'the grand national that never was'. A lesson learned?

​In yesterday’s Racing Post, 12/04/23, Lee Mottershead wrote, as always, a wonderfully well-documented account of the ‘Grand National that never was’, a term that Lee Mackenzie takes credit for first using as he tried to commentate for B.B.C. radio on a race that to this day is a source of embarrassment for any one who holds the race dear to their heart.
On Saturday afternoon, as my Grand National rituals decree, long before the approach of sunset, I will draw the heavy living-room curtains closed so my attention will not stray to the annoying normality of the street outside. (Don’t those people walking about and driving their cars realise the significance of the hour?) And I will unplug the landline. My mobile is, by the way, ancient technology, nowhere close to being ‘smart’ and doubtless, evidence of my preference for aloneness at all times and dislike of being contacted at any moment convenient to others, uncharged or even out-of-credit, and will go unheeded if it should shatter the reverence of what is to come. Nothing in life matters more to me than the history to unfold at Aintree.
It is easily imaginable the fury that raged inside me as the farce progressed that inglorious day with both savage mockery and vile intent. Even now, important jump races are seemingly difficult to start, with officials allowing jockeys to line-up so far from the tape, making it so much easier for horses to break into a canter, pushing the starter to wave his little flag, creating a wave of disappointment to stretch from the jockeys to the grandstands. At 5.15 on Saturday late afternoon my heart will be in my throat in fear of another debacle, another humiliation for the sport.
What if one of the horses that ‘took part’ in ‘the Grand National that never was’ had suffered a fatal injury or if a jockey had suffered a career-ending fall? Would the subsequent inquiry have come to the same conclusion; that basically the recall flag man was to blame? The Jockey Club were to blame; they own Aintree, they are custodians of the Grand National; Keith Brown was their employee; the starting procedure was put in place by them. Every aspect of that race was conducted on their terms, from the starting procedure to the confusion after the race as to ‘what to do next’. Voiding the race was the easy way out. Not rescheduling was a crime against the sport. Still, though, even though Lee Mottershead’s article was excellent in every other respect, the flag man remains the guilty party.
The anger that banged on my heart that day and for the weeks of the aftermath has lessened but if an autopsy is performed on my lifeless body, I swear the pathologist will find a grave-marker for the ‘Grand National that never was’. The race should have been rescheduled. Perhaps that was the lesson that was learned when the I.R.A. bomb threat resulted in the evacuation of the racecourse? Postpone not abandon? Perhaps, and this idea comes too late for this year, why not have a computerised re-run of the race as I.T.V. have organised and televised for the past few years? Nonsense, of course, and in no way will it be compensation for those connected to Esha Ness, nor will it be closure for what I believe to be the greatest humiliation the sport has ever imposed on itself.
I fail to understand why a horse is entered for the race, left in through all the forfeit stages and then, as Grand National fever begins to build, is declared a non-runner and directed toward another race. Yes, Venetia, I think of Royal Pagaille and the decision to go to Fairyhouse that went tits up. I also fail to understand the owner that says ‘I wouldn’t run a horse in the Grand National as it is dangerous and I would hate to see him/her hurt’. Sadly, horses can suffer injury and death on every racecourse in the country. Sadly, fate can intervene on a quiet lane, in a stable, on the gallops, in a paddock. Reintroduce wolves into the wild and soon enough a horse will be predated. To my mind, if a horse is suited to the course and the race, no horse is too precious to run at Aintree.
What is precious is the race itself and Aintree. Those of religious faith, please pray for a good race, a worthy winner, a race without injury for jockey and horse, for the sport to suffer no embarrassment or humiliation that features on mainstream news or requires a subsequent inquiry. 
My heart has no more room for grave-markers that tell a tale of self-inflicted cock-ups.