The Sandy Thomson-trained Hill Sixteen has died following a fall in Saturday’s Grand National, a race that was delayed due to protests from animal rights activists.
“Sadly, while racing in the Grand National, Hill Sixteen sustained an unrecoverable injury,” a statement from the Jockey Club said. “Our sincere sympathies are with connections.
“Recite A Prayer and Cape Gentleman were assessed on course by our skilled veterinary staff and walked onto the horse ambulance for further assessment in the stables.”
Hill Sixteen was the third horse to die at this year’s Aintree meeting, after Dark Raven earlier on Saturday and Envoye Special 48 hours earlier.
17 of the 39 runners completed the four-and-a-quarter-mile National course in one of the more chaotic renewals of recent years, with the rest either falling, unseating or being pulled-up, before the race was eventually won by eight-to-one favourite Corach Rambler.
The runners were sent off around 15 minutes later than scheduled after members of the Animal Rising campaign group broke onto the Aintree course and attempted to attach themselves to fences in a bid to disrupt the contest.
The group claimed it was protesting against “the barbaric practice of horse racing”, adding: “As a nation of animal lovers we have a moral responsibility to protect other animals from suffering”.
The demonstration, which earlier included a peaceful protest outside the entrance to the Liverpool venue, had been publicised in advance, with Merseyside Police promising a “robust” response. More than 100 arrests have been made.
A number of leading trainers, speaking on ITV’s broadcast coverage, expressed concerns that the delay caused by the protests was detrimental to animal welfare. Horses had to be taken back into the pre-parade ring in an attempt to keep them cool amid sunny conditions on course and organisers eventually did away with the usual pre-race formalities such as the national anthem.
The Grand National has seen a marked improvement in its safety record over the past decade after making major changes to fences ahead of the 2013 renewal and Hill Sixteen’s death was the fifth out of 395 runners since.
However, the showpiece has been under additional scrutiny in the run-up to this year’s edition after the exposure of Animal Rising’s protest plans by the Mail on Sunday sparked a wider public debate.
