This is not sport’s greatest story – the Grand National meeting begins tomorrow

The racing industry has consistently dressed the Grand National up to be something it is not. This year, we see clever marketing being used to hide the suffering – slogans such as ‘the greatest story in sport’ and ‘this is where stories become legends’. These are fairytales – darkened fairytales, which work to insidiously hide the true cruelty which this industry is built on. 

This three-day meeting is a dystopian horror-show, where raucous crowds cheer, money is gambled, champagne flows and music blares – all the while innocent animals are running for their lives on a course designed to punish them.  

All horse racing is inherently exploitative and cruel. The Grand National Meeting is a symbolic marker of this cruelty because it receives such ‘fairytale’ marketing by the industry and is has been viewed historically as an event to be ‘proud of’. Find out more about the suffering behind the Grand National here. 

 You can also listen to our new poem, written in response to the racing industry’s marketing of the Grand National as ‘The Greatest Story in Sport’. 

How you can help horses and end horse racing:

•  Take the pledge to never attend or bet on horse racing 
• Read our newly published report – Victims of Abuse in British Horse Racing 
• Order our new ‘You Bet They Die’ campaign t-shirt! 
•  Visit Animal Aid’s Race Horse Death Watch site 
• Find out more about our campaign to ban the Grand National  
• Order campaign resources such as leaflets and posters by emailing info@animalaid.org.uk 
• Share our social media posts