Steeplechase is more dangerous for horses than flat racing

Three dead horses and 118 arrests: the iconic British horse festival Grand National has had a turbulent edition. The event in Liverpool has been receiving increasing criticism for years, but this year it was very turbulent around the main race of the same name. As visitors walked in, they passed Animal Rising protesters holding signs like ‘You bet, they die’.

Later, some of the demonstrators managed to cling to an obstacle. The race still started on Saturday with a fifteen-minute delay. The race was fatal for one horse, bringing the ‘final score’ (including two previous races) to three.

What exactly is that, the Grand National?

The Grand National is extremely popular in the United Kingdom. The race at Aintree, Liverpool’s racecourse, was organized for the 175th time this year. Visitors come there – dressed up in hats, suits and high heels – to have a drink and take a gamble.

But the Grand National is also popular far beyond the UK, with an estimated 600 million people watching the event worldwide this year. The prize pool is generous: 1 million pounds (more than 1.1 million euros), more than half of which goes to the winner. This year the win went to jockey Derek Fox with the horse Corach Rambler. And then there are all the bets placed on the race. There are 13 million Britons alone who collectively bet around £250 million on the Grand National.

This year three horses died. How dangerous is this race?

The Grand National is a so-called steeplechasea competition where obstacles of different sizes are jumped at high speed.

The start is often chaotic, with several horses huddled together. Three riders already fell from their horses at the first obstacle this year. These horses often continue walking alone, which in turn creates dangerous situations. For example, a horse with a rider collided with a horse without at obstacle nine.

In addition, horses are becoming increasingly tired – the course consists of almost eight kilometers with thirty obstacles – which makes jumping increasingly dangerous.

Horses also have to carry extra weight during the race, a so-called ‘handicap’, between 64 and 74 kilos. This is to make the battle more equal: the better the horse, the more weight (including jockey).

This year the horse Hill Sixteen suffered a serious fall, after the horses Envoyé Spécial and Dark Raven had already been seriously injured at Aintree in previous races. All three were put to sleep.

Races that involve jumping are more dangerous for horses than flat races. Regulator British Horseracing Authority (BHA). fatal accidents involving racing horses and this shows that the percentage of horses that die during races with obstacles has been around 0.43 percent for years (in flat races it is more like 0.1 percent).

But the Grand National is well above that average: that is where the percentage of ‘fatal starts’ lies op 1,12reports The Guardian.

What does the racing world say about this?

That a lot has happened in recent years to make horse racing, which is held at 59 venues in the UK, safer. And that the number of fatal accidents has also decreased slightly in twenty years. Last year there were 169 deaths in the UK, according to regulator BHA, which is 0.2 percent of the starting field.

Whether that is a lot or little is a matter of perspective. Many animal welfare organizations believe that horses should not be raced at all, especially steeplechases.

A whole series of adjustments were made at the Grand National in 2012: for example, the skeleton of obstacles was now made of ‘more forgiving’ rubber and the surface of the race track was adjusted. For a while there were no more fatal accidents after that, but the 2019 edition put an end to this when the horse Up For Review broke his neck at the first obstacle.

Of course, the question is also how safe a race like the Grand National will ultimately be. For many viewers, spectacle and unpredictability are the appeal of the race – but that also makes it dangerous.

And what about in the Netherlands?

Horse racing is a very small sport in the Netherlands. There are only a handful of tracks, the best known is Duindigt in Wassenaar, where trotters are mainly used. Since this year, ‘unnecessary’ use of the whip has been prohibited in harness racing. Steeplechase does not take place in the Netherlands.

But the horse sector as a whole – from riding schools to top sports – is attracting increasing attention from animal welfare organizations. For example, Dier&Recht conducts campaigns against so-called eventing competitions, such as those in Boekelo, where fatal accidents occasionally occur.

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