Hill 16 (left) died after falling on the first jump; Police clear a protester (right) before the start of Grand National Credit: AP/Jon Super
Sandy Thomson, Hill Sixteen's first fatal barrage coach, is adamant about a 15-minute delay caused by protesters before the start of the race. The 175th Randox Grand National at Aintree was a major contributing factor to the horse's fall.
«I don't doubt it,» Thomson said after Saturday's race. «That was the cause of the problems we had.»
A total of 118 people were arrested amid chaotic scenes as animal rights activists stormed the track and tried to prevent the race.
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Hill Sixteen, an experienced 10-year-old who has already started 20 times in the chase, had an amazing resume for the race; he had never fallen before and had jumped the Beher Chase twice before “without suspecting a mistake.”
“It was all a nightmare,” Thomson reflected. “Everything was fine until nothing happened in the paddock. We ended up taking him back to the saddle area, removing the saddle and washing it down like Ted Walsh did with Any Second Now. He became very hot. Then suddenly we were off again. We were almost the last of the paddock and it was chaos.
“He jumped over the first fence, which was completely out of character for him. Looking at him, I saw him wondering: “What is this, hello?” I'm amazed they were only 14 minutes late. I wonder if the parade could have solved the situation, but I have no doubt about it: the protests caused the problems that we had.”
Horse racing survey
Animal Rising, sister group Extinction Rebellion, offered its «deepest condolences» to Hill Sixteen on Sunday, but then immediately warned that the chaos caused on Saturday was «just the beginning» of this summer's planned destruction. Telegraph Sport understands that the next greyhound racing event is likely to target the next, but other major racing events are not part of the current plan.
Of those arrested on Saturday, no one had been charged by Sunday evening, 24 people were “currently released” and 42 “the police removed the arrests and drove them out into the street,” activists said.
«This is just the beginning of many peaceful actions to really spark a nationwide conversation about our broken connection to animals and our natural world this summer, whether they lead to arrests or not,» the statement said.
Circuit officials closed the section where the sixteenth height fell at the first Grand National fence
On Saturday, when the activists were detained by the police, the pre-race parade was skipped to make up for lost time, which meant that not all horses were able to look at the first fence. Jockey Nico de Boisville, who has ridden leader Mr Coffey for many years, said things were made worse by another shorter delay due to a late removal of a protester when 39 runners were called into line.
With the crowd and jockeys excited about the initial delay, several horses felt the hectic atmosphere, including Hill Sixteen and Cloudy Bay, another take off from the first fence.
“In the beginning, it felt like real electricity,” de Boisville said. Everyone was thrilled the first time you were called, you started the engine.”
While the 14-minute delay before the race usually could not affect the horses, the timing of it was decisive — after how the horses were saddled. The horses will stand all day in the racecourse stable, but they know what they are there for once they have a saddle, and there is good reason to believe that Saturday's protests, ostensibly in the name of animal welfare, had the exact opposite effect.
Protesters are detained by police on Great National Day in Aintree. Credit: PA/Tim Goode
After the course was modified in 2013 to soften the cores of the fences, the race layout changed and the average number of falls dropped from 11.6 to five. The first fence, now missing a drop, is no longer the scarecrow fence it once was.
Unplanned path divergences between horses and jockeys now tend to occur further down the line. They sometimes exceed the Becher level before there is a semblance of a leak, and most of the drama takes place in the second circuit.
Almost all of Saturday's drama occurred at the beginning of the first lap, when eight people either fell or fell from their seats to the first two fences. In the previous nine years, a total of 17 people have fallen or lost their sitting position through the first two barriers.
James Given, Chief Veterinary Officer of the British Racing Authority, took his place in the podium immediately after the start. «While it's hard to make a direct link between protest and race injuries, it definitely didn't help the horses,» he said. “It was extremely reckless on the part of the protesters to hold their action at a time when the horses were on parade.
“The Racecourse and BHA moved quickly so that the horses could be moved from the parade ring to quieter areas for parade preparation and rest. But there is no doubt that keeping horses on parade for a long time, on a hot day and in front of a large crowd, is not ideal.
“I have trained racehorses and worked as a veterinarian for many years, and my The motivation for working in this sport — like everyone else in this industry — is my deep respect for Thoroughbreds. I fully understand why my industry colleagues and sports fans are so angry at the protesters today.
“Protesters' the actions could potentially endanger horses and people, although they were allegedly carried out in the name of safety. However, my colleagues and I will continue to dedicate our lives to caring for these wonderful animals that have been bred for this sport that provides such a wonderful quality of life for so many horses.”
Raleigh Overs, executive director of World Horse Welfare, a charity that supports the responsible use of horses in the sport and advises the BHA, said this year's gathering, which saw three horses killed, was «difficult to watch» and called on horse racing to promote their work on the model. risk jump races to make national and other races safer.
“Progress on this has not been fast enough,” he said. “In general, the issues that need to be considered are the number of runners, how to reduce the number of falling ones, how to better manage free horses, and how to better manage the start.
«No one can accept fatalities as inevitable at any race, and no one, least of all any of the racers, wants to see what we saw on Saturday at the National.»
Animal Rising claims that their actions were aimed at preventing deaths
In response to criticism of their actions, Animal Rising told Telegraph Sport, «Firstly, we want to express our deepest condolences to everyone associated with Hill Sixteen or who has been affected by the death. Animal Rising's actions at Grand National were designed to prevent just that… The only way to prevent more harm to these beautiful creatures is to completely re-evaluate our connection to them and find a way to love them that won't hurt. not endanger them.”
On Sunday evening, Merseyside Police defended their security operation. Among those arrested were «men and women aged 18 to 66 who came from Kent, Southampton, London, Essex, Swansea, Falkirk and Glasgow,» the security forces added.
«They were arrested on suspicion of a number of offenses, including conspiracy to cause harm to the community, obstructing roads and possession of controlled drugs,» the officers added.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul White dismissed criticism of the police operation, pointing out for the entire facility “encompasses a wide perimeter of about 5 km, which is partly open area.”
“We had a robust incident plan in place and therefore our officers and security personnel were able to resolve the situation quickly in a safe and appropriate manner,” White added.
“It is also important to add that we respect the right to protest peacefully and express views, but criminal behavior and disorder will not be tolerated, and unfortunately this is what happened at yesterday's event in an attempt to disrupt the race, leading to arrests.»
Out of 118 arrests, 65 people were taken into custody and «are currently being processed and will be released on bail pending further investigations,» they added officers.
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