Second horse killed at the Grand National Festival

Posted on the 15th April 2023

A second horse has been killed at the Grand National meeting.

Dark Raven, a 6-year-old novice, took an horrific fall this afternoon, in the third race on Grand National day at Aintree Racecourse. He looked to have broken both of his back legs as he helplessly tried in vain to get up.

This brings the total number of equine deaths to 61 at the three-day meeting since the year 2000, and over 3,000 in jump racing alone.

Ban Jump Racing is a campaign by Animal Aid to stop this suffering, because the racing industry cannot be trusted or minded to act in the interests of horse welfare.

Innocent race horses suffer at the hands of an industry focused on making money from their exploitation. With two horses dead, Aintree continues to be a prolific killer – it adds horses to a never-ending list of deaths that shames British racing.

The racing industry as a whole, including the British Horseracing Authority, the owners, the trainers and the jockeys are responsible for upholding this cruelty – they know the risks, yet they continue to gamble on horses’ lives.

Animal Aid’s Horse Racing Consultant, Dene Stansall

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