eyes on the grand national.

​Watching recordings of past Grand Nationals, which I do throughout the year, not only during the early days of April, it becomes apparent the jeopardy that is part and parcel of the race is not necessarily focused on the fences, the distance, ground conditions or the number of runners, but by loose horses potentially running amok. In some years, it might be fair to example the ‘sheer number’ of loose horses, though chaos can occur through the hard to gainsay actions of a single loose horse.wa
The result of practically every Grand National since the day of Lottery hinged on happenchance; the adventure of horse and jockey terminated by variables concocted by the gods of fate through the moment-in-time actions of unguided horses ducking out approaching the wings or changing course at the last stride and, perhaps, ending up in the ditch or on top of the fence.
Of course, acts of random equine endangerment do not always end with a jockey sprawled on the ground cursing his or her dreadful misfortune or their mounts forced into the ignominy of refusal. Lost momentum, even over an extreme of distance, can result in all hope gone for another year. The plunge horse, backed from long odds to ridiculously short for such a competitive race, the horse ‘thrown in’ at the weights and unlikely ever again to be so lowly burdened, the 100/1 outsider set alight by the out-of-the-realm-of-normality thrill of the chase, the workaday jockey who after years of graft and injury has finally landed on a horse with a live chance, each and every one, can be, literally, brought back down to earth with either a bang or a whimper, by the antics of cruel fate. 
As spectators, would we want it any other way? Even if our fivers and tenners, the life-changing gamble of big bettors denied not by poor judgement but by ill-starred contrivance, the hopes and dreams of grooms, jockeys, trainers, owners and even breeders, ‘go down to the beaten’? 
Although, going against the general tide of opinion, I continue to be critical of the changes imposed on the Grand National in recent times imposed by the views of outsiders who oppose the sport in all its aspects, with animal welfare merely a media-grab, and especially conditions of entry that mitigate against lower-rated horses perhaps better suited to the race than formerly higher-grade horses out-of-form and perhaps now less disposed to ‘try their very hardest’ that get in the race due to performances of two or three-years past, my love of the race has not abated one iota. 
The best development, though, by far, outweighing all other chances, is allowing greater opportunity for loose horses to bypass fences. In the past the emphasis was to keep loose horses within the boundaries of the racecourse, perhaps due to public safety liability concerns and any resulting insurance claims?
On the perils of horses running loose, I think Aintree have it about right. It would be wonderful, of course, if mounted horse-catchers could be employed but though a good idea in theory, in real-time huntsmen galloping around the inside or outside of the course could easily cause as much turmoil as a loose horse running down the take-off side of the Canal Turn. Now the distance of the race has been reduced, I put forward the speculative idea of a running rail on the bend after the water jump, creating a wide enough ‘lane’ for the jockeys to negotiate without causing a hazard, to, and one always must cross one fingers with such a radical idea, guide loose horses straight to the entrance of the stables and, if they allowed themselves to corralled in this manner, preventing them from heading out onto a second circuit of the race. 
One element of loose horses and the Grand National, indeed National Hunt racing in general, is, given they are independent of human control, how many horses will continue to ‘race’ and jump, some until the finishing post. I realise their blood is up and as a herd animal they are hard-wired to stay with their fleeing ‘playfellows’. Yet the loose horses that remain ‘up with the pace’ give clear indication of enjoying the experience, their ears pricked forward, looking for the next fence, with eyes displaying no fear of a predator. And rarely, though it does happen occasionally, do horses running loose fall. 
I accept in this day and age, when a subsect of people possess the arrogance to believe that nothing in society should offend them and if it does it should be eradicated, that image is reality. I also advocate that the first rule of racing should be that horse welfare is sacrosanct. Yet horse racing, even on the flat, presents a danger to both human and equine participants, as it is in all equestrian sport. The Grand National is no different. No more. No less. Hand on heart, when I place a bet on the race, I always prefer ‘no fatalities’ to returning to the betting shop to collect any winnings.
The Aintree Grand National is as scaled-back, perhaps some might go as far as describing it as ‘neutered, as its history and meaning can allow. The only area of the physical race that can, in principle, be improved upon is the jeopardy of loose horses and short of drastic or fanciful measures being implemented, in that aspect we remain, and shall always remain, in the lap of gods who give the impression of being bi-polar.