THE GRAND NATIONAL

YOU BET. THEY DIE.The Grand National isstaged at Aintree duringthe first week of April. Thebig race is the climax of athree-day meeting that hascost the lives of 30 horsesbetween 1999 and 2009.

Many people, who wouldn’tnormally bet on horseracing, havea ‘harmless flutter’ on the GrandNational. But there is nothingharmless about a race thatroutinely inflicts serious injuryand death upon thehorses who take part.

The story of one victim

www.animalaid.org.uk

The death of Graphic Approach, asa result of injuries sustained duringthe 2007 Grand National race, wastypical of many Aintree fatalitiesbefore and since. He fell at thenotorious Becher’s Brook fence andthen ran loose for a mile or more.As he passed the stands, the crowdsscreamed and shouted at him andthe other loose horses, in what musthave been a frightening cacophony.Graphic Approach smashed througha rail and collapsed exhausted andwounded. The immediate visibleinjuries were concussion and a blackeye. But the damage was moreserious. After a month of sufferingat the Liverpool Veterinary School,he succumbed to pneumonia.

Graphic Approach

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Defenders of the race peddle avariety of myths in their attemptsto justify it:

The Grand National is a deliberatelypunishing and hazardous event: longerthan any other (four and a half miles)and presenting 30 uniquely high andawkward obstacles. It features perilousdrops, ditches and sharp turns. Many of the horseswill have encountered nothing like it before.Forty usually take part. This is an excessivelycrowded field, which adds to the risk of collisionsand falls. Only one third are likely to finish.

If the horses didn’t like it, theywouldn’t carry on running after theirjockeys fall offHorses are herd animals. They feel saferwhen part of a group, especially in thenoisy, often unfamiliar raceday environment.

The horses enjoy the challengeThey are not equal to the challenge. Themodern industry concentrates on breedinglighter-boned, speedier animals for Flatracing. Less successful Flat racers, or thosegood at clearing fences, are consignedto jump racing. But, because they arefine-tuned for speed rather than skeletalstrength, they risk fatal injury when theyfall – a common occurrence at Aintree.

The horses are treated like kingsEvidence suggests that, every year, thousandsof horses who don’t pay their way areslaughtered for meat or shot in their yards.

Horses in the wild die too– death is naturalThere is nothing natural about whippinghighly inbred horses to force them to runas fast as they can and jump a series oflife-threatening obstacles.

Don’t bet on the Grand National orany races involving animals. Bettingincome and racecourse attendance feeskeep the racing industry in business.

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