The British Horse Racing Authority denies the Grand National death allegations
The British Horse Racing Authority has denied any responsibility whatsoever associated with the deaths of the Cheltenham champion Synchronised and According To Pete at the Grand National.
Director of raceday operations and regulation for the BHA, Jamie Stier said: "The findings include reference to Synchronised getting loose before the start as it was felt important to establish beyond doubt that this episode played no part in the events
that resulted in his injury.
"In the case of both Synchronised and According To Pete, it was apparent that factors one could neither have foreseen nor prevented were prevalent in the events that led to the two horses sustaining their injuries."
According to the investigation, all the forty contestants of the race violated the rules of the race even before it began, they got lined up on their own without waiting for any instructions from the race course stewards. Keeping the inappropriate conduct
at the end of the jockeys in mind, the BHA has resorted to sending the jockeys a letter that highlights in detail the distress that it has caused the authority.
The findings conclude that the deaths of both the horses could not have been prevented or foreseen, it could have been any other pair of horses or worse, it could have been even more than two horses. Following the casualties last year, the BHA did bring
around some changes and insists that they should at least be acknowledged if not appreciated. This time around the Authority does not seem very willingly to go at any lengths for the deaths that it does not consider to be its responsibility.
In case of Synchronised, there was nothing unusual with him at the beginning of the race but he did fall at the Becher’s Brook and then continued without a jockey till he fractured his right hind after falling off the eleventh fence.
With According To Pete, the situation was a little more confusing as he met not one but two accidents, first falling at the Becher’s Brook and then getting run over by another horse when trying to regain composure. Which of the accidents was graver cannot
be told.
There are many animal welfare organisations which are not willing to take that as the final resolution and want the race course to take further precautionary measures for the race that proves deadly each year.
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