Surprised that oli30045 hasn't been on here bragging...

Horse racing must be on it's last legs surely. The health & safety/animal rights activists really do have a point. The volume of sacrificed horses is far too high to be ignored.

Could the sport not find a way to ensure horses with broken legs (Which seem to be responsible for 90% of the fatalities) don't need to be put down?

A horse cannot stand on three legs, nor can it lie down for 12-16 weeks. I needs to be able to stand immediately after surgery. If it has to continue to lie down, it will become stressed and thrash around and maybe damage the leg more.

The leg can be 'fixed' but the horse doesn't understand and simply will not just sit back and let it heal.

It's actually done out of mercy, it's a long drawn out and extremely stressful time for the horse which in its self can cause the horse to die.

My sisters horse had to be put to sleep after an accident in the trainers yard, it was an absolute tragic event which he went through, granted myself and my family love the sport of kings but just recent i have begin to have my eyes opened to the business side of it.

I had 5th place at 100/1 today but hand on heart i think today has been my last bet. I know horses come and go and in reality trainers and owners unless the animal is winning do not give a rats ass about them.

Horses are insured and i am certain that this reason that if the animal is injured they are put to sleep.

Vets do advise as to the extent of of any injury and do advise trainers and owners about there future and what kind of life they will lead.

Horses when they retire if they go through there career without mishap lead a life of luxury moving onto other things showjumping/dressage etc

Race horses lead a brilliant life being treated to the best of the best ( i have seen this )

I was saddened again by todays events and after seeing Mccoy being unseated before the race my dad and i agreed that he should not start, again A P shown the fence to the horse and he was unsettled so HE should not have started, but to the trainer there was to much riding on the animal not to start.

It is a crying shame that the favourite was put to sleep after winning such a recent prestigous event, as well as the other outsider.

I agree completely about synchronised. Should have been withdrawn and I remember saying to someone, quite coldly, that my odds of winning just shot up because I knew the horse wouldn't complete.

I am always saddened when the horses are put down, especially when I have put money on them, but this isn't bear baiting or bull fighting. Death is a by product of sport and not the aim. It is very sad but there is great demand, great value and compassion in the sport. As has been said, the horses are treated so well and are born to race.

Finally, I think the According to Pete had a very good chance of placing today and it is even more saddenning that he was put down.

Is blecher's brook the biggest taker of equine life, at the national?

i won 5 win on the winner £170 for me

2 quid ew on the winner at 40/1

Do the fences need to be so brutal though ? I am sure the same distance could be run over normal fences or even hurdles & as has been said the start was a fiasco & Synchronise should not have run. The race is so big in peoples minds that it could stand dumbing down & still make a fortune for the establishment .

Not being y, but when people say the horses are treated brilliantly, can I just ask what this means in reality? Are we talking champagne and oysters, 5-star spa treatment? Or a better quality of carrot?

In general, horses are a lot better treated than a lot of children, especially considering that most are/ potentially are, worth more than the average house.

Madraco was saved after braking his leg, but as has been said, it is more humane to destroy them. Something to do with the heart not being able to cope.

Well, since you mention it! I did pick the winner, claimed £86, and you're still having none of it!

I suppose the only way you can compare it too, is a person with a money no object attitude.

There life is filled with what they love to do day in day out and that will be the stable jockey taking them out everyday,
they eat the best food available to them, they receive the best supplements available to them, they are treated by the best vets available in the area if needed. There stables are non comparable to a routine farmers stable. They receive around the clock attention and care.

Imagine that for a life!

I could well imagine that they look forward to waking the next day, so in other words " a better quality of carrot "

Your kid never, think his fell...surprisingly

The do-gooders have actually made the race more dangerous with their meddling in recent years.....Making the fences easier as simply meant the horses go quicker, which inevitably leads to more falls and, with it, more deaths.

The toughness of the fences are not the problem, its actually the number of runners which causes the biggest hazard....Most horses are brought down, or knocked out of their rhythm, by another horse - If you lowered the field from 40 to 30, or ideally 25, you would see less heavy falls and less fatalities.

All of those 40 horses, if running individually, would all complete the course, as the jumping isn't the problem, its the speed of the race and the sheer natural instinct of racehorses to run tightly in a pack which cause the problems.....Heavily watering the course and cutting the size of the field is the safest option.

Yes ,i suppose the size of the field reflects the prestige of winning the race & the greed of the racing fraternity to get a piece of the action. Incidentally, is there a big fatality problem in normal over the sticks racing with smaller fields.