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Ginger to Cormack / Matron.
Would it be a good idea to delete the posts about the IRA? And / or move them in to a thread in the Lounge?
Value Is EverythingOh my god, idiot presenter on LBC radio has likened the Grand National to bullfighting Also an idiot from Animal Aid saying to ban all sports with horses… god help us
This shows the danger of Animal Aid. Likening the National to bullfighting was a direct quote from Animal Aid immediately after the race and radio presenters are now picking up on it.
The racing authorities absolutely must NOT enter dialogue with Animal Aid. Any suggestion of talks would just be seen as a sign of weakness and any concessions offered would just be taken with nothing given in return.
Instead the authorities should concentrate on correcting the lies and misinformation that this well organised group of bigots feed to their sympathisers in the media.
Any student of history will be familiar with Goebbels theory of ‘The Big Lie’ and how successful it can be. We under estimate Animal Aid at our peril.
- Total Posts 17716
Just sit back and laugh loudly folks. Nothing to see here that isn’t blatantly obvious.
Maybe you would like to let us all know what is blatantly obvious?
I know he gets totally slated, but I have to say I am in complete agreement with McCririck as regards the whip – ban it apart from being used to correct a horse veering sharply.
McCririck has been a long time supporter of hare coursing and hunting, what a hypocrite!
Instead the authorities should concentrate on correcting the lies and misinformation that this well organised group of bigots feed to their sympathisers in the media.
Any student of history will be familiar with Goebbels theory of ‘The Big Lie’ and how successful it can be. We under estimate Animal Aid at our peril.
Spot on. If the National, NH and ultimately Flat racing is to survive, the battle will be won on the field of public opinion and here a good soundbite is the best weapon.
When AA liken The National to bullfighting I would assume the best reply would be to ask exactly how and why is the race the same as bullfighting. I think they’re now starting to show themselves for what they are and trying to win the war before winning the battle. Just let them do the talking for a while and see what rubbish they come out with. And, in the meantime, all work together to make the race as safe as possible [which is what we’re doing anyway].
Good sense from J.McG on the Sunday forum re- the Grand National.
Don’t make the fences ‘easier’ but do make them ‘fairer’.
Racing takes place in this country with the permission of the general public. You CANNOT ignore public opinion.
For me, the public will accept that there will be fatalities. They won’t accept unfairness. And I include not only ‘unfair’ fences but what is perceived of as ‘unfair’ use of the whip in that comment.
Racing takes place in this country with the permission of the general public. You CANNOT ignore public opinion.
For me, the public will accept that there will be fatalities. They won’t accept unfairness. And I include not only ‘unfair’ fences but what is perceived of as ‘unfair’ use of the whip in that comment.
Disagree, will the general public really differentiate between fatalities "fairly" and "unfairly" obtained? That description will be purely subjective anyway.
I didn’t hear many objections to the race prior to last year.- Total Posts 17716
i agree that you shouldn’t change the fences as you will just turn the GN into anothe rlong distance handicap. However, I think the most damaging thing about the GN this year was the state of the horses at the finish and the use of the whip by the winning jockey. had ballybriggs dropped dead it would have been the end of the national. They should make the GN in 2012 the first whipless professional horserace in the UK. that would do more to protect the image of the sport than tinkering with the fences (incidentally it is speed that kills. they have changed the fences before and it made no difference to the kill rate). Agree??
Yeats – there has been an ongoing dialogue over the National for many, many years. It didn’t just surface after this year’s race.
cormack, There has been an ongoing dialogue for many years about many things, I think even you’d agree there was fresh and sustained impetus after last April’s events.
Yes, fresh impetus,
even I
would agree that , but just responding to your post –
I didn’t hear many objections to the race prior to last year
– which implied that the debate around National safety was somehow new. It isn’t. There have been widespread calls (from inside as well as outside) racing for teh National to be looked at for a very long time.
The Grand National debate got really out of hand uneccesarily.
Millions of people watched the race yet the BBC only received about 100 complaints.
This was with a spurious organisation – Animal Aid – orchestrating the complaints.
Animal Aid got a great deal of media coverage as an ‘animal welfare’ group. They are nothing of the sort. Having inspected their accounts at companies house they are a company; not a charity and spend little if anything at all on animal welfare.
By contrast; the BHA and racing in general spend fortunes.The public support the Grand National more than any other race in the world. Millions tune in. This is hardly a race therefore that ‘needs the permission of the public’. To suggest such is nonsense. What we should be doing is seeing why it gets so much interest! Part of that is the character of the fences; the fact some horses love them (the Red Rums and West Tips etc who do not necessarily excel on other courses) and the heritage: the romance and uniqueness and stories of Foinavons and Aldanitis. Then we have movies like National Velvet and Champions.
However; racing is not staged without all precautions taken to ensure horse and jockey welfare. We do not need to make changes to the race for the sake of the public but for them. Racing makes those decisions; not a mythical public pressure orchestrated by a money spinning animal rights organisation.
I often come across animal rights complaints directed against Bear Grylls in the media.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= … 4493276519
861 000 likes. Do you think he gives a damn?The general public are not animal rights duped idiots. If there are changes needed to the race it will happen because Racing’s top priority is horse welfare. The media like to create folk devils and moral panics because it sustains newspaper sales over a long period. But do not for a moment believe these represent public opinion. What should be a priority is for racing to address these media ‘panics’ with rational and considered response as the BHA has. The same is true of the whip debate. The furore about the whip is not based on anything rational. The whip is padded; and laws already exist about misuse. This needs to be expained – not to the public – but to the media. They also need to be shown that Animal Aid are not an animal welfare organisation.
What is Jim McGrath’s definition of a fair fence?
Eliza, here is the breakdown of BBC complaints (sourced from their press office for a blog article – link below)
This year for the Grand National we received 313 complaints. (from a peak audience of 9m)
Complaints regarding animal cruelty were at their highest in 10 years, mostly directed at the coverage of the horse deaths.
161 about coverage of horse deaths
103 people felt the BBC should not cover GN
8 from viewers unhappy with whip usageLast year there were 29 animal cruelty related complaints.
Joe
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