Tag: Grand National

BHA Chief Julie Harrington Condemns Grand National Protests

British Horseracing Authority [BHA] chief executive Julie Harrington has condemned the actions of protestors who delayed the Grand National and also announced a “painstaking” analysis will take place in a bid to  try and understand what caused three fatalities over the three days of the meeting.

The Sandy Thomson-trained Hill Sixteen suffered a fatal fall at the first fence in the race that was delayed by around 15 minutes after animal activists stormed the track. Two more horses were killed at the meeting.

In a statement released on Sunday, Harrington said, “Our thoughts are with everyone connected to the horses who suffered fatal injuries this week. No one will be more affected by this news than the trainers, owners and stable staff who have provided these horses with first-class care and attention throughout their lives..

“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.”

She added, “British racing works tirelessly to improve the sport's safety record and reduce avoidable risk. Every incident is reviewed by the BHA alongside the racecourse and other bodies. As a sport we have for years shown great determination and commitment to improve welfare standards by taking measured scientific, evidence-based, regulatory and education-based steps.

“It is for this reason that the fatal injury rate in the sport has reduced by over 1/3 in the last 20 years, to 0.2% of runners.”

Merseyside Police said 118 people were arrested during the protests. The response of racegoers at Aintree was also hailed after they played a role in deterring those who protested the race but Thomson blamed the 15-minute delay for driving the ill-fated Hill Sixteen “hyper” before the showpiece event.

Davy Russell, whose Grand National mount Galvin exited the race at the first and later collided with a ladder that had been left on the side of the racetrack by protestors, said that the delay caused by the animal rights activists had a detrimental effect on the horses. 

Speaking on Luck On Sunday, Russell said, “I'm not sure that the people who protested yesterday realised the damage they were doing. The experience they were laying upon the horse was unnecessary, and the experience they were laying on the trainers and the jockeys.”

Commenting on the protests, Harrington said, “We respect the right of anyone to hold views about our sport but we robustly condemn the reckless and potentially harmful actions of a handful of people in disrupting the race at a time when horses were in the parade ring.

“Those involved in British racing are rightly proud of our sport and the role it plays in providing an unparalleled quality of life for horses bred for racing. Love and respect for horses is at the heart of everything we do.

“The Grand National is and always will be an iconic sporting event and the actions of a small number of people will do nothing to diminish its huge and enduring international appeal.”

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Corach Rambler Takes Grand National Glory As Nine Protestors Arrested

Corach Rambler provided trainer Lucinda Russell and jockey Derek Fox with their second Grand National triumph at Aintree on Saturday after the race was delayed due to a number of animal rights activists storming the track.

Successful in 2017 with One For Arthur, Russell and Fox repeated the trick with Corach Rambler, who had enough in reserve to hold off the fast-finishing Vanillier at the winning line. 

A winner at the past two Cheltenham Festivals, Corach Rambler was sent off an 8-1 favourite in a race that was delayed by over 15 minutes due to the protests that led to Merseyside Police arresting nine people.

Russell said, “Those guys that went out to protest on the course, they think it's about horse welfare but that horse loves the sport. He loves everything that he does. He's kept in the best condition and I'm just so delighted that he can run in a race like that and perform like that.

“He has got greatness and it's what he deserves. Corach Rambler, in our hearts, is just the best horse. Now in the public hearts he is as well. To win the National, I know how important it is, I know how it changed my life with Arthur–for Corach to achieve that too is just fantastic.

“It's all about the horse, for me it's not about the betting–though I did back him and quite a lot actually!”

She added, “I hope those guys who were protesting will look at our website and our Facebook posts and see how they are looked after. It is so important they understand how we care for them every inch of the way.

“It is about Corach, he is just amazing. He took to those fences brilliantly, he understood them, he worked them out–he loved it.”

Fox had sat out the first two days of the meeting in order to recover from injury in time to ride Corach Rambler.

The jubilant rider said, “He is just the most wonderful thing ever, he deserved to win this. I got a fall last week and banged my shoulder, it was far from ideal. I was worried all week. I thank God I was back in time because it was the thrill of my life to ride him.

“It's thanks to the support of Lucinda and Scu [Peter Scudamore, assistant trainer and Russell's partner] for having the faith in me to put me up after not riding all week. I feel very lucky to be working for these great people.

“I think he'd the profile and he's loads of class–I just can't believe it.”

Animal Rising had threatened to disrupt the Aintree showpiece and were protesting from early on Saturday morning outside the track.

As the National runners were in the parade ring, a number of people breached security fences around the venue and ran on to the course, with at least two people affixing themselves to a jump using glue and lock-on devices

All of the intruders were apprehended, and the Merseyside Police commented afterwards, “We can confirm that nine people have been arrested at Aintree Racecourse today.

“Just after 5pm, a large number of protesters attempted to gain entry on to the course. The majority were prevented from breaching the boundary fencing, but the nine individuals who managed to enter the course were later arrested by officers.”

 

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Stand Up For Racing Formed To Represent Racing And Breeding Industries

In light of criticism from animal rights activists in the build-up to the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday, Stand Up For Racing, a gathering of passionate horse racing professionals that will seek to represent the racing and breeding industries, has been formed. 

The concept arose out of a widely-held frustration that the racing and breeding industries are not always well represented when questioned in the mainstream media and on social media, often allowing damaging misinformation and misconceptions to prevail.

The aim of the group is to unite all of the various organisations and representative groups within the racing and breeding industries in Europe in the interests of the greater good of the image and reputation of our great game. Fueled by a database of information and facts providing by the various interest groups in European racing, it will draw on a group of experienced members of the racing and breeding media that will be made available to any media outlet to provide balanced comment on the subject matter when required.

The founding group of Sally Ann Grassick, Kevin Blake, Caoimhe Doherty and Cathy Grassick are all council members of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association and are professionally involved in various sectors of the industry, with the latter being the current Chairperson of the ITBA.

In the coming weeks they will form a committee of members drawn from the major racing nations of Europe as well as putting together the aforementioned panel of media representatives.

In less than 48 hours, Stand Up For Racing has already resonated with a wide section of social media, attracting over 4,000 followers on Twitter, including numerous high-profile figures in the industry, and the hashtag #StandUpForRacing has been used over 1,700 times and reached 1.2 million people.

Stand Up For Racing had their first opportunity to contribute to the mainstream conversation when one of our representatives Kevin Blake appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV on Thursday evening. The interview, which has had more than 400,000 views online since broadcast, can be viewed on the Stand Up For Racing YouTube channel here.

Vicky Leonard and the team at Kick Collective in Australia established Kick Up in 2022. The initiative has generated considerable traction since its inception, with its goal of presenting accurate horse racing information on controversial topics in an engaging, educational and interesting format. Click here to learn more.

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‘Good Horses Keep Us All Going’ – Jessica Harrington Stable Tour

Jessica Harrington is the most successful female trainer that Ireland has ever produced. The 76-year-old has sent out multiple Cheltenham Festival winners, including the legendary Champion Chaser Moscow Flyer (Ire), as well as Classic winners Alpha Centauri (Ire) and Magical Lagoon (Ire) from her Moone-based stables in County Kildare.

Plans are now afoot to take home more big-race riches this season and, despite the fact that Harrington is undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, there is only one topic of conversation at the breakfast table at this time of year.

“We are very excited about the season ahead and, training horses as good as this, they keep us all going,” Harrington said in typically upbeat fashion.

She added, “We haven't pushed any buttons with our two-year-olds yet but, at this early stage, a filly called With Style (Ire) would have to be my pick.

“Overall, we have a very nice bunch. But even the two-year-olds we had last year, they were a quality bunch as well, so we have some very nice three-year-olds this season to go with the juveniles coming through. It's very exciting.”

Before the Flat season takes centre stage, there is the small matter of the Fairyhouse, Aintree and Punchestown Festivals to navigate, and Harrington will be hoping to break her duck in the Grand National in Liverpool with the aptly-named Lifetime Ambition (Ire).

“He's very well-named, because it has been a lifetime ambition for me to win the race and of course we came very close to doing that when Magic Of Light (Ire) finished second to Tiger Roll in 2019.

“Lifetime Ambition is nicely-weighted and we're hoping the ground will dry out a bit for him. He's had experience over the fences and jumped them very well so we are hopeful.”

All told, the Harrington stable has 170 horses to look forward to on the level, of which, 65 are two-year-olds. Below, Harrington gives her verdict on some of the juveniles who have been showing up well on the gallops at home.

High Five: Harrington celebrates Magical Lagoon's Irish Oaks triumph with Shane Foley | Racingfotos.com

Two-Year-Olds
Fillies
Heavenly Being
Pedigree: Night Of Thunder (Ire) filly out of Rapacity Alexander (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire})
Bought by BBA Ireland for €525,000 from Mountarmstrong Stud at Goffs Orby
Owner: Yuesheng Zhang
Comment: We like her a lot. She's a half-sister to No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}), who won the G1 Matron S. for us a couple of seasons back. She looks as though she will make a two-year-old and we hope to get her out in May. We haven't had many Night Of Thunders but we think we have some good ones by him this year. She's very like No Speak Alexander in that she is a light-framed filly.

Glamourously
Mehmas (Ire) filly out of One For June (Ire) (Arcano {Ire})
Bought by BBA Ireland and the Glamour and Glory Syndicate for €33,000 from Mountarmstrong Stud at Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale
Glamour And Glory Syndicate
We're delighted to have this filly for the new syndicate for the girls. She is a lovely Mehmas filly and has been away to the Curragh. She could run in two or three weeks' time.

What A Squeeze
Dark Angel (Ire) filly out of Fashionable (GB) (Nashwan)
Bought by BBA Ireland for €75,000 from Glacken View at Goffs Orby
Alpha Racing Syndicate
A half-sister to Jack Naylor (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}), we are very happy with her. She is quite like Jack Naylor, is a little bit bigger than she was, but they have the same physique–strong and plenty of bone. She goes nicely. The Alpha Racing Syndicate has been quite successful, I think members have made a profit every year it has been running, so it is a good way for people to get involved in racehorse ownership.

Ally Pally
National Defense (GB) filly out of Myth Creation (More Than Ready)
Cormac O'Flynn
Bought by Cormac O'Flynn for 37,000gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Sale
She's a nice filly, is sharp, and actually has an entry to run at Dundalk next Tuesday. She could run in the Somerville Auction Sale race.

September Leaves
Night Of Thunder filly out of Antique Platinum (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire})
Homebred
Moyglare Stud
She looks sharp and will be out in May. She is a nice Moyglare homebred and we're looking forward to her.

Matter Of Fact
No Nay Never filly out of Malicieuse (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Homebred
Niarchos Family
She's a very nice filly and looks like being a proper two-year-old. She has plenty of size but is compact. We've had plenty of No Nay Nevers down through the years but no superstars. We think that might change this year as we have a lovely bunch by him.

With Style
No Nay Never filly out of Inca Wood (UAE) (Timber Country)
Bought for €150,000 by BBA Ireland from Manister House Stud at Goffs Orby
Yuesheng Zhang
This is a lovely filly and will probably be ready to run in May. She is big and strong and everything she has been doing is really good. She's been showing us plenty and we're looking forward to her. Yulong are great supporters of our yard and have been increasing their numbers every year and now have 30 in training here. We have some lovely two-year-olds for them this year and this is one of them.

Ocean Bliss
El Kabeir filly out of Gold Zain (GB) (Aqlaam {GB})
John Kirkland and Jim Ryan
A half-sister to Ocean Quest (Ire) (Sioux Nation), she's sharp and will want really nice ground because she has lovely action. We will be waiting for the ground to get a bit tighter for her.

Comic Book
Frenkel (GB) filly out of Vagabonde (Ire) (Acclamation {GB})
Bought by BBA Ireland fo €250,000 at BBAG September Yearling Sale
Yuesheng Zhang
This could be very smart. She won't run until June or July–she's a mid-season filly and you'd expect her to be that on pedigree. She has been doing everything very nicely and we're quite hopeful about her.

Annupuri
Too Darn Hot (GB) filly out of Mirror City (GB) (Street Cry)
Bought by Jamie McCalmont for 120,000gns from Jamie Railton at Tattersalls Book 2
Marc Chan and the Niarchos Family
She's a nice filly but she's not as sharp as we thought she was initially. She has started to grow and might need a bit more time. The Too Darn Hots we have are lovely-actioned horses and they look like they will want good ground.

Betula
Lope De Vega (Ire) filly out of Galileo Gal (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Craig Bernick
She's beautiful and is typical of Lope De Vega. She'll be out in the middle of the season and is out of a half-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

Emerald Banner
Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly out of Green Castle (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire})
Homebred
Francis Jennings
She's a full-sister to Millisle (Ire) and is actually stronger than Millisle was at this stage of their careers. There's actually a little bit of a story behind this filly. Her dam, Green Castle was retired at Francis Jennings' stud but, when Millisle won her Group 1, she was whipped back in from the field and went straight in foal to Starspangledbanner and has even produced another filly, so now they have two full-sisters. I think she was 22 or 23 when she had this filly but she doesn't look like an old mare.

Earth
Galileo filly out of Alpha Centauri
Homebred
Niarchos Family
The second foal out of Alpha Centauri, she's a very big lady and is a lovely-mover. She will take a bit of time but she has an incredible pedigree and we are looking forward to seeing what she can do. She might be more of a three-year-old.

Unnamed
Kingman (GB) filly out of Starfish (Ire) (Galileo {Ire})
Homebred
Mrs Frank Barry & Mrs Luke Barry
A half-sister to Astadash, who won the Denny Cordell Lavarack S. at Gowran Park for us, she is very nice and will be out in the middle to back end of the season. Starfish has been an excellent producer for the Barry family and hopefully this filly can be another.

Lucky Melody
Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) filly out of Queen Of Carthage (Cape Cross {Ire})
Bought by BBA Ireland for €195,000 from Baroda Stud at Goffs November Foal Sale in 2021
Yuesheng Zhang
Very nice filly. She's a big girl but is also very sharp and is a half-sister to Lucky Vega (Ire), who did so well for us and obviously means a lot to the Yulong team. We hope to have her out in the middle of the season and she's nice.

Colts
Dundrum
Profitable (Ire) colt out of Rosy Morning (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus})
Bought by BBA Ireland for 31,000 from Castlebridge at Goffs Sportsman's
John G Hennessy
We fancied him to run a big race on debut at Dundalk last week but he came back lame. He actually pulled muscles quite badly so there was a genuine excuse for him disappointing on the day. We hope to get him back to what he was showing us at home before that because he's a colt with an awful lot of speed.

Old Sea
Blue Point (Ire) colt out of Liver Nauticus (Ire) (Azamour {Ire})
Homebred
Moyglare Stud
He's a half-brother to Trevaunance (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}). He's very big and has good action. He does everything very easily and, while we thought he was early, he's started to grow a little and may need more time.

The Bear Trap
Kodi Bear (Ire) colt out of Dat Il Do (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB})
Bought by BBA Ireland for 60,000gns from Pier House Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Alpha Racing Syndicate
He's a gorgeous colt and we're hoping to start him off in a Curragh maiden before long. We think he could be nice.

Guest Star
Due Diligence colt out of Livella Fella (Ire) (Strategic Prince {GB})
Bought by BBA Ireland for €46,000 from Boherguy Stud at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale
Hronis Racing
A sharp colt, he'll be out within the next month. He looks early and is training well.

Star Hunter
Lope De Vega colt out of She's Complete (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire})
Yuesheng Zhang
A lovely Lope De Vega colt who will be ready to run by the end of May. He's showing up well.

Imperial Magic
Showcasing (GB) colt out of Solfilia (GB) (Teofilo {Ire})
Yuesheng Zhang
Bought by BBA Ireland for €200,000 from Manister House Stud at Goffs Orby
He is sharp and will run in two or three weeks' time. His work has been good and he is very straightforward.

Highland Bling
Highland Reel (Ire) colt out of Padma (GB) (Three Valleys)
Bought by Hubie De Burgh for €22,000 from Vinegrove Stud at Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale
OTI Racing and Brosnan Racing
A very nice Highland Reel colt, he will want a mile but does things nicely at home.

Instant Appeal
Advertise (GB) colt out of Moment Of Time (GB) (Rainbow Quest)
Bought by BBA Ireland for 78,000gns from Newsells Park Stud at Tattersalls Book 2
Alpha Racing Syndicate
Another sharp colt, we'd expect him to be early and he's a very nice colt to do anything with. He's from the first crop of Advertise, who was a very fast horse himself, and we like what we see so far.

Kinesiology
Study Of Man (Ire) colt out of Kinaesthesia (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire})
Bought by BBA Ireland for €65,000 from Staffordstown Stud at Goffs Orby
Alpha Racing Syndicate
On breeding, he will be a middle-distance horse in time and we won't be in any rush to get him out. It will probably be the middle of the season before we see him but he's quite a likeable colt and is doing everything we have asked of him.

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