Since its introduction in 1839, The Grand National has been at the pinnacle of Steeplechasing in England. And yet despite its prestige or perhaps because of it, the race is under more scrutiny than ever from animal rights activists after, for the second year in a row, two horses never made it off the course.
John Farrant, an owner and trainer, has been involved in racing all his life. He has seen first hand the changes to the Aintree track between 1985, when he helped his wife Anne train her own City Boy, winner of the Aintree Foxhunter Chase, through to this year when the horse he owns in a syndicate, Herecomesthetruth completed the course in the Topham Chase.
Many of those arguing against the race’s existence at all would say that the horses ‘have no choice’ in competing and that is therefore only for the sake of the humans they are exerting themselves and putting themselves at risk. However Farrant disagrees: comparing the size and weight of a jockey with that of the horse, he says: “You can never make a horse do anything.” I don’t need to finish the phrase that ‘you can take a horse to water…’. The refusals, as well as the horses who never make it to the top because they don’t want to put the effort in, make the figure of speech ring true. If they did not enjoy it they wouldn’t do it. One of the touching things Farrant commented on after watching his horse this year at Aintree is how “looking at the photos afterwards it was clear from his expression that [Herecomesthetruth] had thoroughly enjoyed himself.”
Before City Boy’s success on the Aintree track he had in fact had very little racing experience, with most of his jumping experience coming from novice eventing (the three-phase competition with dressage, cross-country and show jumping). Despite the fact that City Boy went on to win over the same formidable jumps seen in the Grand National, today’s horses must have a certain level of experience before they are allowed to compete. This is just one of the many measures introduced to ensure today that horses are safe to compete. The horse must now be at least seven-years-old, have finished in the top four in a steeplechase of three miles or more, pass a rating system and panel assessment. The rider must also have won at least 15 races over jumps, and 10 steeplechases. As well as this a lot more care is taken, as research and technology has improved over horses’ health, both at the National and every other race throughout the year, on top of care at home, to ensure that horses are physically capable of competing without harming themselves.
Since City Boy jumped Becher’s Brook in 1985, the jump has been significantly altered. The most famous jump on the course, fourteen horse deaths have been recorded as being known to have been as a result of Becher’s – compared to a maximum of seven known at any other fence; it seems to deserve its reputation. Originally in 1839 there was an 8ft drop after the 5ft jump (so the landing side of the fence was 13ft) and nigh on every year since slight adjustments have been made. In 1989 there were six falls at the fence and so the remaining 1ft of water was reduced to one inch, and the v-shaped ditch on the landing side was altered so horses could not be trapped in it. In this year’s race the drop was reduced again to just 10 inches on the inside of the track and six inches on the outside.
1990 National winner Marcus Armytage told The Telegraph that no more changes should be made to the fence: “It is already a much safer obstacle than it was. If you are going to change that let’s have the world mountaineering championships in Norfolk.”
He also draws attention to the fact that there are not any drops behind the Cheltenham fences and yet there are still “plenty of fallers there.”
Alterations have been made to the course ever since its conception where the obstacles, which were on ploughed land rather than turf, included a formidable 4ft 8ins high stone wall which was removed after two horses crashed through it in 1843. Farrant is of the opinion that overall improvements have been good. For him the best improvement has been making sure the ground is on the soft side: “it slows horses down and makes it slightly softer for falls.” However making the ground any softer than ‘good to soft’, could easily have more negative effects. In 2001 the ground was very heavy and only four horses finished the race. It makes the fences more difficult and tires out the horses a lot faster, pulling on their joints and ligaments. On top of this it discriminates against those horses that run better on firmer ground.
As an experienced racing presenter, Claire Balding has been involved in racing from an early age as her father was a trainer. On her Twitter after this year’s Grand National she declared that the horses are now “going too fast, and there are too many runners.” She specifies fields numbering between 27 and 37 between 1994 and 1999, compared to the limit which is set at 40 today. Whilst her argument that “when fields were smaller, horses had more room to land” may be justified there are other factors reducing the horses’ room to land and therefore their safety.
This year the field was down to 20 by the time According to Pete fell, and the limit of 40 is already significantly safer than the 66 runners that went in 1929. Farrant says that they have “reduced the field to a safe number for such a wide track, without reducing the spectacle.” He says that the problems arise more from how today the horses are encouraged to crowd the inside track, as the jumps are no longer significantly easier towards the outside of the track and it is this that creates the danger. Furthermore today’s horses are bred more for speed and therefore have lighter frames, making their bones not much bigger and stronger than those of a human. Therefore now they are more prone to injury as their frames are less resilient. Farrant also draws attention to the statistic that overall, 60% of injuries to horses occur when they are in their fields rather than when they are being ridden.
Despite the drastic changes to the course at Aintree in the last few decades to make it easier and theoretically safer, since 1990 (inclusive) there have still been 21 horse deaths at the Grand National. Whilst earlier records may not be as reliable, the first 22 years, by contrast, had just 12. This is the period where the jumps were at their biggest and most difficult, and the safety precautions such as space for jumps to be bypassed and large ground-lines for horses to judge the jumps were minimal. It might just be bad luck, or bad record keeping, but the figures nonetheless suggest that the argument that making the course easier has lead to increased speed and therefore more danger to the horses, has a strong basis. Furthermore, flat races also sometimes result in horse fatalities and it was in fact whilst running riderless Synchronised broke his leg, causing him to have to be euthanised, rather than in his fall. These factors combined suggest that the sizes of the jumps are not, and should not, be taken to be the main issue when it comes to horse welfare throughout the horse racing industry, and especially at the world-famous Grand National.