The excitement of the 2019 Grand National is over and it is time for the usual post mortem. One horse killed and another taken away by ambulance appears according to the media and racing authorities to have been a pretty good result. Two other horses, Forest des Aigles and Crucial Role, were also euthanised the day before but have received little attention. Track authorities and the British Horse Association (BHA) are obviously saddened again and Dickon White, of the Jockey Club Stated:
“As a sport of animal lovers, we wanted every horse to come home – and sadly that’s not been the case with Up For Review”
a statement which makes it is difficult to get one’s head round what qualifies as being an animal lover these days. The media state that “38 runners returned safely” – but returned safely to where? Obviously their stable as they didn’t finish the race. Only 19 (47%) out of 40 actually past the finishing post.
It is not difficult to deduce from the statistics that most of the horses present just provide the spectacle and have no chance at all of competing or finishing the race. People watch the National for the excitement and anticipation of the stampede to the first fence when everyone holds their breath to see if they get over safely or fall. But do some racegoers secretly hope that there will be a spectacular pile up rather like in Formula One when the cars approach the first bend or the cycle riders in the Tour de France. There is a certain element of wishing for tragedy as no one wants a “boring”race.
Carnage at the fences.
This year at the first fence Up For Review was brought down by another faller and was fatally injured and at the sixth fence three fell and one pulled up. So we had already lost 8 horses by the sixth fence and then the race continued without incident until we get to the 21st fence where a horse pulled up. Horses were then pulled up or refused at the 25th, 26th, and at the 27th a rider was unseated, then 4 horses refused or pulled up at the 28th and 5 at the 29th.
There is an obvious pattern here: the attrition rate increases the further into the race they get when more horses find that the going is too tough. These are all horses that are perhaps not fit or strong enough to last the course – the cannon fodder to make the race a spectacle and for who the race is too much of a challenge. It’s not science, but seems logical that horses tire just like humans in marathons or steeplechases and cannot find that last effort to finish.
The race is 14 fences too long & involves too many horses.
The racing fraternity are proud that the National is the longest National Hunt race in Britain and that it is the ultimate test of horse and jockey jumping 30 fences over a distance of 2.25 miles. And this is the problem. The race is too long, has too many high jumps and too many participants.
Many campaigners including the RSPCA believe the best way forward is to work with the authorities to improve the welfare of the horses during the race which they state they have done successfully for the last thirty years and list many so-called improvements, but most of these are just peripheral to the main problem. Thirty years on we still have horses dying and suffering and being injured and more importantly horses being pushed beyond their limits.
There is no chance of the race being banished in the foreseeable future because of all the tradition and history behind it just like fox-hunting, not to mention the huge financial benefits to everyone involved. And of course supporters want carnage and spectacle not just any old horse race, because this is what they watch it for. The only way of reducing the suffering is to shorten the race to one lap of the course, cut the numbers involved and lower the fences, but this is never going to happen.