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I know what, remove all the fences, shorten it to five furlongs and move it to the fibresand at Southwell with a maximum field of eight – much safer
This race should not be singled out, it accounts for less than a fraction of a single percent of equine deaths in racing, if today’s 2 trageies are unacceptable then so must all the others be.
There’s a bigger risk in the Grand National SBerry, therefore it is quite right to single it out.
Value Is EverythingPretty sure I suggested reducing numbers the last time this was debated – don’t remember too much support for the idea at the time?
I made the same suggestion Stilvi and can remember plenty of support at the time.
Value Is EverythingHorse racing fans have to accept the Grand National is part of our Heritage,its Historical ties should remain as they are.We can accept our troops will die in these ridiculous ‘Wars’,we can sure as hell accept our Horse Heroes will do the same around Aintree!
Personally I have never agreed with drop fences as I perceive them to be an unfair test on the horse.
The National is becoming a P.R. disaster for racing, and I believe that it should be got rid of before it begins the end of NH racing entirely.
R.I.P. both horsesModify for me.
Remove drop fences and reduce the number of runners to 25.It is a race which captures the public attention like no other which has to be an asset for racing but radical changes must be made rather than triming an inch off a fence here and there and installing showers.
Even as a racing fan I must say I find the National quite unedifying viewing when there appears an even money chance that a quarter of the field will fall or be brought down.
Do we watch any other race with that likelihood?
Horse racing fans have to accept the Grand National is part of our Heritage,its Historical ties should remain as they are.We can accept our troops will die in these ridiculous ‘Wars’,we can sure as hell accept our Horse Heroes will do the same around Aintree!
There are many British people who are thoroughly ashamed of certain aspects of our heritage just as there are many who find sending our troops out to fight unjust wars wholly unacceptable.
There will be casualties because of the fences – I think making the fences softer has made it safer. For me the fact that you have so many loose horses is the real danger. Better run off areas for me to take the loose horses away from the rest of the field is the only thing I would change. There has been carnage in the past caused by loose horses causing pile ups and jumping in front of others.
Make the fences too small and they just go faster imo. There have been changes in the past – wasnt there a stone wall fence many years ago ?
National hunt horse racing is my favourite sport and I do not think it is cruel because I strongly believe that horses enjoy running and jumping and get well looked after in this country. The Grand National is nothing more than a glorified handicap really and we do not need it as it gives the sport more bad publicity than it does any good.
I think there is a limit regarding what horses can be asked to do and The National exceeds that limit as it is too difficult. It should be finished or changed to about 3 1/2 miles with fairer fences and have a lot less runners.
I was very disappointed to hear Paul Nicholls say that the ‘ anti national ‘ brigade should grow up and that there are risks in all sports including soccer. A very defensive and naive comment from a respected trainer who should know better.
Long time reader, long time lost username so here on a new account!
The Grand National got me into racing, to the point where I rate the Gold Cup as highly as it (didn’t use to).
I love the grand national more than you can imagine, and on one hand wish it was still has it was in the 80s. I feel they made a massive mistake with the course when they modified it for 1990. The only fence they needed to change was Becher’s as the style of death there was unacceptable.
The new fences have taken a greater death toll than the old style slower to jump fences (statistical fact if you look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eq … d_National
When you go look at that list, its apparent that there are a great number of deaths/injuries caused when the horse is running lose or in a "melee" when brought down.I think the sport of horse racing NEEDS this race. Its the most bet on race of the year, and the betting industry funds the sport. So we cannot get rid of it, but we do need to consider how to keep it in place. The 2 deaths this year were unfortunate. I believe Synchronised injured himself loose as he was running fine away from Becher’s. Pete was brought down. Modifying those fences would not have saved that accident.
Actions to take
1) I think the users above mentioning the course being too crowded are correct, and as much as I hate the idea I really do think they now need to make this a 30 runner race (especially with the run outs now taking up plenty of space).Another issue is back in the day you’d have 20 horses with a chance, and 20 with no chance but there to try and get round. Therefore the field spread out more. People didn’t mind running round the outside. Less chance of a pile up unlike now with 40 horses all with a chance and all trying to go down the middle/inner. I would throw one question out there tho – Synchro had no horses around him when he fell. The On His Own bringing down According to Pete incident happened with only 20 horses of less left.
2) John McCrirrick has actually made a good point. Horses that unship at the start of any race and run off should be instantly removed from the race. I dont think this incident is related to syncro’s death BUT it has fuelled the publicity with social media now full of people quoting "the horse that didn’t want to run has paid the price". Also many punters would have rather had their money back after the horse exerted energy pre race.
3) They need to look into their ability/procedures for retrieving loose horses. It seems Synchro, Killyglen and maybe Weird Al all hurt themselves loose. In previous years Graphic Approach, Tyneandtynagain, McKelvey and others have been hurt when loose.
4) Possible ruling on horses being pulled up if they drop back from their position (as a precaution). Prevents a Hear the Echo situation. Policed by banning jockeys that ignore the rule. Only really valid rule for the National.
5) I am extremely angry with the jockeys. They keep ffing up the start every year and this causes a faster pace to the first set of fences, bunching up, hyperactive horses and so forth. The tape wasn’t even set and they are running forward totally ignoring the starter’s words. They HAVE to sort out the start of the race. Is it possible that the Grand National could be reduced to 30 runners and be the only jump race to use starting stalls?
6) Move the race to earlier in the year. Would avoid some Cheltenham horses running, and would hopefully lead to softer conditions (not that a soft national is always safe – 3 died in Earth Summit’s heavy national).
One thing we need though (as race fans) is to all stick together. There is already some terrible publicity and lies regarding today’s deaths. One quote of a photo of "Tony McCoy walks away from his mount Synchronised" that led to comments from readers "What a disgrace – you go limping off AP and leave your poor horse to be popped in the head". He would not have even found out until he got back to the start!
And the following link, with a picture of the screens up for Rare Bob’s jockey, and the mirror claiming it was for the Sychronised!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/horse-rac … ths-795508You could see the screens for Sychronised were before the 13th fence as the runners came around the final bend. I’d say his injury must have certainly been sustained somehow running loose as there is no way he would have made it from Becher’s to the 13th fence with that sort of injury.
RIP both horses and my thoughts with the stable lad/lass involved and all connections.
Lets hope we can make the intelligent adjustments needed to make the race safer, get 20 of 30 horses completing, and then we can concentrate on the fantastic scenes of the likes of Neptune Collonges and Sunnyhillboy fighting out the most exciting finish EVER.
After today I don’t want to see another National in this form ever again.
I voted to modify..
firstly by reducing the field to 30 runners and secondly (and this is only IMO) by not allowing horses that have run at Cheltenham to compete in the Grand National, any other race OK but not a 4 mile slog after they have all had hard races only 3 or 4 weeks previous. A Gold Cup winner rarely wins the Grand National, we have to look back to Le’Escargot and that was in a different year and then all the way back to Golden Miller.
Little Sychronised was not a Grand National type, you only had to look at him to see that, but once again greed and ambition has lost us a promising young horse for the future the same as happened to Alverton and to One Man although that was in the Mumm Melling he still ran too soon after a success at Cheltenham.
It’s a sad day for racing, yes horses die but surely Synchronised in particular was trying to tell us something when he unshipped AP McCoy…I wish he had run like the wind, now it’s too late for him and According to Pete.
Have to hand it to King John’s Castle several years back, he just stuck his heels in and decided to be a spectator for the day…clever boy.Things turn out best for those who make the best of how things turn out...from my blog:
In the last 6 Grand Nationals, including today’s, 6 horses have died. Graphic Approach died some time after being injured in the 2007 race and I have not counted him.
In the same period, 5 horses died in The Topham and 1 in The Foxhunters. Six horses also died over hurdles at Aintree in the same period and two horses died in NH flat races (4 died over fences on The Mildmay course).
I could have carried on and dissected the stats by runner, by comparison to other courses etc., but in the end what will matter is how racing explains itself to the public on days like these and, crucially, how it keeps the welfare organisations on its side. I’ve long thought that the RSPCA’s support for NH racing is a short-head away from being untenable. The whip controversy did substantial damage to racing’s relationship with the RSPCA and I think today’s fatalities will see the boardroom door at RSPCA HQ finally slammed on the Grand National and, sooner rather than later, on NH racing itself.
I suspect there might well be some table-banging going on at the next Heineken board meeting too (they own the John Smith’s brand). And what about Jockey Club Racecourses (JCR)? They hold a prime hand of UK racecourses – Aintree included. JCR put all their profits back into racing but they run a tightly-focused organisation acutely tuned to the commercial impact of their decisions. They’ll have little doubt that turnstile income won’t be affected by fatalities, but the change to CH4, the sensitivity of sponsors and the vulnerability of their brand to Animal Rights groups will need to be taken into consideration.
“They either take to them or they don’t”
So what is it about the race that causes carnage? Speed, say many professionals, and the temptation to go faster has been heightened by the changes intended to make the fences easier, the elimination of drops and shaving of heights.
Speed contributes, but I think the fences are the main problem. Steeplechasers spend 99% of their careers jumping park fences (the standard black birch barriers you find everywhere except Aintree and at Cross Country courses). Did you see Synchronised today when AP let him have a look at the first fence before cantering back to the start? Something spooked him there – it might have been the crowds or a camera or something, but it could have been the fence itself.
Why do some horses run well time and again at Aintree (Always Waining anyone?), while many pull up, fall or refuse? Could it be simple unfamiliarity or fear?
The Grand National fences are built on a foundation of solid wooden stakes dressed with tons of spruce. They’re dauntingly big and wide with an unusual colour, from a horse’s viewpoint. Racehorses like routine. Most don’t relish being asked to face something they’ve never previously encountered. Some, a rare few, find the experience refreshing and galvanising; others see it as an ordeal.
The performance of horses over Cross Country courses – Cheltenham’s being the only UK example – back up this theory. The same horses do well on these unusual tracks time and time again.
“Lessons will be learned”
Aintree and Racing plc cannot simply keep pleading this argument after each Grand National. Two horses died last year: ‘improvements’ were made: two horses died this year.
What will result from the review of this year’s race?
My opinion is that the only long-term solution will be to strip away the spruce, burn the wooden stakes and build standard steeplechase fences of regular height. A £1m prize will ensure the quality of the race and size of the field is not diluted, The extreme distance will still make it a unique test. The public will not be discouraged from betting on it, horses will no longer be taken by surprise and more of them will survive the race.
The nostalgia branded on my heart will mourn the passing of these fences (I had the honour of writing the words inscribed on Red Rum’s gravestone and of being present, alongside Ginger at his burial), but I’d sooner see these fences consigned to history than lose the race itself.
After today I don’t want to see another National in this form ever again.
I voted to modify..
firstly by reducing the field to 30 runners and secondly (and this is only IMO) by not allowing horses that have run at Cheltenham to compete in the Grand National, any other race OK but not a 4 mile slog after they have all had hard races only 3 or 4 weeks previous. A Gold Cup winner rarely wins the Grand National, we have to look back to Le’Escargot and that was in a different year and then all the way back to Golden Miller.
Little Sychronised was not a Grand National type, you only had to look at him to see that, but once again greed and ambition has lost us a promising young horse for the future the same as happened to Alverton and to One Man although that was in the Mumm Melling he still ran too soon after a success at Cheltenham.
It’s a sad day for racing, yes horses die but surely Synchronised in particular was trying to tell us something when he unshipped AP McCoy…I wish he had run like the wind, now it’s too late for him and According to Pete.
Have to hand it to King John’s Castle several years back, he just stuck his heels in and decided to be a spectator for the day…clever boy.I would say in mitigation of the Jackdaw’s team that "greed" and "ambition" are two very different things, and "little" Synchronised didn’t strike me as a Gold Cup or Lexus horse either prior to his winning of them.
Modify.
Try to slow it down.
Run it earlier in the season. Didn’t it used to be run in March?
Make a longer run in to the first.
Run on softer going.
Make the fences bigger again but take away the drops.
Make the fences wider.Move it to Gatwick?
Though I would like to see the spectacle (to call it a race is an insult) consigned to history, cutting the prize money to less than the Gold Cup and King George would be sensible.
- Total Posts 102
Rip up the National Course and build a new windy cross country xourse that can be watered heavily(or a less effective drainage system) make it max 25 runners and rebrand it the "21st Century" Grand National
The run to the 1st is far too long imo, just changing them to park fences wont stop that
The National NEEDS to be different to park courses imo
Though I voted for "Leave as it is", I actually would like to see one or two of the modifications reversed so that it returns to a unique test of power, stamina, and jumping ability, and NOT the speed test it seems to have become.
I think there has been a knee-jerk over-reaction to the two deaths today, very sad and regrettable as they were. I take the view that if a race of that enormous distance, over exceptionally large fences, produces an 11-y-o winner, plus several other 11-y-o horses, a 12-y-o, and a 14-y-o in the finishers, it really cannot be as bad as some people would have us think. I was tempted to say that it just means that only experienced horses should run, but then remembered that a 7-y-o supposed no-hoper came home in 8th place!
Two fatalities out of 40, though very sad, in such a tough race, compares well with the average 2-4 horses every week which are killed in much easier races, even flat races, with far,far fewer runners.
And of those 2, one of them should never have been in it. A Gold Cup winner is usually not ideally suited to the G Nat and Synchronised should never have run, particularly after careering all over the course for 5 minutes beforehand. According To Pete was just desperately unlucky to tangle up with a fallen horse (which survived ok). RIP both of them of course,
, but it could have happened in any race, next month, next year…who knows?I still think it is an amazing race, and would not support any move to scrap it. The only change I would support is to 30 runners not 40.
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