I really think they should lower the amount of horses competing to 30 or even 20 next year. According To Pete was put down because the horse in front of him fell and he tripped over him. If there were less horses, this wouldn't have happened or at least there would have been space to get round the horse on the ground. Such a shame when horses have to be put down, especially one of Gold Cup winner level, but banning jump racing is not the answer - without jump racing these horses would never have been born at all - they just need to make it safer, especially big races like the Grand National.

Edited April 15, 201213 yr by Davidson

Having 20 horses racing wouldn't be much safer than 30 because the pack would still race in extremely close proximity...

 

My problem with it is the set-up and course of the National itself. Steeplechases are inherently far more dangerous than flat races and the course at Aintree particularly so. There are too many runners, some of the jumps are too severe and this is simply a recipe for disaster. I'm not saying they're not working on it simply that not enough has been done so far. I find it simply unacceptable that the excitement and income generated by he race justifies the deaths of so many horses over the years.

It's sad but you run a risk when you race your horse in a steeplechase and it will always happen. The National is probably 10x safer than it was thirty years ago. Many jockeys from that era have talked about how much the race has changed over the intervening years to accomodate safety features... sadly there are no guarantees. There's nothing they can really do to improve the safety of the course and I don't think they should have to either.

 

im not much of a horse racing fan but owning my own horses i would say that the number of horses could do with being shortened or the track made wider as things like this will happen. Its a real shame the 2 horses having to be put to sleep. The trouble with the national at the moment is the fact that when one horse goes down there is little room to manoevre with the volume of horses in it, which results in injurys being made worse by horses trampling over the ones on the floor.

Did anyone manage to see the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket today,

 

Very sad news about Grey Pearl who sadly was fatally injured at the stalls. Horrible to see the horse in absolute pain :(

 

Should they have gone ahead with the race?

Statement from the Newmarket racecourse about Gray Pearl:

 

It is with great sadness that Newmarket Racecourses reports that Gray Pearl had to be put down prior to the start of the QIPCO 1000 Guineas.

 

She sustained an injury in the stalls and a joint decision was made between the racecourse veterinary surgeon Simon Waterhouse and Chris Hammond, the attending BHA veterinary officer.

 

Hammond confirmed: "Gray Pearl went down in the stalls and incurred an injury in the process.

 

"On examination by the racecourse vet, it became evident that she had lost the use of her hind legs and was suffering from an apparent spinal chord injury.

 

"To minimise distress to the filly, a decision was made to have her put down on welfare grounds.

 

"This decision was taken after consultation between myself and the racecourse vet."

 

Amy Starkey, managing director of Newmarket Racecourses, said: "We are extremely saddened by what happened to Gray Pearl. Our sympathies are with all the connections of the filly."