Why the Grand National, one of the most-watched horse races in the world, is under threat

Britain’s Grand National is slated to take place tomorrow. But one of the most watched races in the world is now under threat on its 175th anniversary. Let’s take a closer look: What is Grand National? First staged in 1839, the Grand National ran throughout World War I (at the now-defunct Gatwick Racecourse). It was suspended during WWII from 1941-45, voided in 1993 after the infamous false start fiasco, and cancelled due to Covid in 2020. In 1997 a bomb threat from the Irish Republican Army forced it to be postponed two days until the Monday. Taking place at Liverpool’s Aintree Racecourse, will be watched by around 500 million viewers around the world in 140 countries.

It is estimated that £300 million will be bet on the race by punters.

As per CNN, as many as 40 horses will run nearly 7 kilometres and jump 30 small car-sized fences. What’s the issue? The Mail on Sunday reported that around 100 protesters from rights group Animal Rising were planning to disrupt the race by gluing themselves to the tracks at Aintree Racecourse. The newspaper that the group a ‘training session’ for around a dozen activists and its heads had picked out weak spots that could be penetrated. ‘Safe houses’ had also been set up for protesters and transport arranged to the racecourse. “There are like 100 of you now at the fence. You get the ladders out. Put them up against the fence and you’re the first one over. You start climbing that fence and you see security on the other side. You don’t care. You know you’re doing the right thing,” the newspaper quoted one person as saying. [caption id=“attachment_12457012” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Jockey Sam Twiston-Davies (C) and trainer Warren Greatrex (R) celebrate with winning horse ‘Bill Baxter’ after the Topham Handicap Chase on the second day of the Grand National Festival horse race meeting at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. AFP[/caption] “[It’s] the biggest horse race in the world. We have 600 million people viewing this horse race worldwide, we’ve got £300m of bets on the horse race and we’re just going to ruin it,” another added. What does Animal Rising say? Animal Rising remains undeterred. “One undercover Mail on Sunday reporter is not going to stop teachers, nurses, and more from acting for all life and really beginning the crucial conversation about our broken relationship with other animals,” the group told CNN.

“This conversation is vital if we are to tackle the root causes of our climate and ecological crises.”

Sunday World quoted group spokesperson Sarah McCaffrey as saying that they were going to interrupt the event. “We’ll be coming to the Grand National because we care about horses, as many of the people do who go to these horse races,” she explained. “But, unfortunately, we’re going to be the only ones there that are stopping direct harm coming to these horses. “This is part of a much wider campaign where we really look at our relationship to animals and we use them not only for fun but food,” McCaffrey said. “We’ve got some protests planned,” she added, though she declined to mention specifics. “We’ve got people outside the front gates at 9.30am if you want to come along but we’ll also be stopping the races as well.” Added Animal Rising spokesman Ben Newman, “Yes, so horse racing is wrong and we can do so much better than using animals for food or fun and we just don’t need to. We’re inviting everyone to come down at 9:30am on the 15th to Aintree racecourse and hope to stop the race. “Come on down if you’d like to know more. Protest is a fairly common thing in a democracy and there’s nothing new about it. We’ll be using our bodies and that’s all there is to it really.” Volunteer Orla Coghlan told Good Morning Britain, “We’re trying to do two main things by disrupting this race. We care very much about animals and we’re trying to protect those horses by being there on the tracks. Secondly we want to have this public conversation - I’m sure million families are having these conversations around breakfast - so I think it is quite an effective way to protest.” “We know every other day a horse dies in horse racing in the UK. Also since, I think the year 2000, 50 horses have died at Aintree alone,” she added. ‘Against systematic exploitation of non-human species’ The group isn’t opposed to it solely because of the deaths and injuries sustained by horses. As per The Conversation, the group is against the ‘systematic exploitation’ of non-human species and wants to draw a link between this and climate change.

The group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, has also taken aim at animal farming and fishing.

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The group previously obstructed meat and dairy aisles in supermarkets and held a sit-in at London’s Smithfield meat market for 18 hours. “Most people would say they love animals, so why are we OK with this?” Animal Rising told CNN. “Whether it is for food or for sport, our relationship with animals is beyond broken.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News, India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.