Grand National

[sakuraheart]

I do feel very sorry for the loss of two wonderful creatures.x
I also like to say that I have appriciated everyone's very passionate opinions....I just hope I don't seem like a bad person.x

[Mona's Humans]

Originally Posted by sakuraheart

I do feel very sorry for the loss of two wonderful creatures.x
I also like to say that I have appriciated everyone's very passionate opinions....I just hope I don't seem like a bad person.x

at the end of the day everybody will always have their own views and opinions, and whilst i can't understand the supporting of the national. I'm not going to hate everybody who does. I just hope that slowly people will realise that the buzz from betting, watching, riding even, is not worth the deaths of these beautiful animals!

[sakuraheart]

Well I can assure you I wont be ever again....
I'll save my £4 for chocolate and Dr Pepper.x

[Lougarry]

Not at all - it is exciting, the horses are beautiful to watch, the thundering of the hooves gets you heart racing too. As a child I always got my dad to put my pocket money on a horse (I won on Rag Trade) and I thought Bob Champion winning with the gorgeous, heroic Aldaniti was so romantic. But whatever they do to try to reduce the risks, horses die - and to me that's unacceptable. One of my best friends' horse, Benny, had to be PTS late last year and there were tears in our office for weeks. Tracy can't talk about it without crying. I won't watch the National or bet on it again.

[racinghamster]

I`ve came back to report that I just heard on the Andrew Marr show this morning, that Synchronised fell at Beecher`s Brook, got up and continued to race over five more fences (without his jockey Tony McCoy) and broke his leg. I actually thought the horse broke down after falling at Beecher`s Brook, but it seems this wasn`t the case. It doesn`t bring him back though sadly.

Watching horse racing and betting on races are two different things. Watching it because we admire the horses who capture our hearts (like kauto Star, Denman, Red Rum in the past and Desert Orchid, Best Mate) and many others, because these animals become the superstars of their age and in a way, they are glamorised and held in high regard because of their wonderful spirit and talent. But when one falls fatally or is badly injured, it turns the whole game on it`s head.

I`ve always preferred national hunt (or jumps) racing to flat racing, but follow both. One of the greats on the flat racing scene recently Frankel (trained by Sir Henry Cecil) was said to have `struck into himself` on the gallops a few days agao and probably won`t be seen racing again. Now since Frankel is a stallion, he will now go off to stud. Many national hunt horses are geldings (castrated) so if thy break down, they have no real value at stud because they cannot pass on their genes, so are usually retired or put down if their injuries are not repairable.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this years National and what steps are taken to change the race, if any.

[Lynternette]

I used to watch the racing with my dad when I was little. There was a grey horse called Grey Sombrero who fell and had to be pts. From that day to this I've never watched a race or bet on one. The fatalities at The National, or any other are unacceptable.

[Ellie]

I have to say I was quite relieved only 2 lost their lives as usually there is alot more.

I don't think Sycronized should have run, due to the distressed state he was in before the race.

I have mixed emotions on horse racing as they said the decision to put down these horses are made by highly proffesional expeirenced people.

I do have a flutter and put down bets once a week, Yesterday I picked five horses because of their names, They didn't do badly but didn't place in top 4 but I don't mind only a bit of fun!

[starbug]

I don't understand why Synchronised was put down. After he fell at Beechers Brook, he got up and ran on, riderless, until the next fence. Why was his broken leg considered untreatable when he had been able to run on it?

[Keflan]

Not sure, but if you break a leg in a horse its treatable but depends on how bad it is. Horses like to stand and with all that weight standing on a broken leg, I am sure its not nice.

Sometimes the treatment is more pain than the legbreak itself. It does also depend on the horses age.

Yesterday, 3 horses were treated and 2 PTS. So one of them recovered well.

[racinghamster]

It was probably Weird Al who had treatment as his jockey (Timmy Murphy) left a `tweet` saying the horse gave him a great ride and he should be fine. I do hope so.

Synchronised was found to have a bone or pelvic fracture of some kind and from the mumbled commentaries I heard, it was the kindest thing to put him and the other horse down. Richard Pitman (commentating with Clair Balding yesterday) said that horses cannot be `slung` up or they can get pneumonia? This could be fact but I can`t say whether that`s true or not. It is true to say that some leg breaks look really dreadful where the horses leg actually snaps and you can see the leg flailing. I absolutely feel sick when I see this happen, yet some die-hards on the racing post website will spout that this type of injury can happen on the gallops and not just on a racecourse. That`s fair enough comment, but when it happens in front of millions of people watching, it`s not a nice thing to witness. I remember seeing a flat horse break down this way last year that Frankie Dettori was riding and the trainer who caught him (John Gosden) after the horse broke down was almost in tears as he explained what happened and that they gave him a pick of grass and held him while the vets arrived. It was really heartbreaking and I never thought I would see a hardened man like Gosden almost break down in tears on live TV. It was a really sad day.