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Very cruel for the main reason that he jumped the fence so well.
It’s one of those strange things in jumps racing where a horse appears to jump well and still goes down.
I DON’T want the National to be changed or scrapped. Akin to scrapping boxing IMHO.
Zip
Was life so cruel for synchronised? It is about time people started to realise that racehorses are treated like the athletes that they are. He had a life of 5 star care. He was tough and gallant. It’s sad, it’s upsetting that he was killed today, but like many other minority incidents both horses were killed doing something they loved. And in freak accidents. I would prefer the so called institutions that are meant to be looking after horses interests at heart sort out the cruelty and mistreatment of animals that happens all over the country and, no doubt probably less than 5 minutes away from where you are reading this there is a over nourished, rain scalded pony that is crippled with laminitis, before rounding on something that is an industry, that employs hundreds of thousands and where the horses are better looked after than the vast majority of those that work in the sport. And also wether the same newspapers that will no doubt jump on the bandwagon of an easy target tomorrow morning, will be feeling any guilt in taking all of the sponsors, and bookmakers P.R money all last week, or just happy that they have a target with which they can write an easy copy on all week without realising the damage they will be doing to a huge industry.
If you reduced the number of runners –
same distance
same fences
same challengeJust a reduction in the unfairness of horses arriving at fences unsighted and/or being brought down. Not eliminated but reduced.
You don’t seem to see the same fallers, etc, in the Topham.
Very cruel for the main reason that he jumped the fence so well.
It’s one of those strange things in jumps racing where a horse appears to jump well and still goes down.
I DON’T want the National to be changed or scrapped. Akin to scrapping boxing IMHO.
Zip
Boxers make the choice to step into the ring and fight that specific opponent, though. You can’t force a 1,200 pound animal to race, obviously, but they don’t pick which race they’re entered in.
That’s a fair point, Miss W. The angle I was attempting to come from is that racing is not as dangerous as boxing.
Cue someone to provide stats that prove otherwise…
Zip
RIP old boy. Terrific animal, great heart.
Worked all day, and heard a rumour that he had indeed lost his life.
Have to be honest, had to go in the back and got a bit teary.
This game can be so cruel at times. My heart goes out to connections.
I remember thinking at the time I heard that Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Synchronised was being run in the Grand National that it could potentially end in disaster.
So it has proved. Alverton met a similar fate. Jonjo O’Neill has seen tragedy twice.
The owner, JP McManus, decided to take the risk, knowing the dangers and that the horse could die or be seriously injured. It was always going to be questionable whether the pursuit of an all-too-rare double was wise or reckless.
The risk was not worth it. A champion has been lost and joy has turned to heartbreak in a matter of weeks. Let’s hope lessons are learned by other owners.
Sometimes, a much-loved horse is too precious to risk losing.Should do all we can to make the race as safe as possible without destroying the spectacle.
IMPOSSIBLE! Its The Grand National Ginge, 41/2m thats a long way on good ground a nightmare on Heavy!
Fences like the side of houses,horses dont know whats hit them
when they jump Bechers and the Canal turn. 40 horses trying to position themselves sensibly and when there’s half a dozen loose ones wandering about I dont think you can change that and still call it The Grand National!
And you say you "tell it how it is" KF
. The fences are nothing like "side of houses" anymore. They’re not much migger than normal fences and at an angle. The Grand National has evolved over years. It’s changed a lot since the 70’s. And people still regard it as a test of horse and rider.I thought Mick Fitzgerald won the Grand National Gord, not according to you. if I remember rightly just twenty-something horses took part that year. If there were only 30 runners it would still be the "Grand National", just a little safer. Getting rid of the drop at Beechers would make it a little safer, and yet everyone would still regard it as the "Grand National". It would still be 4 1/2 miles.
Value Is EverythingApparently Synchronised galloped away from the fence and his injury may have happened when he was lose.
Accordingtopete was killed as well
End the race? As I said before if they never ran another National as a true racing fan I really wouldn’t miss it one tiny bit.
If the national goes how long before the rest of racing goes, what happened is tragic, but Synchronised ran on after the fall and could have quite easily done the damage somewhere else.
According To Pete was brought down, by On His Own and this could happen anywhere. Frankel was injured in a routine gallop yet nobody calling for flat racing to be stopped.
How many people saw Frankel get injured on the gallops? The National has too high a profile and it sends out completely the wrong message about horse racing.
Its all about money, nothing else.
Its all about money, nothing else.
That sums it up 100% it’s all about money and as long as that remains the case the powers that be will only tinker around the edges.
Racing as a whole is generally a healthy sport in terms of safety and welfare (OK it’s sick when it comes to its finances and management) – for me the Grand National has become a cancer in the sport.
Like cancer it can be ignored and eventually allowed to kill the host or it can be excised for the betterment of the whole.
Last 10 year stats
Fox Hunters
250 runners
146 finishers (58.40%)
50 fallers (20.00%)
36 unseated (14.40%)
10 pulled up (4.00%)
6 brought down (2.40%)
2 refusedTopham
287 runners
166 finishers (57.84%)
61 fallers (21.25%)
26 unseated (9.06%)
22 pulled up (7.67%)
8 brought down (2.79%)
2 refused
2 refused to raceGrand National
399 runners (Tyneandthyneagain in 2004 only NR in last 10 years)
147 finishers (36.84%) – just 1 more than Fox Hunters from 60% more runners
94 fallers (23.56%) – no great difference here
60 unseated (15.04%) – compares favourably to the Fox Hunters
77 pulled up (19.30%) – huge increase but to be expected given increased distance of the race
10 brought down (2.51%) – similar to other 2 races
9 refused
1 refused to race
1 carried outA closer look at the stats above show that:
Finishers+PulledUps
Fox Hunters – 62.40%
Topham Chase – 65.51%
Grand National – 56.14%Fallers+Unseated+BroughtDown
Fox Hunters – 36.80%
Topham Chase – 33.10%
Grand National – 41.11%Reducing the number of runners to say 30 and removing the drop from Bechers and the Canal Turn wouldn’t change the spectacle for the general public. It will still be the Grand National and once-a-year punters will still have their bet every year and it will still be a great occasion. The Fox Hunters and the Topham are still great viewing spectacles.
. The fences are nothing like "side of houses" anymore. They’re not much migger than normal fences and at an angle. The Grand National has evolved over years. It’s changed a lot since the 70’s. And people still regard it as a test of horse and rider.
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