never be a positive one

If NH racing is going to make changes,make changes that the racing public, who support the sport and enjoy the sport and help finance the sport want to see made, not those that want to sport brought down

I think there has been some very short-sighted decisions made to "please" those that don't give a damn whether the sport lives or dies

[nors]

Expect the BBC/Sky/Print Media to look for the negatives in the race, they are ready and waiting to write/report bad news. There will be a slot for the Grand National and editors will have said give me 500 words/2 minutes on the race and remember they have to sensationalise their report. These organisations have so much time/space to fill that they are looking at everything, and they cannot just say "All went well nothing to report"

If you look back and try and remember the news issues we had in February i suspect you will struggle to remember them. It will be the same as the Grand National - the media will have moved on.

Also remember you are receiving news from a profession discredited by phone tapping and dubious reporting practices.