The Grand National

I’m glad I am Maximus won. Really glad.

ViceVersa

Another horse put down today at Aintree after suffering a broken leg - earlier race than the National.

Gold Dancer destroyed yesterday. Get on George destroyed today.

Today’s race sounds like utter chaos. Two of the horses Top of the Bill and Quai de Bonbon sound like their lives are in danger.

And of course the sponsors Randox are controversial for criminal data manipulation and were in the VIP lane, awarded hundreds of thousands in Covid contracts. And remember MP Owen Paterson and the lobbying scandal? That was Randox too.

Money, money, money.

valdali

I always watch the National. I agree with those who say there is risk in everything.
I spent a large part of my childhood on horseback & horses & even children's ponies will race each other.
So sad about the horse with a broken back, he must have got up & galloped after his fall, that isn't something the jockey was responsible for, that's the horse's instinct, training & adrenaline making him want to go on. The jockey must feel awful for whipping him now he knows about the injury.
The Grand National course is still the most dangerous (in the UK anyway) for horses & jockeys alike. Flat racing is safer, but the horses are 2 year olds when they start which always seems very young, National Hunt horses are fully mature.
Cars kill much wildlife and many people, dogs & cats. Some of them have excrutiating deaths. If you drive, you take this risk, it doesn't mean you don't care about other people or dogs & cats.You do it as safely as possible.
The racing establishment do care about safety and do care about their horses.But I don't know how much longer the Grand National will survive, all more reason not to miss it today.

Gambling on football & online casino games probably responsible for more gambling debts than the geegees these days.

The horse won the race with a broken back. I was screaming at the jockey to pull him up after he slipped after the last fence but he continued riding him. He didn’t seem to realise the horse had been injured but I find it difficult to understand why. For what it’s worth there has been endless discussion about it in racing circles and a great deal of anger. We’ll find out more after the autopsy. Same jockey has just won the Grand National. Even though what happened yesterday was out of character I’m not rejoicing for him. All horses seem to be ok with one being assessed.

Today’s race sounds like utter chaos. Two of the horses Top of the Bill and Quai de Bonbon sound like their lives are in danger
I understand horses walked back to their stable and it was actually^Quai de Bourbon^not Bonbon.

The first second time winner since Red Rum!
A fantastic race!

It’s ridiculous to say if we didn’t have bets (to encourage the racing) all the horses would become pet food, if that’s how you want to justify it, good luck but that wouldn’t happen because they would have been born and bred in the first place !!!
There is no justification

33GrannyGravy13

BlueBelle

Well at least two on here couldn’t care less about beautiful animals being driven to death

Au contraire! I have been around horses since I could walk, and went on to own several.

DD competed, we have had ex racehorses at our yard.

I also know that you cannot get a horse to do something it doesn’t want to, by kindness or cruelty.

So if you can't get a horse to do something it doesn't want to do why use a whip? Just awful seeing the photo of that poor horse.

I just think that we have to have much more respect for the animals we share this planet with. Our needs and desires should not trump their wellbeing. I believe is supreme arrogance to suppose we understand what a horse really wants. Those bred for racing will have known nothing else but I really don’t think they would rather be whipped relentlessly to race until they possibly injure themselves rather than running in the great outdoors, free and without human demands.
I don’t suppose I really know at the end of the day either but I cannot imagine any horse would choose horse racing over living as such creatures should live naturally.

Use of whip in racing

A jockey can only use their whip seven times in national hunt races (jumps) and six times in flat racing.

Horses are not whipped relentlessly

Well said Fallingstar.
Gambling is a personal choice, but at the expense of cruelty it is not.

The winners maybe well cared for but what about the 4th/5th's etc not worth spending money on vets fees etc .If it's anything like the poor racing greyhounds,many of which get abandoned if they can't keep winning.

Oops missed out ‘fine’ after ‘choice’. Wish there was an edit button!

GrannyGravy13

Use of whip in racing

A jockey can only use their whip seven times in national hunt races (jumps) and six times in flat racing.

Horses are not ^whipped relentlessly^

If I was whipped six or seven times in a race I would probably think it pretty relentless.
On that I beg to differ GrannyGravy.

GrannyGravy13

Use of whip in racing

A jockey can only use their whip seven times in national hunt races (jumps) and six times in flat racing.

Horses are not ^whipped relentlessly^

It’s actually the waving of the whip which the horse sees out of the corner of its eye which urges it to go faster- not the impact being “whipped” relentlessly or otherwise.

RosiesMawagain yes, you are correct.

I watched the race, the going was soft, so it was a fast race, it was no more chaotic than usual.

The falls weren’t great and I saw a horse get trampled by the other horses who just couldn’t get out of the way in time.

It is a tough race and I wish it was shorter and less runners.

mrsba

The winners maybe well cared for but what about the 4th/5th's etc not worth spending money on vets fees etc .If it's anything like the poor racing greyhounds,many of which get abandoned if they can't keep winning.

All the horses are well looked after as they may be the next meetings winner, it’s not the same group of 3 or 4 horses who run in each race or win every time.

For example, there is a horse this year, Twig, who ran in the GN, he was bought for a £100 and trained and showed much promise and there he was running.

He didn’t win but he’ll still be well treated.

Stables are regularly inspected now and in fact any member of the public can arrange to go to most of the large premises and look for themselves.

As I said earlier, look it up, far far more “pet” horses in this country are mistreated and neglected by ignorant owners who didn’t realise that owning a horse is extremely expensive.

The horse racing fraternity, on the whole, treat their horses well, many are generational breeders and trainers.

As in every industry and walk of life, there are some rogue breeders not doing the right thing for their beautiful livestock.

I guess it’s a similar thing to vegans v meat eaters, some of you will never eat meal on principle, some of you use the same principle for dog and horse racing, maybe even events like Crufts.

This is your prerogative and absolute right.

I do like racing, I do want it to as safe as it possibly can, stables to be properly inspected and horses and dogs treated with kindness and respect.

It’s my opinion most are.

I think it is a case of agreeing nicely to disagree, never the Twain shall meet.

I’m always very very saddened when any horse is injured or dies.

Fallingstar

I just think that we have to have much more respect for the animals we share this planet with. Our needs and desires should not trump their wellbeing. I believe is supreme arrogance to suppose we understand what a horse really wants. Those bred for racing will have known nothing else but I really don’t think they would rather be whipped relentlessly to race until they possibly injure themselves rather than running in the great outdoors, free and without human demands.
I don’t suppose I really know at the end of the day either but I cannot imagine any horse would choose horse racing over living as such creatures should live naturally.

I think here, it’s really a case of each to their own.

Most owners and trainers do look after their horses properly and do love them.

Well said Cossy
It’s an emotive subject. Best to just agree to disagree.

The race is cruel. Please do not bet on it or otherwise support it.

The flat season takes over next week. The chances of a horse falling are over 90% lower than national hunt and injuries to jockeys are far less common. I have heard people say racing should become flat only for these reasons, but I'd imagine the uproar if Cheltenham and the Grand National were cancelled as these are the country's biggest race meetings.
It's a tough call, as I know most trainers and owners really look after their houses and they usually go on to a good retirement. Yet the jumps side of the sport does need to look at improving safety more and maybe lowering the fences.

ClicketyClick

33GrannyGravy13

BlueBelle

Well at least two on here couldn’t care less about beautiful animals being driven to death

Au contraire! I have been around horses since I could walk, and went on to own several.

DD competed, we have had ex racehorses at our yard.

I also know that you cannot get a horse to do something it doesn’t want to, by kindness or cruelty.

So if you can't get a horse to do something it doesn't want to do why use a whip? Just awful seeing the photo of that poor horse.

You have a gas pedal on a car to accellerate. Horses accellerate when you use your legs to tell them to do that. Obviously jockeys can't do that as effectively because they monkey-crouch but they do need to fine-tune the burst of speed at the critical time.
I'm not of the racing world, but that would be one possible reason why limited use of whip is allowed ie not to flog the horse forward, but to communicate to them "Now!"

I love horses, rode till RA stopped me in my late fifties. My daughters rode, my granddaughter does. My favourite hack was a retired race horse at our yard. He was fast but such an easy boy to handle unless something really spooked him, then skills and relationship between horse and rider important

I’ve said my bit earlier about the broken back, the fact I see the National as an unnecessarily dangerous race.

I have dogs, they go to training groups. I’m aware some non doggy people might think some of the tasks and tricks we teach aren’t ‘natural’ to dogs. Many believe we shouldn’t have pet dogs.

Animal welfare is a tricky one - unless we are talking obvious abuse

Lowering the fences makes the race faster so not always a safer option.
There were quite a few fallers at the early fences in today’s race so maybe there should be more attention paid to fitness and ability before entering.

There are many signals given by jockey to horse in order to increase their speed including shortening the reins, moving their hands further up the neck, shifting their body weight forward away from the saddle and ‘pulling their whip through’ - changing hands. I’ve probably forgotten some others.

Horses respond to all kinds of signals. Over use of the whip should never be condoned.