Tim Bonner: The sick irony of Grand National fatality

The Alliance has been warning for some time about Animal Rebellion, or Animal Rising as it has recently been rebranded, which is a rehash of extreme animal rights organisations riding on the coat tails of Extinction Rebellion. Those warnings were validated by events at Aintree on Saturday when activists attempted to stop the Grand National. Those attempts were unsuccessful as the police and authorities were well prepared, not least because the Mail on Sunday had exposed many of their plans, but that does not mean that the activists will not have seen the day as a success. Sadly, that was because one horse, Hill Sixteen, fell and broke his neck at the first fence. It is a sick irony that the only people who benefited from his death were the activists who claim to be campaigning for animal rights, but benefit they did as their demonstration and a few seconds of video of a dead horse in the most watched race in the world dominated the news agenda.

Hill Sixteen had a near perfect jumping record including two races over the Grand National fences and was ridden by experienced Grand National winning jockey Ryan Mania. His trainer Sandy Thomson was certain that the demonstration and the delay it caused contributed towards his death. He pointed out that in the nine years since the course at Aintree has been modified to address welfare concerns there have been an average of under two fallers at the first two fences. This year however, after the delay which got horses, jockeys and starters “uptight”, there were eight fallers at those first two fences.

Whether animal rights activists contributed towards those fallers remains a subject of fierce debate, however, the reality is that the public reaction to Hill Sixteen’s death was not manufactured. Those of us who love racing know that thoroughbred racehorses are wonderfully cared for and that the industry has an absolute focus on welfare and the care of retired horses, but none of this can eliminate the inherent risks or counter the public reaction to horses dying in events designed to entertain people.

We are all shocked by the death of horses like Hill Sixteen and the reality is that most people watching the National are far removed from the practicalities of animal life and death. Most people say that they are knackered from time to time, but very few even know the derivation of the term and that the job of euthanising and processing horses was commonplace 100 years ago.

The future of horse racing is dependent on public attitudes and, as with so many other aspects of rural life, those attitudes continue to evolve. The Grand National, and racing as a whole, has taken huge steps to address public concerns and for seven years after 2012 there were no fatalities in the race, but like all other activities that want to maintain social licence, racing knows it must continue to evolve.

Sandy Thomson himself has suggested that “a shorter run to the first fence and a few less horses” are obvious changes to consider, which suggests that the racing world remains pragmatic about the future of the sport. Whether it is those involved in other equine sports, wildlife management, game shooting or trail hunting, we all have much to learn from the challenges, but also the progressive attitude, of the racing industry.