Latest news with #WillyDeHouelle
Telegraph
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Two horses die at Cheltenham weeks after Grand National deaths
On day one of the Grand National festival Willy De Houelle, ridden by Rachael Blackmore, had suffered a fatal injury in a fall in the Boodles Anniversary 4-y-o Juvenile Hurdle. Last Saturday, two horses died in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. Macdermott suffered exercise-associated sudden death, while The Kniphand was fatally injured in a fall. Macdermott, last year's winner, was trained by Willie Mullins, who won the Ayr showpiece when Harry Cobden, an oasis of calm among the mayhem, guided home 9-1 shot Captain Cody. Two horses, Springwell Bay and Corbetts Cross, died at the Cheltenham Festival in March, from 452 runners. Yesterday there were 77 runners but it comes after a six-week spell of dry weather when, at most courses, there has been little to no rain and the courses have had to be watered to provide safe ground. Broadway Boy, who took a heavy fall at Valentine's in the Grand National, continues to make steady progress towards his recovery. He continues to be monitored by vets but has no fractures. The fatality rate across jump racing is 0.42 per cent of all runners.
Telegraph
05-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
66 horses have died at the Grand National in the past 25 years. Is it time to call it a day?
It is among the most famous and most watched horse race globally, viewed by about 800 million people around the world. The Grand National occupies a special place in the British sporting calendar, with the Liverpool meeting evoking excitement and nostalgia in equal measure. Even if we watched no other horse race during childhood, we probably watched this one, encouraged by parents who had a flutter on a runner with a funny name they liked. A third of all adults in Britain are expected to have placed a bet on today's race, with some £150 million splashed out in total. And the Grand National Festival doesn't just boost the coffers of the bookies: it is worth tens of millions to the local economy, too. In 2022, it netted some £60 million for the Liverpool City Region, according to researchers at Liverpool Business School. But if the Aintree event, which stretches back 186 years, is something of a national institution, on a par with the tennis at Wimbledon or the FA Cup final, it certainly does not lack controversy. In the past 25 years, 66 horses have died during the three-day meeting and many more have been injured. What makes the race a compelling spectacle has also made it a dangerous one over the years, say critics, with the course risky for both horses and their riders. One horse has already suffered a fatal injury during this year's festival. Willy De Houelle, aged four, died after falling in the Juvenile Hurdle on Thursday, the Grand National's opening day. Animal rights campaigners were quick to seize on the incident to call for change. 'The tragic death…illustrates why we need a new, independent regulator that has horse welfare as its number one priority,' said Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, in a statement that day. 'We need to replace the British Horse Racing Authority, make immediate moves to outlaw the whip and stop sacrificing horses for entertainment and the profits of the gambling companies.' In previous years, protesters incensed by perceived animal cruelty have disrupted the main event, most recently in 2023, when the steeplechase was delayed by almost 15 minutes after members of the Animal Rising group tried to glue themselves to a fence. This came 30 years after the four-mile race was voided altogether, following a long delay caused by protesters who had to be removed from the course, and then two false starts. But the Grand National of today (which takes in 30 jumps) is not the event it once was. A number of changes have been made to improve safety, including reducing the maximum field size from 40 to 34 runners; moving the first fence 60 yards closer to the start to reduce the chances of horses building up too much speed before jumping it; bringing the start time forward from 5.15pm to 4pm to improve the ground for the horses; the addition of rubber toe boards on every fence; and the reduction in the height of fence 11 by two inches, from 5ft to 4ft 10ins. Last year, there were no fallers for the first time on record and the rate of such incidents has decreased by more than a third in the past two decades. Since 2000, there have been 13 Grand National races with no fatalities. Aintree Racecourse has meanwhile spent more than £2 million on equine welfare measures. 'We review all aspects of the Grand National every year, with the welfare of everyone involved our number one priority, and we also work hard to preserve the unique characteristics and hallmarks which make it the iconic race it is,' says Jon Pullin, the Jockey Club's head of racing and clerk of the course at Aintree. The racing industry is 'the single biggest investor in equine health and welfare in the UK,' he says, with £56 million spent over the last 25 years alone. 'Over the years we've made numerous changes [to the Grand National], including modifying every fence in 2012 from timber frames to more forgiving plastic and investing hundreds of thousands of pounds in an enhanced watering system and a state-of-the-art cooling and washdown area for horses post-race.' The British Horseracing Authority argues the sport 'Celebrates the athletic brilliance of the thoroughbred' and says the Grand National is the 'very pinnacle' of this. 'Racing is committed to reducing all reasonably avoidable risk and has worked tirelessly over decades to this end,' says a spokesman. '[W]e remain in a constant, ongoing cycle of gathering evidence… and making improvements where we can.' All horses running at Aintree this week have been assessed by vets prior to their races to ensure they are fit to take part, he adds, with each animal taking part also approved to race by a panel of experts. 'It is simply not correct to say that racing, or the Grand National, is cruel,' says the spokesman. 'Many thousands of people work hard every day of the week to provide outstanding levels of care to our horses and it is offensive to characterise what they do, more often than not from a place of deep affection and respect for the thoroughbred, as cruelty.' Grand National regulars at Aintree remain fiercely protective of it, and vehemently oppose the idea that it might be time to end the race. 'There's nowhere in the world I would rather be', says Lisa Merrick, 38, from the Wirral, as the sun shines over the racecourse on Saturday. 'It brings people together. This race is over a hundred years old. The horses here are treated like superstars and are so well looked after. Can we not keep hold of some traditions?' Marc Redmond, 64, from Greater Manchester, adds: 'There have been many modifications in recent years to mitigate risk. It would be a tragedy if this event was damaged.' But campaigners say the changes haven't gone far enough (even if some fans grumble they have stripped the race of some of its special character). 'The Grand National is a deadly bloodbath,' says Elisa Allen, vice president of UK programmes and operations at animal rights organisation PETA. 'You can cloak it in fashion and fizz, but decent people see it for what it is: animal abuse. Those who attend would be rioting if it were dogs being whipped, catastrophically injured, and sent to the meat grinder when they stopped winning races. Why should it be any different when done to horses? 'The Grand National isn't 'the ultimate test of horse and rider', it's the ultimate test of human ethics…and we're failing miserably as long as we continue to bet on horses' lives. It's time to put this gruesome race out to pasture.' Another life was lost. Another broken body on the track. When will we stop gambling with their lives? #YouBetTheyDie — PETA UK (@PETAUK) April 5, 2025 Animal Rising said last year it was indefinitely suspending its campaign of direct action against racing. But this doesn't mean it is satisfied that the Grand National is sufficiently changed to ensure no horse is harmed. 'No amount of industry 'welfare improvements' can mask the truth,' says Rose Patterson, co-director of the movement. 'This so-called sport pushes horses past their limits, risking their safety and lives for the entertainment and profit of a few. The Grand National is not a celebration - it's a systemic abuse of animals who have no choice in their exploitation.' As this year's Grand National gets under way, one thing at least is certain: as long as the horses continue to run, so will the arguments against this British spectacle's very existence.
New York Times
04-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Grand National: Why Britain's most celebrated horse race has become so divisive
It is regarded as one of Britain's most cherished sporting events — a meeting that sits proudly alongside the FA Cup final and tennis' Wimbledon Championships. The Grand National steeplechase attracts horse-racing devotees and casual viewers on a scale no other event in the sport can match around the world. Contestants race a notoriously difficult four-mile course which sees horse and rider navigate 16 fences to reach the finishing post. Advertisement On Thursday, the opening day of the three-day festival on the outskirts of Liverpool which culminates with the famous race, a horse — Willy De Houelle — died after falling at a hurdle. That fatality, along with the 221 horses who died in British racing (across both flat and jump courses) last year, fuels the argument of the campaigners who want the 186-year-old event to be banned. For them, the hundreds of millions of pounds staked in bets on the main event is a money-making juggernaut borne of animal exploitation and cruelty. Safety measures to limit fatality and injury have never been greater — and overall deaths continue to fall — but the moral debate endures. Regardless of the growing hyper-focus on welfare, some of the horses slated to compete will not survive the weekend. It is a little before 5pm on the first day of the Aintree festival and the penultimate race has just ended in victory for seven-year-old gelding Sans Bruit and his jockey Harry Cobden. An usually warm spring afternoon in England's North West has delighted race goers, but some of the horses who have just galloped for two miles, leaping over 12 fences, have overheated. They are led from the course to a specialised recovery area, a large sheltered ring complete with huge cooling fans, buckets of water and teams of vets ready to check them over. One of the finishers is bleeding down his back right leg, the result of a suspected burst vein caused by the exertion. It is nothing serious but the colt is triaged and treated at a pace which would put many accident and emergency wards to shame. His wound bandaged in blue gauze, he is led to the corner of the ring where he slurps from a bucket of water, attended by three soothing stable hands. Just from this snapshot of day one, there can be little doubting the care and attention the competing thoroughbreds receive. Spectators are able to wait beside the area and watch. It is just one among a host of enhanced safety measures that makes Aintree special, and the wider sport has a renewed focus on welfare. Advertisement In 2023, the start of the showcase Grand National was delayed by 14 minutes after activists walked onto the track beforehand. For a race watched by so many millions, it was a moment that jolted British horse racing to better explain those ways it has been trying to make the sport safer. Since 2000, £56million ($72.8m) has been spent to minimise risk and ensure horses have a better quality of life. At the time, the group behind the protest, Animal Action, said it was satisfied its high-profile intervention had started a national conversation. They have refrained from physical protest since and multiple criminal trials are due to take place later this year following the 118 arrests connected to that disruption two years ago. As a result of the changes made to the Grand National, no horses fell in 2024 for the first time on record and 21 of the 32 horses that raced crossed the finish line with others stopping along the way. To make that possible, the Jockey Club, which owns Aintree among 15 of Britain's most famous racecourses, and the overarching British Horse Racing Authority carried out unprecedented alterations to the course. Some fences were lowered to make them easier to jump. Now the lowest fence measures 4ft 6in and the highest, The Chair, is 5ft 2in with a 5ft wide ditch in front of it. The number of horses allowed to race in the National was cut from 40 to 34, and the first fence has been moved 60 yards closer to the start to prevent horses building up too much speed before jumping it. Even the race's start time was moved forward from 5.15pm to 4pm to provide safer ground, something that television executives believe led to 1.4 million fewer people tuning in to watch on British broadcaster ITV last year (6.1m viewers compared to 7.5m in 2023). Nevertheless, this year's main event is expected to attract an audience of 600million globally. The safety work is not limited to famous old Aintree and its annual highlight. Risk-reduction efforts continue across all British jump racing, driven by new technology incorporating AI to monitor horses' gait before races and detect clues of health issues. Even the coloured markers on jumps have been changed from orange to white as research into a horse's vision showed it made them easier to see. Advertisement Some Grand National traditionalists feel the changes have diminished the race's allure, but the evolution goes on. Hurdles have been switched from traditional birch to a padded style, which will soon be compulsory at all British courses, after data modelling suggested a possible 11 per cent fall reduction could follow. The fences' inner frames had already been altered from unyielding timber to a more flexible plastic. Yet horses still die and not all fans are prepared to consider it an acceptable risk. Dene Stansall's grandfather was an Aintree bookmaker and he grew up loving the Grand National until a traumatic, life-changing moment. 'My family are from Liverpool and I was a big fan of the Grand National before I saw a horse die in front of me,' he says. 'Overnight, I just switched. I decided I could not support something that results in an animal dying like that. 'The people who watch every year may rethink, too, if they saw a dying horse in unbearable pain with its leg hanging off.' Stansall has been an anti-racing campaigner for the last 25 years and is now Animal Aid's horse-racing consultant. 'I'm banned from Aintree,' he admits. 'Too many protests. 'Yes, there have been changes to the fences but, ultimately, we don't see them being enough to stop deaths. Since the year 2000, 66 horses have died during the three-day Grand National meeting. 'Our goal is a ban on the Grand National and jump racing in general. I don't think that's a radical aim. If you care about animals, it's the natural ethical position. We should not be putting horses through this.' In past years, animal-rights protestors would gather outside Aintree to try and persuade racegoers not to attend. Sometimes it would result in heated debate. But protestor numbers have dwindled, and on Thursday none were there to confront the attendees in their suits and colourful dresses as they made their way to and from the course. 'Protests have been changed by heavy policing,' says Stansall. 'There are greater restrictions than ever on us and the conversation has moved more to social media and the internet than outside the venue.' Stansall says the gruelling Grand National race can exact more than just a physical toll on horses. 'People don't realise how frightened horses get going over those fences,' he says. 'I have been told by jockeys that their horses were terrified. 'Many horses are never the same physically or mentally after running in the Grand National. They can be nervous animals anyway and the trauma of the race can really impact them. You get people who say sport is risky and point to boxing or rugby, but humans choose to take part in them. Horses bred to race don't get a say in it.' Advertisement Overall, the Grand National's 10-year fatality rate has reduced by over a third, according to British Horse Racing. But concerns over the morality of racing are not restricted to the United Kingdom. In 2019 it became one of the biggest stories in U.S. sport after 34 horses died at Santa Anita racetrack in California in a period of less than a year. Six years ago, the New York Times reported how racetracks in the U.S. had a particular problem with horses dying. Nearly 10 horses per week on average died at American racetracks in 2018, according to the Jockey Club's Equine Injury Database. At the time, that figure was anywhere from two and a half to five times greater than the fatality rate in Europe and Asia, where rules against performance-enhancing drugs were stricter. Campaigners called for a ban to all horse racing — chiefly comprised of flat racing in America, where steeplechase is less common. The scandal also prompted the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to make rules changes that have made the sport safer. Racing deaths in California subsequently reduced overall by 40 per cent. But a January 2024 CHRB report revealed the total number of equine racing and training deaths increased again, to 82, in 2023, according to a CHRB report presented last January. 'Any increase is concerning,' CHRB executive director Scott Chaney told The Jockey Club website, Bloodhorse, at the time. 'But also a reminder that our work is not complete.' Chaney, it added, also wanted the return of stricter restrictions on injections. For thousands of racegoers on Thursday, the tradition of Aintree makes it something to cherish. Siblings Chris and Alison Lamb, from Litherland in Merseyside, consider it a beloved annual tradition. 'We started coming to Aintree with our grandfather when we were about 11,' says Chris. 'As a football-mad kid, it was great because we used to have the semi-final of the FA Cup and the Grand National on the same day. 'I've owned shares in a racing horse and seen the wonderful life they have, They are treated like VIPs and get the best of everything.' Alison agrees. 'We come to all three days and, all in, we spend about £600 on tickets and everything else. People say you could go on an all-inclusive foreign holiday for that but it's very important for us.' Another two days of excitement await the brother and sister, who would not have it any other way despite their admiration for the horses. 'I'm all for making the fences safer and smaller,' adds Chris. 'Any death is sad but you'll never remove any risk. I've known of horses that broke a leg running around a field.'
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Grand National winner Rachael Blackmore suffers nasty fall as her horse sustains fatal injuries at Aintree
Grand National winner Rachael Blackmore was involved in a nasty fall on the Grand National opening day, with her horse sustaining injuries that proved fatal at Aintree. Blackmore was riding Willy De Houelle for Willie Mullins in the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle, the second race of Thursday afternoon. The four-year-old horse tumbled early on and dismounted the 35-year-old jockey, with Racing TV reporting that she was attended to on the track. Tragically, Willy De Houelle suffered fatal injuries. ITV later provided an update on Blackmore, confirming that she had managed to walk herself into an ambulance. 'Rachael Blackmore walked into the ambulance, looked pretty sore doing so,' presenter Ed Chamberlin said: 'Hopefully she will be okay. News on her horse as soon as we get it.' In light of the latest horse death to occur at the Grand National, animal rights charity Animal Aid has called for a ban on jump racing. 'Willy De Houelle, just four years old, was killed in the second race today after suffering a horrific fall,' the statement read. 'The death toll of this event is now 66 horses killed since 2000. 'The Grand National three-day meeting is lethal for horses – who have no choice but to run for their lives on a racecourse designed to push them to their limits. 'Furthermore, National Hunt or 'jump' racing has killed more than 3,000 horses since 2001. This is why we are calling for a ban on jump racing, with the cruel Cheltenham and Aintree festivals being the first to go.' Blackmore came into Aintree off the back of a superb Cheltenham Festival, where she claimed two wins on Bob Olinger and Air Of Entitlement. The 2021 Grand National champion is due to ride Minella Indo on Saturday as she looks to emulate her success on Merseyside from four years prior.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Disgust' as Rachel Blackmore's horse dies at Aintree's Grand National meeting
A horse has died at the Grand National meeting at Aintree this afternoon (April 3). Well-known female jockey Rachel Blackmore suffered a fall while riding Willy De Houelle and the horse has since died. Willy De Houelle was taking part in the second race of the Grand National today. Rachael Blackmore was taken away in an ambulance after the fall that came early on in the Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle but is thought to be okay, reports the Express. The standings The prize@jockeyscup — The Jockey Club (@TheJockeyClub) April 3, 2025 During the race, two more horses suffered falls, but both are thought to be fine. The death toll of this event is now 66 horses killed since 2000, according to Animal Aid Campaigns. Nina Copleston-Hawkens, Animal Aid Campaigns Manager, said: 'The racing industry has been marketing the Grand National meeting recently as 'the greatest story in sport' – in what world is that remotely possible? 'This is not 'the greatest story in sport', this is a hellish nightmare, where innocent animals are dying of heart attacks and broken legs and broken backs and discarded once no longer of use. R.I.P Willy De Houelle (FR), just four years old, killed at The Grand National Meeting today. This takes the death-toll of this cruel 'festival' up to 66 horses killed since 2000. 💔 — Animal Aid (@AnimalAid) April 3, 2025 'No amount of champagne, fancy outfits or clever marketing can disguise this for what it is – animal cruelty, on an industrial scale.' Thousands of racegoers arrived at Aintree for the first day of the Grand National festival. Recommended reading: 'Anger' and 'sadness' as horse dies at the Cheltenham Festival 2025 More than 150,000 people are due on the racecourse for the three-day racing festival, which culminates on Saturday when the world-famous Grand National steeplechase is run. Crowds enjoyed the sunshine for the opening day on Thursday, which is expected to have an attendance of about 23,000. Among the racegoers was the Princess Royal, who attended a lunch held by charity Racing Welfare, of which she is president, before watching the first race of the day.
