Its Grand National Week!

Lammy

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They just confirmed it was a fatal injury :(
I’ve always thought they should space out the field for the first few fences
 

bonny

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can I just mention the mare Magic of Light who came second? The only mare in the race and 66:1 - If she hadn't made that mistake at the last she might just have won it.
Very sad news about Up for Review :(
She did run a very fine race, saw her before and thought she looked a bit out of her depth, shows what I know !
 
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can I just mention the mare Magic of Light who came second? The only mare in the race and 66:1 - If she hadn't made that mistake at the last she might just have won it.
Very sad news about Up for Review :(

Nah I don't think she would have beaten Tiger Roll - he doesn't know how to be beaten! But fair play to her, she ran a cracking race!

Arthur is on route home safe and sound! What a star he is! He will be back next year and with hopefully a more normal prep compared to this year where everything that could go wrong went wrong! But I still can't see Tiger Roll being beaten next year again with another clear round!
 

oakey14

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There is less than a week to go until the greatest jumps race on the calendar! 5.15pm Saturday 6th of April 40 horses will line up, 40 horses will hear the roar, 40 horses will thunder down to the first fence (I wish they didn't go quite as quick!) Hopefully 40 horses will stay on their feet but most importantly that all 40 horses come back in to their devoted lads/lasses and back to their comfy stables for their dinner.

I would love to see Arthur win again. Who wouldn't!?!?! I know he hasn't exactly had the ideal preperation this time round but everything has come together in time. He just needs a clean round again and he should have a chance of bringing home some decent prize money again!

Saying that I can't see Tiger Roll being beaten if he stays on his feet. He has done what no other National winner has done in a long time - won another good race again! Very few win again ever but he seems to be even better than ever this year!

I would love Captain Redbeard to get a run again. It would be good to see another grey and Scottish based horse win - but then the personal rivallry in me hopes that Lake View Lad doesn't!

Gordon Elliott goes in mob handed with at least 12 runners! Possibly 16 if they all get in and I wouldn't dismiss one of his outsiders.

What are you guys backing this year?
Fair play to Tiger Roll , never thought any horse would come close to Rummy with 2 successive wins , I don't think that any horse will beat his record of 3 wins and 2 seconds absolute legend that he was ... But hat's off to the little fella, he ran a canny race and proved his doubters wrong proper Tiger lol ... And RIP Up for Review so sad 😢
 
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I do sometimes wonder why anti-racing people join racing pages. They go on just to shout their protests but usually either get shot down or totally ignored!

Luckily out of the hundreds and hundreds of comments and messages we have had on the yards fb page over the last few days only 2 have been anti-racing. I have ignored them. I am not deleting their comments because everyone is entitled to their opinions but I am not responding to them. And neither is anyone else. These people come out twice a year - for Cheltenham and for Aintree. Where are they when a horse falls at the last at Sedgefield (now that place really should be shut down!) On a Tuesday afternoon? Nowhere!

Yes racing can be hard at times but sadly fatalities do happen despite racings bet efforts to element risk. You can never remove 100% of the risk.
 

meleeka

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Yes racing can be hard at times but sadly fatalities do happen despite racings bet efforts to element risk. You can never remove 100% of the risk.

This is a genuine question because I don’t know the answer. What efforts are actually made to reduce the risk? Obviously I know that field numbers have been reduced over the years.
 

be positive

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This is a genuine question because I don’t know the answer. What efforts are actually made to reduce the risk? Obviously I know that field numbers have been reduced over the years.

So much has been done, and is still being done, to help reduce the risks for racehorses in general as well as those in the GN but no measures can prevent them completely, the GN fences were made 'safer' there are escape routes to help reduce the loose horses on the main track, the horses are far better schooled than they used to be with most, probably all, trainers having similar fences to school over before the day.
The first fence is always the worst in my view because the horses are usually very revved up by the parade, noise, atmosphere which will get to them as they set off so even with the jockeys trying to remain steady some get there too fast and come down which is where the fall happened yesterday, the pre race build up is becoming more over the top, the crowds seem to be more loud and very near the horses which may contribute to the rush at the start and may be the only thing left that could be altered but I guess it is encouraged to gain more publicity and more spectators through the gates.
There is no way racing can ever prevent fatalities completely but they are definitely trying in many ways, I was pleased to see several taken to the wash boxes yesterday but did feel for Tiger Roll who had to put up with rather a lot of 'praise' for his efforts when he looked so tired, they had got plenty of water on him quickly but being constantly thumped and hugged was not nice viewing in my opinion but I am sure he soon got over it.
 

Honeylight

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I have been attacked by friends for watching racing and especially at this time of the year, when the fluffies crawl out of the Lush soap bars...
Did anyone look at the Horsemart Facebook over the last week? They were running a poll on the Grand National. Initially it was fairly close but it increasingly filled with radical animal rights people, there was so much ignorance and the posts were so filled with hate, towards the end there were just another person and I, it was a bit scary and the admin didn't seem very good. In the end the we managed to get the post taken down. I looked up some of the posters, some were extremely frightening radical people, need less to add most wouldn't know a horse if they saw one in a street. They are out there, they are organised and they hate racing and horses and hate people who have pets, we need to prepare for a back lash this coming week.
 
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This is a genuine question because I don’t know the answer. What efforts are actually made to reduce the risk? Obviously I know that field numbers have been reduced over the years.

In jumps racing in general the ground can be no quicker than Good, good to firm in places. You cant jump on hard ground - same as you wouldnt risk your eventer or show jumper on rock solid ground. A lot of courses are now adopting the foam hurdles which are far softer on the legs if they clip the top of them, they a lighter too so give way easier if a horse batters them.

Chase fences can not be above a certain height or width. Some courses have softer fences than others - they aren't stuffed with as much birch so you can go through them if you hit them. The likes of Hexham and Kelso have nice, soft enough slightly smaller fences, Newcastle and Haydock are known for their stiff fences - up to height and tight with birch. You still need to get through them though and racecourse inspectors are out every so often checking that they haven't been over stuffed to make them solid and unforgiving.

For the Cheltenham and Aintree festivals every single horse that ran had to submit medical forms stating any drugs the horse had been given in the 3/4 weeks leading up to the event and every horse got trotted up by the vets the morning it was due to race.

Cheltenham reduced some field sizes. I do agree with a lot of people about the 4 mile amatuers race - having it as a novice chase is stupid - young horses in their first or second season chasing having never ran over 4 miles before combined with an amatuer (dont get me wrong there are a hell of a lot of good amatuers out there but equally there are some that are amatuers because they aren't good enough to turn pro) if they changed it to a handicap the horses would be older and far more experienced. The ground was always kept soft enough so it never got to the stage of Good - but that was more the rain though they would have watered if necessary. They removed Conditionals Claims in the Boys race so trainers would use the best conditional available and not the one who would take off the most weight- the most inexperienced.

Aintree have made the National fences softer - you can go through the top 3ft of them. Its all just fluffed up spruce brances. There is strict criteria for horses and jockeys competing over the big fences. Any jockey who has not been over the big fences at least twice before had to do a course walk and they all got a good lecture before hand.
 

Ambers Echo

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I think reducing the size of the field would help. I can't get the image of that awful fall at the first out of my head. I know that suffering you see is not worse than suffering behind closed doors which is why people who eat factory farmed meat who focus on cruelty in racing strike me as illogical ..... but before the race the girls said 'will any horses die?' and i had to answer 'several will fall and some may not get up' and the fact that this is totally predictable made me question how I can enjoy watching it. The danger adds nothing to the drama for me. I want to see clean jumping horses battling out to see who is strongest. Horses falling and bringing down others adds nothing and I am not sure I can watch again.
 

Clodagh

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Tiger Roll was awesome. Love Davey Russell, he was having nothing to do with Rishi until he knew the horse was OK. It was Davey who saw Many Clouds was about to collapse after his win and dived in to help - what a horseman! It was worth him keepinmg him mouth shut when O'Leary sacked him before!!:D
Magic of Light was amazing, buit it was Arthur I couldn't believe. I had no idea why he was even in the race having been incapable of popping a fence all year (shows why I am not a racehorse trainer!). He was going like a train at the end.
 

Rowreach

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I think reducing the size of the field would help. I can't get the image of that awful fall at the first out of my head. I know that suffering you see is not worse than suffering behind closed doors which is why people who eat factory farmed meat who focus on cruelty in racing strike me as illogical ..... but before the race the girls said 'will any horses die?' and i had to answer 'several will fall and some may not get up' and the fact that this is totally predictable made me question how I can enjoy watching it. The danger adds nothing to the drama for me. I want to see clean jumping horses battling out to see who is strongest. Horses falling and bringing down others adds nothing and I am not sure I can watch again.

As someone who has worked in racing, ridden in point to points, and been a lifelong follower of NH racing, I found the image of Up For Review in spasms after he fell and broke his neck absolutely sickening. Of course it happens, but I find the argument of "it can happen in the field" rather spurious, as a horse hooleying round the field is in a slightly different situation than one trained for and brought to the race track, whatever the occasion.

The safety improvements so far are all good things, but I'd like to see a reduction in numbers for the GN.

I too was uncomfortable with the way Tiger Roll was slapped and crowded afterwards. A win like this suddenly becomes all about the people and not about the horse.
 

Rowreach

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Tiger Roll was awesome. Love Davey Russell, he was having nothing to do with Rishi until he knew the horse was OK. It was Davey who saw Many Clouds was about to collapse after his win and dived in to help - what a horseman! It was worth him keepinmg him mouth shut when O'Leary sacked him before!!:D
Magic of Light was amazing, buit it was Arthur I couldn't believe. I had no idea why he was even in the race having been incapable of popping a fence all year (shows why I am not a racehorse trainer!). He was going like a train at the end.

Agree about Davy 😃
 

NinjaPony

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I have to say I find the National too tough to watch, and I don’t consider myself an uninformed anti-racing protestor... I really wish they would cut the field to 20 top class horses, it would prevent so much crowding, falling, bringing others down etc. Accidents happen in any field but I can’t help feeling there is more they should be doing.
 
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Magic of Light was amazing, buit it was Arthur I couldn't believe. I had no idea why he was even in the race having been incapable of popping a fence all year (shows why I am not a racehorse trainer!). He was going like a train at the end.

Yee of little faith 😉 lol! To be fair everything was stacked against him this year. At home as well as at the track and it really all did come together in the last 2 or 3 weeks! He schooled really well round Carlisle a few weeks ago but he was built for the Aintree fences. His first unseat at the start of the season was entirely the jockeys fault. The next at Haydock was just stupid. And I do think the lack of an actual race told at the end of the National. He got to 4th at the elbow then folded. But he came home safe, he is bright and happy out in the field this morning. That's Arthur done for the season and will be prepper for next years Nationl with hopefully no more blips!

Davy Russell is something else!

Have you seen the interview Racing Tv have just put up of O'Leary and Gordon Elliot? Gordon is clearly nished and a pewt! He is staring into space with his mouth open looking like a stunned goldfish 🤣😂
 

bonny

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I think what happened yesterday was just an unfortunate accident, all the horses jumped fine, there can’t be another national where 37 of the runners went out on the second circuit and that must be the fewest fallers in the whole race, ever. The horse was brought down by vintage clouds falling after over jumping at the first, the rest of the horses soon learnt that they didn’t need to get very high after that ! Just unfortunate that there was a death when so many people are just watching so they can criticise afterwards and as usual ignore all the safety improvements brought in. I’m sure tiger roll walking into the winners enclosure didn’t harm him in any way and it’s nice for the crowds to see such a legend of a horse afterwards. I imagine he’ll be following Arthur for his summer holidays soon .....
 

Sandstone1

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I watched it for the first time in a few years as I hate to see the fallers.
The fatal fall looked bad and apparently there are people saying that the horse was lame before the race started. A friend just showed me a clip of the horses in the paddock pre race and in my eyes Up for review did look slightly lame.
I am no fan of racing and will no doubt get slated for mentioning it but the friend that showed me is not horsey at all and was upset that the horse was allowed to run if not 100%.
I had not heard it but apparently there is a lot of talk on the internet about it.
 

Snowfilly

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I think it was one of the best nationals for many years, and to see so many go round onto the second circuit was lovely.

Yes, One for Review's death was horrible and it was sickening to see; I guessed it was fatal, but he was brought down by another horse which is one of the problems with large fields.

What I don't get is where the anti racing people are the rest of the year? They seem to come out for certain races, and there's nothing said about a middle of the road hurdler dying in a novice race on a January afternoon, but they should be protesting equally if they really care. Weirdly, some of the worst antis I know eat meat without a second thought, and seem to have a nasty class element in their attitudes as well.

But lovely to see Tiger Roll winning, and a great run from Arthur, EKW. You must be very proud!
 

Sandstone1

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As I said I havent watched it for a few years but apart from the horrible fall it wasnt as bad as I remember.
I have just had this conversation with the friend that showed me the clip saying that there are many horses killed in smaller races all year round and the national does get a lot more publicity.
 
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Every single horse was trotted up by a professional vet team the morning of the race. If the horse was not 100% sound it would not have ran. The vets wouldn't have allowed it to. What made the viewing worse was that it was a head on shot that couldnt be panned away from quickly. Up For Review did not fall because of the fences, he fell over another horse that was already down - Vintage Clouds who walked away with some grass stains and nothing more. The side on camera angles arw much easier to scoot away with as they follow the leaders. The head on not so much.
 

cundlegreen

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So much has been done, and is still being done, to help reduce the risks for racehorses in general as well as those in the GN but no measures can prevent them completely, the GN fences were made 'safer' there are escape routes to help reduce the loose horses on the main track, the horses are far better schooled than they used to be with most, probably all, trainers having similar fences to school over before the day.
The first fence is always the worst in my view because the horses are usually very revved up by the parade, noise, atmosphere which will get to them as they set off so even with the jockeys trying to remain steady some get there too fast and come down which is where the fall happened yesterday, the pre race build up is becoming more over the top, the crowds seem to be more loud and very near the horses which may contribute to the rush at the start and may be the only thing left that could be altered but I guess it is encouraged to gain more publicity and more spectators through the gates.
There is no way racing can ever prevent fatalities completely but they are definitely trying in many ways, I was pleased to see several taken to the wash boxes yesterday but did feel for Tiger Roll who had to put up with rather a lot of 'praise' for his efforts when he looked so tired, they had got plenty of water on him quickly but being constantly thumped and hugged was not nice viewing in my opinion but I am sure he soon got over it.
He certainly did get over it! There was a clip of him later parading with his rug on. Jig jogging all the way past the stands, and looked ready to go again. I thought her looked an absolute picture in the parade ring. Full summer coat and beautifully turned out.
 

scats

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I’m not a fan of racing simply because it doesn’t interest me, but I do generally watch the national as I’ve been brought up with it - my family are from Aintree, nans house is just the other side of the course. I hate seeing the fallers and Up For Review was a particularly horrible thing to witness. My heart goes out to the stable lad/lass of that horse, as I’m not sure I would ever get that image out of my head.

I don’t know much about racing, but how much safer would it be if the field was reduced to 30 runners rather than 40?
 

Sandstone1

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Every single horse was trotted up by a professional vet team the morning of the race. If the horse was not 100% sound it would not have ran. The vets wouldn't have allowed it to. What made the viewing worse was that it was a head on shot that couldnt be panned away from quickly. Up For Review did not fall because of the fences, he fell over another horse that was already down - Vintage Clouds who walked away with some grass stains and nothing more. The side on camera angles arw much easier to scoot away with as they follow the leaders. The head on not so much.
Yes. I realise that they are checked by a vet prior to racing. However in the clip I was shown he did look slightly lame.
The camera angle is not really the issue. The horse fell and the fact is horses do fall and often its fatal. No camera angle will change that.
 
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