Ban the Grand National

The Grand National is a deliberately perilous horse race that is staged at Aintree Racecourse in England. It’s run over a stamina sapping four-and-a quarter miles and has 30 hazardous fences that the 34 horses who take part are forced to jump. Throughout its history the race has been infamous for killing horses.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for race horse welfare but has failed to curb the number of fatalities at the course, as well as at other racecourses across Great Britain. In an ongoing campaign, Animal Aid has asked the government for the BHA to be replaced with an independent body that would take meaningful action to stop horses from losing their lives.

Take action

• Send an email to ITV asking them to stop broadcasting horse racing
• Order and distribute leaflets for our annual Horse Racing Awareness Week, which takes place in the seven days leading up to the Grand National meeting. Help to encourage people to donate to sanctuaries rather than funding the racing industry.

More information

• Read our report: The Grand National – facts and figures
• Read our Grand National Briefing document, which explains the dangerous aspects of the infamous race
• A list of the horses who have died running at the Grand National Meeting since 2000
• Watch our video of one race horse who was lucky enough to be rescued by our friends at Hillside Animal Sanctuary
• Race Horse Deathwatch and Irish Horse Death Watch are Animal Aid’s online databases that records race horse deaths in Great Britain and Ireland.
• Read our response to the arguments of the racing industry