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Sadly we lost two beautiful horse’s today … Ornais & Dooneys Gate both ended up paying the ultimate price in The Grand National..not sure if it’s just me but when we end up having fatalities, it makes it an even bitter pill to swallow… <!– s:cry: –>
<!– s:cry: –> My thoughts go to all the stable lad’s & lasses that looked after Ornais & Dooneys Gate..and the owners and trainers. Empty stable’s say it all …. Really dampened my enjoyment, knowing two horse’s paid too high a price <!– s:( –>
<!– s:( –>Just back from Aintree and the loss of those two certainly spoils what has been a fab day …
Absolutely see what you are saying, dreadfully sad, but owners who really care about their horses do NOT enter them in the G Nat. They know the risk of a fatal fall is high. That’s just the way it is.
Please don’t think I am hard about this, but they could just as easily have suffered a fatal injury in a minor race, or even on the gallops, or even in a field. That’s just the way things are with these beautiful but fragile creature.
I think it best if we all just wish these unfortunate animals a RIP, and remember that, for failed racehorses, there are much worse possible endings. Even for successful horses there may be bad times ahead when they are past their best.Very sad!! We all know the risks, but it doesn’t make it any easier when this sort of thing happens.
Personally – I ADORE racing, but………I really don’t like the Grand National!!! Never have!! Perhaps it’s too risky for me!!
As said before – we can lose these wonderful creatures when they are out in the field (we had a horrific accident with a horse that way). However, I would have been happier if he had died doing something he loved rather than being just in the field. Either way – an empty stable sure hurts…..Here’s hoping for better days
Dooneys Gate was owned by Mrs Mullins; as Patrick said earlier in the week, he was riding for the most important owner in the yard on Saturday, his mum. Feel very sad for him.
I saw him returning to the paddock looking very down in the dumps – I didn’t know why at the time …
Such a sad sad loss. In such a high profile race it seems almost harder to see them died. In front of one of the biggest audiences. When walking back to the preparade ring, the owners of Oranis walked past me and they wer’re in bits….understandably…then i walked another few meters and people we’re celebrating their wins. Such a sad sad sight, my heart went out to them.
RIP – Such beautiful animals.
Also – Hope Peter Toole makes a full recovery, does not sound good!
The Daily Mail have used photos showing the falls at Beechers … Dooneys Gate in particular … poor boy … so there are now MANY postings re the race being cruel etc …
There were some very nasty falls and the toll could easily have been far worse …Yes the two fatalities really put a dampener on the day. I was shocked this morning at the graphic images shown on the Daily Mails website. I really don’t think this is beneficial to anyone apart from the antis and in all honesty they really annoy me as I feel they are glad when a horse dies so they can preach and crow about it. These images today will make the owners distress even worse and there is no need for it. I feel I can talk for all of us when I say that most racing fans care deeply about the horses and are absolutely devastated when a horse dies or suffers a serious injury. Luckily we have good veterinary assistance and these occurances are dealt with quickly and humanely.
One other point I would like to make is that the Daily Mail are accusing the BBc of a cover up with these deaths when I felt that Clare Balding in particular dealt with their loss very sensitively when she broke the news about their sad demise.
The Daily Mail will never let the facts get in the way of a bit of Beeb bashing.
And this is if course the same Mail that was urging readers to use its sweepstake kit on Friday and previewing the race with the same excitement as everyone else.
Sad news about the horses we lost, but for me, it’s the risk of the sport and will always be an unfortunate part of it. It can happen at Aintree, Ascot, Yarmouth or York, and you can try to minimise the risk all you want, the only way you eliminate the risk is to stop horses running and jumping.
Hope Peter Toole recovers quickly too!
What a meeting for the Stewarts – sucb triumph with Big Bucks on Thursday then this tragedy with Ornais Saturday. So sad.
I originally thought all the fallers had got up, it wasnt til they were sent round the fence and the green cover evidence, then to witness the screens round the other poor horse from the overhead camera – remember there was debate about its use last year – my heart sunk.
Surely the problem with the national is the number of horses that take part, if the field was half the size it would not as dangerous, if one falls 9 times of of 10 it will take another with it. As one jockey said (cant remember who) his horse jumped perfect but came over the fence to crash into two fallers and stood no chance of avoiding them so came down too. 40 horses all trying to get over a huge obstacle at the same time can surely only lead to tragedy.None of which will help Ornais or Dooneys Gate – RIP you beautiful boys.
such a sad loss of these 2 horses and it did put a dampner on the day but the newspaper and animal rights activists posting their photos of their deaths is sickening, they seem to thrive on it , racing fans hate seeing the ones they follow die, and when the paper says a national cover up, they never did, as clare balding let usw know in a very sympathetic way, and racing doesn;t cover up deaths, we are always made aware of when tragidies happenrip dooneys gate and ornais
vf
Have to say……this is the first time in years that I have not bought a Sunday paper!!! Just did not want to read their biaised views!!!
I aggree completely , there are too many horses running 20 horses would make the race safer .. no one wants to see horses being brought down because they can’t get out of the way.
I think several points need to be addressed before next years National.
Firstly the ground. Did they water enough? It was described as "good, g/s in places", but I saw no sign of any good to soft places. It was very fast ground. Too fast (IMO), for the national.Have the bypasses created caused some of the fences, particularly Beechers, to be now too narrow for such a huge field?
I do wonder if 40 runners is too many? A lot of people think the 10 bottom-rated horses should be ruled out. But 7 out of the 19 finishers came from that section, so I don’t think they are the problem. Is a smaller field the answer? Not sure.
The fences are now as safe as they could be without getting silly about it (except for the narrowing of Beechers). The biggest fence on the course, The Chair, was, I believe, beautifully jumped by every horse that met it over the 3 days. So the size is not the problem. If anything, it’s the smaller fences that catch them out.
As in so many Grand Nationals over the years, most of the trouble was due to speed and crowding at fences. If the ground had been softer, maybe those two horses’ falls might not have been fatal, or may even not have occured. We can never know.
It’s the greatest race in the world, and to make it too safe would demean the efforts of those horses which do complete and/or win it.
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