The Grand National..National Treasure or National Disgrace?

The Grand National..National Treasure or National Disgrace?

Author
Discussion

y2blade

Original Poster:

56,029 posts

214 months

Friday 13th April 2012
quotequote all
Listening here on Radio5
Ricky Gervais has made his feelings clear.

Asked by Bacon, who was broadcasting from Aintree as part of the BBC's build-up to Saturday's Grand National, what offended him, Gervais said: "Well you're at Aintree, I don't think that people should make horses jump over things being whipped and when they injure themselves they are put down because they are not worth having around because of economic reasons".

"Basically a beautiful majestic beast that took 2 billion years to evolve has just been slaughtered for fun".




What are your thoughts?


blindswelledrat

25,257 posts

231 months

Friday 13th April 2012
quotequote all
They're just horses.
They get treated well adn I cant imagine for one moment that those whips hurt them.
Even if they do, I don't care.
National treasure.

ascayman

12,732 posts

215 months

Friday 13th April 2012
quotequote all
Im a huge horse racing fan and own a couple of horses.

I'd never enter any of them in the national, ive also never had a bet on the race.



cazzer

8,883 posts

247 months

Friday 13th April 2012
quotequote all
They all end up as dog food or glue.

Treasure.

Nom de ploom

4,890 posts

173 months

Friday 13th April 2012
quotequote all
imho ricky gervais is a bell-end.

he's entitled to an opinion as much as anyone but it doesn't mean he's right.

I don't think the national is a disgrace or treasure tbh its a sporting event that has its heritage and most people seem to like it or ambivalent.

they have made the course safer this year too afaik.

no-one wants to see horses die at any point, the national is jsut so public.

Jamesd49

2,916 posts

205 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
The grand national is a disgrace

Cyder

7,045 posts

219 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
If the horse didn't want to do what it does it won't.

My sister works for JO'N and tells some cracking stories about when the nags decide they don't want to play any longer! hehe

Tiggsy

10,261 posts

251 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Cyder said:
If the horse didn't want to do what it does it won't.
Do they really have a good grasp of the implications of screwing up?

If the jockeys died as often I'm sure there'd be more concen, seems a tad unfair.

TEKNOPUG

18,843 posts

204 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
National Disgrace.

Ricky Gervais is a national disgrace yes

TheD

3,133 posts

198 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Ricky Disgrace is a fud. But it is sad when these horses are put down. The national has been made a lot safer every year for years but it is still hard going 4 and half miles.

ellroy

7,005 posts

224 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Of course if there was no racing owners would have just kept race horses in stabling and feed because they're nice to look at. Same goes for deer, pheasants and grouse etc land owners keep their habitat because its pretty.....

Its awful when a horse dies, but sadly inevitable. As long as all possible safety measures are taken I have no issue with the national. It even happens on the flat, 3 horses in one race had to be destroyed in Dubai at the world cup. So even just running about horses can still break things and have to be destroyed.

Gervais is a typical media metropolitan arse commenting on things he knows little about because he has a soap box to do so. He's also nowhere near as funny as the smug self satisfied git thinks he is.

I'd also suggest reading this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/92001...

Enough to suggest that those involved care deeply about their charges.


Nedzilla

2,439 posts

173 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Horse racing is fking ste! The only people who find it interesting are smelly old men who have nothing better to do than hang around the bookies gambling away their dole cheque to try and make themselves a few extra guid to go and spend on booze and fags!!

Its fking wk...and im not a horse lover,I couldn't give a monkeys bare arsed uncle for them either!!

DJRC

23,563 posts

235 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Walsh lost it on the jumps. For most of the 2nd circuit Walsh was jumping horribly, regaining the loss on the flats between the jumps. That told on the run in, the energy was gone. Walsh and Seabass ran a hell of a race, massive credit, but the jockey lost the horse the race. Some more experience and who knows?

ben_h100

1,546 posts

178 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
I've gone off horse racing; don't bet on horses anymore. Look on youtube for the information, it's a fking disgrace. No mention of the animals, they simply put up tarpaulins and shoot them and make sure the cameras move on.

petemurphy

10,108 posts

182 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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when they die why arent the owners / race courses prosecuted?

Spiffing

1,855 posts

209 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Disgrace - not so much the fatalities in the race itself. However the number of horses destroyed because they have damaged tendons or just because they are not commercially viable. More details can be found here, which lists many of the horses which have died/killed and the reasons.

WARNING Graphic content.

http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/

Edited by Big Al. on Monday 16th April 21:09

Megaflow

9,347 posts

224 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
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I'm not sure. However, I did find last years race left a really nasty taste in my mouth because they carried on racing past a horse that was dying in the middle of the race course. Surely that is not on?

Dan_1981

17,351 posts

198 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
Perhaps if owners and trainers didn't enter horses into races they were completly unsuitable for there would be less accidents.

Half the field today didn't seem fit to make it round a much shorter course let alone something the length of the national.

LukeSi

5,753 posts

160 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
It is a disgrace. If the animal doesn't want to take part then don't make it. Why the need for such large, solid obstacles. Use materials which will break if something hits them. And a limit to the number of horses on track at any one time should be quite low (or if there is one lowered). Many incidents are caused by one horse falling and then others falling over it.

Edited by LukeSi on Saturday 14th April 17:15

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 14th April 2012
quotequote all
If the horse has to get put down then so should the owner and the jockey. That would be fairer. hehe