Grand National: Trainer of horse that suffered fatal fall blames ‘ignorant’ Animal Rising protesters for death | UK News

Hill Sixteen – skilled by Sandy Thomson – suffered a fatal fall on the first fence, however the Scottish handler blames animal rights activists for inflicting the “hyper” horse to die.

The man who skilled the horse that suffered a fatal fall at Saturday’s Grand National has blamed “ignorant” protesters for his animal’s death.

The Aintree race had been delayed by nearly 15 minutes after protesters tried to enter the racecourse and repair themselves to the fences and railings alongside the route.

Hill Sixteen – skilled by Sandy Thomson – fell on the first fence and was put down after struggling a damaged neck.

The Scottish handler described the horse as “hyper” as a result of protests, and blamed the activists for why it fell for the primary time in his profession.

“He just hasn’t taken off at the first fence; he’s got so bloody hyper because of the carry on,” he advised the Racing Post.

He stated he tried to calm the horse by washing him off however to no avail.

“Unfortunately, it’s a statistic we’re all trying to avoid,” Thomson stated. “He’s jumped spherical right here twice and by no means had a trouble. I do not know when he final fell.

“I understand how ignorant these individuals are and so they have not a bloody clue. They simply trigger extra issues than they ever resolve.”

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Horse deaths ‘unavoidable’ in racing

Animal Rising advised Sky News its actions on the Grand National “aimed to prevent exactly that from happening”.

The group stated: “Firstly, we need to provide our deepest condolences to anybody related to Hill Sixteen or who has been impacted by their death. Animal Rising’s actions on the Grand National aimed to stop precisely that from taking place.

“Horse deaths and accidents are an unavoidable consequence of the best way we use animals for sport, not dissimilar to the best way we trigger billions of animal deaths in our meals system.

“The solely option to stop extra hurt from coming to those lovely creatures is by utterly re-evaluating our connection to them and discovering a approach of loving them that would not put them in hurt’s approach.

“We’d welcome dialogue with Sandy Thomson or Jimmy Fyffe about learn how to transfer forwards collectively and actually remodel our relationship to horses and, certainly, to all animals and nature.”

Hill Sixteen had beforehand raced over the National fences twice – ending second within the 2021 Becher Chase and seventh on this yr’s working of the identical race.

More than 118 animal rights protesters have been arrested on Saturday – though 42 have been later “de-arrested”. More than 60 stay in custody.

Three horses die at Aintree

Hill Sixteen was the third racehorse to die in the course of the Grand National assembly, watched by 70,000-strong crowds. Dark Raven died earlier within the day and Envoye Special died on Thursday, the primary day of the three-day pageant.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has since stated it’ll “analyse” the races “in painstaking detail” following the deaths.

“The BHA and Aintree racecourse will now analyse the races in painstaking detail, as is the case every year, to build on our existing data and help us understand what caused these incidents,” BHA chief government Julie Harrington stated.

Read extra:
British Horseracing Authority to ‘analyse’ Grand National ‘in painstaking element’

Roly Owers, the chief government of charity World Horse Welfare, referred to as it a “very sad day”.

He stated: “From Aintree to tv screens internationally, this yr’s meet was tough to observe. The loss of Envoye Special, Dark Raven, and Hill Sixteen is heart-breaking and we provide our condolences to their connections who we all know might be devastated.

“Whilst it’s true that accidents can occur anyplace – and the dangers can by no means be eliminated altogether – leap racing poses particular dangers that it has a accountability to relentlessly scale back wherever doable.

“It is evident to us that regardless of the modifications made by Aintree and racing so far, rather more must be finished.”