Another dramatic and historic National. An incredible weight carrying performance by the favourite and with a 121 record, Maximus deserves fully to be mentioned alongside Red Rum. Yes you can say the fences were much tougher in the 70s , but then the fences in 70s were easier than what faced Reynoldstown in 35-36 so let’s not carp. Willie M equals another of Dr Vincent O’Briens achievements in doing a triple, and remarkably a British trained horse finished 2nd . I wonder if Willie fancies having a crack at The Derby ? Thanks to a fantastic four timer, including Heidi Palin beating the mighty Townend , Dan can look over his shoulder without fear, despite the £600k or so added to Willie’s coffers.
A 41% casualty rate of falls or unseats is the highest since the modern National changes of 2013 were implemented- this is still not an easy race to win, so lets hear no more of the whingeing about the race being soft or just “a long distance hurdle”.Thankfully all horses are reported safe – you can imagine Monday’s headlines if Quai de Bourbon or Top of the Bill had not got up. Aintree have done all that they can, but you cannot eliminate risk — as racing lovers we as fans accept that as to all participants and owners – but there remain plenty who don’t. I respect the opinions of reasoned opponents, though not the extremists of some organisations, and we can only continue the dialogue. We must remain transparent about welfare and keep striving to look for those incremental gains, whilst preserving the character of this wonderful race.