use the grand national to highlight horse welfare causes around the world.

​Why must we be always on the defensive when we talk about the Aintree Grand National? It is the most well-known horserace in the world, or at least we are led to believe it is. Though even if you or I believe the Melbourne Cup might rival the Grand National in worldwide popularity these days, you, too, must withstand criticism from animal rights activists who take delight in listing the horses to suffer fatal injuries in the race. Popularity is a twin-edged sword in times of woke and a widespread ‘I don’t like it. It should be banned’ mentality!
I said back in 2013 when the fences were modified, the distance changed and conditions of the race altered to attract ‘a higher class of horse’, that fatalities would continue to occur as, with all horse races and horse events, we are in the lap of the gods as to whether we ‘count them all out and count them all back’. It is as true as it would be with a 3-horse novice chase at Taunton or Hexham as it is the a 40-runner Grand National. In sport, we are all but pawns played by gods of fate who make changes to the rules to suit their whims and fancies.
I suggested in an earlier ‘blog’ that the first 3-fences are the bogey fences at Aintree and have suggested twenty jockeys should be assigned by a draw to pursue the inner to middle from the start, with the rest pursuing a middle to outer route, with the field mingling between the third and fourth fences. Also, the right horses should be attracted to run in the race, not necessarily the highest rated. But that is another issue. This piece is about restoring the Grand National’s sullied reputation with the public to ensure we keep the middle-ground on our side, or at least not taken to the other side.
The Grand National should be aligned to horse welfare charities. Let our belief that the Grand National is the most watched horse race in the world be our guide. Why not use that platform to highlight the abuse and negligent care of horses around the world? Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s charity raises money, in part, to support The Brook Hospital, a charity that provides veterinary care in third-world countries. Not only should the light be focused on horse welfare issues in foreign countries but money could be raised for the wonderful horse rehabilitation charities in Britain and Ireland, Riding for the Disabled charity could be helped also through charity aligned to the Grand National. Any and all horse welfare charities could be sustained through association with Aintree.
All that is required, and, yes, I dare say setting up such a fund will not be as a,b,c, as I suggest, but stick with me, is for a small percentage of all winning bets to go to the horse welfare charity, a small percentage of bookmaker profits from the race, a small percentage of jockeys prize money from the meeting, with perhaps jockeys donating their riding fee from the Grand National to help swell the pot; owners, too, might offer a small percentage of their prize-money. And so on and so on.
The Grand National has been the love of my life, more so than any human being. I am 69 now; how many more Grand Nationals will I be privileged to witness. To be honest, after my death I’ll not spin in my grave if there are no F.A. Cup Finals, no free and fair elections to parliament or Repair Shops. But I’ll spin like an out-of-control turbine if the Grand National is consigned to history.
The Grand National has been a force for good in my life since I was a child. As someone who grew up on a council housing estate in Bristol, with no connection to horses of any kind, the Grand National fired my imagination for a sport I knew absolute zero about and gave me an interest that aligned itself to my heart ever since. It is time the B.H.A., the Aintree executive, Jockey Club estates and the racing public at large, gave the Grand National and Aintree racecourse assurance for the future by making it a force for good, to help horses of every kind around the world and nearer to home.
The back-foot negativity must end. Give animal rights activists a small voice as we have far more in common with them than they will admit to. I suspect those connected to horse racing donate more to animal charities than any other sector of society and feed and care-for more animals than those collectively who have become our enemy at the door. We have nothing to be ashamed about.
People continue to suggest changes, even people within racing. But the Grand National must not change beyond the small alterations I have suggested. It must be 40-runners as the number is part of its distinction and history. It must be 4-miles 2-furlongs plus. It cannot be anything other than a source of danger to horse and rider as any equestrian sport cannot be anything other than played out to the whims and fancies of fate and the gods that set the rules.
The Grand National, though, must be seen by the middle-ground as a force for good. It is within the gift of British and Irish horse-racing to help horses around the world through the annual sporting event that is known worldwide as the Grand National.