The 'Grand' National?

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whiteroom

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Having enjoyed this for years I feel saddened today, the winner looked so tired it was saddening, Channel 4's coverage of his recovery was just too much for me.

Wish we could hear of Balthazar King's condition too.

Will I watch again, probably yes but not on Channel 4
 
Apparently it's quite normal for Many Clouds and Balthazar King is back at the stables but still under assessment.
 
While I was very concerned for him when he finished the race I was grateful for the footage showing him looking much brighter following his cooling down. I would much rather see for myself that he had picked up rather than having to trust them when they say 'he's fine'. I also thought it was good to hear from his stable lass (?) that he usually reacts in that way after a race. He is obviously a horse that gives his absolute all.

More worrying about Balthazar King, he was out on the track for an awfully long time being assessed. I hope he is OK.

I'm not really sure how channel 4 could have done it differently?!

Does anyone know if all the jockeys made it back in one piece?
 
Balthazar King is going to Leahurst Equine Hospital so he will be in very good hands. He walked into the horse box according to Horse & Country and has suspected broken ribs.
 
Thank you for that update, I thought Channel 4 did well, informing us as well as they could, showing Many Clouds with his lass and explaining that he has overheated on previous outings. Thankfully we have excellent vets and knowledgeable stable staff to tend to horses quickly and appropriately. Hopefully BK will make a speedy recovery. I think the race is now as "safe" as it can be, but still a huge challenge to horse and jockey.
 
whiteroom said:
Having enjoyed this for years I feel saddened today, the winner looked so tired it was saddening, Channel 4's coverage of his recovery was just too much for me.

Wish we could hear of Balthazar King's condition too.

Will I watch again, probably yes but not on Channel 4
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How odd that you thought Channel 4's coverage was too much for you. I thought that it was informative and a relief to see the horse recover so quickly. I did think that Alice should have realised sooner that the horse was in distress and stopped the interview with the jockey before she did.
 
I have never seen a horse tying up like Many Clouds, and was convinced he was going to collapse, but they did not appear to administer oxygen, and he was fine after ten minutes, certainly very scary, his trainer was obviously stressed out by the pictures and nearly knocked the mike out of the hands off the interviewer, but he maintained his professionalism, after all there was nothing he could do. He said Trevor Hemmings had made the decision to run, I really think he has no more GNs in him.
 
Another that is pleased there was so much coverage! I like to see for myself that they are ok. Having said that it did make me feel uncomfortable. Hope BK recovers soon. Also RIP to Seedling in the earlier race :(
 
whiteroom said:
Having enjoyed this for years I feel saddened today, the winner looked so tired it was saddening, Channel 4's coverage of his recovery was just too much for me.

Wish we could hear of Balthazar King's condition too.

Will I watch again, probably yes but not on Channel 4
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That's the reality of racing horses some horses run till they overheat .
It's good the public see it the reality of what can happen not the sanitised sentimental stuff you often see that the reality of racing for many horses is gallop until your so over heated you risk your life .
I think it's good to see them aggressively cooling the horse that's what goes on why hide it.
Horses are pushed to edge racing we should not hide it .
I am glad BK has made it to Leahurst I hope it's a recoverable injury he's in a good hands poor boy .
 
Bonkers2 said:
I have never seen a horse tying up like Many Clouds, and was convinced he was going to collapse, but they did not appear to administer oxygen, and he was fine after ten minutes, certainly very scary, his trainer was obviously stressed out by the pictures and nearly knocked the mike out of the hands off the interviewer, but he maintained his professionalism, after all there was nothing he could do. He said Trevor Hemmings had made the decision to run, I really think he has no more GNs in him.
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I thought it was unnecessary and insensitive to keep Oliver Sherwood talking when he was obviously desperate to get away to see to his horse.
These immediately after the event interviews are never informative anyway; it's always predicable stuff about how thrilled they are, the horse ran great etc. I wish they'd drop them
 
Bede said:
I thought it was unnecessary and insensitive to keep Oliver Sherwood talking when he was obviously desperate to get away to see to his horse.
These immediately after the event interviews are never informative anyway; it's always predicable stuff about how thrilled they are, the horse ran great etc. I wish they'd drop them
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Yes, it was obvious that the jockey would have got off if he had not been mugged by Alice Plunket, that particular horse was obviously an extreme case, but they had plenty of water in the tent, which is a good idea, things do improve a bit every year, not sure if it was a hot day, and if that made a lot of difference to the others, I was under the impression that it is the neck and frontage that needs to be cooled as that is where all the relevant nerve endings are, the big muscles on the rump were getting all the water, I noticed that yesterday too. Also the water warms up very quickly, thus no longer reduces the temperature, so if there is no hose, it has to be scraped off.
PR is part of racing nowadays, I think it is about twenty years since Nigel [Twiston Davis] said "I don't do interviews"
 
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As I understand it, the aim is to cool the larger muscle masses first. In the later footage the vet was using a scraper whilst a hose was being used to spray the horse . I don't think the care could be faulted but do think Alice should have spotted sooner the horse was distressed .
 
Really proud of racing today, channel 4 did not hide anything and showed just how much everyone cares for their horses. Glad to hear they are all home and BK is being treated, it wasn't the fall but the collision which was horrendous. My friends horse finished 6th and are thrilled and so am I, even if I lost money hahaha
 
With regarding cooling a horse down, the best way is just keep pouring water on them. The big blood vessels are in the neck and between the back legs. These are the ones that need cooling.

If you watch an Endurance horse being cooled you will see that the crews just keep pouring water over them.
 
With regarding cooling a horse down, the best way is just keep pouring water on them. The big blood vessels are in the neck and between the back legs. These are the ones that need cooling.

If you watch an Endurance horse being cooled you will see that the crews just keep pouring water over them.
 
We often see horses at the end of a race "tying up" and being passed on the run in, but in fact is it possibly overheating, not azoturia?
The NH horses are running for 6 to 8 minutes compared to 2-3 mins for a flat horse.
 
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I was upset at how the horse finished but pleased to see how quickly he seemed to recover and the care he got. I think they should stop the interview with the jockey because IMO he should have got off that horse before he did rather than answering inane questions. Was that Alice Plunket interviewing him (sorry don't normally watch racing)? If it was she should have known better.
 
Pebble101 said:
I was upset at how the horse finished but pleased to see how quickly he seemed to recover and the care he got. I think they should stop the interview with the jockey because IMO he should have got off that horse before he did rather than answering inane questions. Was that Alice Plunket interviewing him (sorry don't normally watch racing)? If it was she should have known better.
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Agree that the girl interviewing was totally anal............. WHY why why FFS wasn't Clare Balding doing the honours? She was covering the Boat Race; and one couldn't help but highly suspect that she'd far rather have been somewhere else....
 
I really hate the way they try to interview the jockey/ trainer etc literally the second the race is over. They are never good interviews anyway - the jockey is always distracted and exhausted and the trainer and other connections are always being interrupted by people they know congratulating them. I wish the TV crews would just leave them be for a bit, let them enjoy the moment, get themselves together, then do the interview when they are ready. Maybe the jockey would have got off the horse sooner if he hadn't been distracted by the pointless interview. That said, I did really like the fact that channel 4 were really concerned with showing us how the horses were and I really liked the fact that we got to see Many Clouds once he was back to himself, and that they kept updating us on Balthazar King. I'm sure a few years back they never used to do that.

I swear I heard someone telling Aspell that he might need to get off the horse, just as Alice Plunkett started her interview. Unfortunately, I'm not sure he heard, given the distraction!
 
Didn't look like the horse tied up, looked like over heating. It was a hot day, all the horses looked tired when they finished. I was pleased we were kept updated on the horses
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Agree that the girl interviewing was totally anal............. WHY why why FFS wasn't Clare Balding doing the honours? She was covering the Boat Race; and one couldn't help but highly suspect that she'd far rather have been somewhere else....
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I read that she had the choice, and chose the boat race because the women's race had equal status for the first time in history.
 
I thought the C4 coverage was good today, some interesting pre race articles and good coverage of the racing. I was pleased they showed the aftermath of the race, I thought it was explained well and good to show people what does go on. Given Alices' background I was a bit surprised she didnt notice what was happening, at one point I thought the horse was going to go over on top of her! Still, all in all, they seem to have got a better mix of people, I do miss Clare because like her or not, she does actually understand the game and is informative and knowledgeable. I understood she had decided not to do any more racing coverage though as she is so busy doing other things, shame.
 
MyBoyChe said:
, I do miss Clare because like her or not, she does actually understand the game and is informative and knowledgeable. I understood she had decided not to do any more racing coverage though as she is so busy doing other things, shame.
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Ooohhhhhh............ noohhh, I didn't know this, am devastated :(
 
I thought C4's coverage was pretty good. So many camera angles, and the overhead shots were splendid. Would have been even better with Clare Balding.
 
I thought the coverage was excellant, and I for one really like Alice Plunkett, you can't blame her for interviewing the winning jockey, that's her job.

Leighton Aspell was quite capable of stopping the interview and jumping off the horse - and Oliver Sherwood's head lass was there so she could have got him to hop off sooner, so let's not blame Alice! The horse seemed to get progressively worse and I have to admit I thought he was about to have a heart attack, and it was a relief to see him recovered.

I miss Clare Balding but I thought the Morning Line team did a really good job, I'm liking them more and more every week ( could do without Jim McGrath sometimes as he seems a bit grumpy....), and I loved the Morning Line coverage earlier in the day.
 
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