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Post by tarzanontarmazepam on Apr 9, 2011 20:33:51 GMT
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Post by rjpageuk on Apr 9, 2011 21:49:05 GMT
I also find the encouragement of gambling around the race really strange too.
On the BBC after the race they even found and interviewed someone who managed to guess the top three and won over £1000 from a £1 bet and referred to it as beating the lottery.
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Post by housesparrow on Apr 10, 2011 7:52:32 GMT
I seldom watch the Grand National but did, yesterday, and wished I hadn't.
The deaths weren't mentioned during the race or for some time afterwards, although it was so obvius what had happened. It also seemed that nobody interviewed after the race wanted to talk about the fatalities, despite references to them by the BBC reporter Clare Balding.
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Post by trubble on Apr 10, 2011 8:24:20 GMT
Still, they have a nicer life than many an animal.
I love the race. Very exciting.
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Post by aubrey on Apr 10, 2011 9:24:05 GMT
Deaths of horses during races, and what happens to them once they've stopped running, is a kind of secret of horseracing.
People involved in horse racing are incredibly anthropomorphic about their animals, much more so than the sentimental animal rights people, who never make the mistake of imagining that horses actually want to win a race.
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Post by housesparrow on Apr 10, 2011 9:38:39 GMT
Still, they have a nicer life than many an animal. I love the race. Very exciting. True, though it isn't a very natural one; with one or two rare exeptions they are never turned out in a field to roam around grazing, which is a horse's natural habit. Ex-racers usually end up in the knackers yard as soon as their racing career has ended, at just a few years old. The fact that they do a bit better than factory farmed pigs, battery hens or dogs chained up 24/7 in a yard doesn't mean we should ignore the dark side of racing. |
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Post by tarzanontarmazepam on Apr 10, 2011 13:32:29 GMT
Still, they have a nicer life than many an animal. I love the race. Very exciting. True, though it isn't a very natural one; with one or two rare exeptions they are never turned out in a field to roam around grazing, which is a horse's natural habit. Ex-racers usually end up in the knackers yard as soon as their racing career has ended, at just a few years old. The fact that they do a bit better than factory farmed pigs, battery hens or dogs chained up 24/7 in a yard doesn't mean we should ignore the dark side of racing. The horse racing world is a very secretive one. It's not changed, nor has it ever changed since it began. Outsiders are kept outside, no-one has ever challenged them much. Even the RSPCA tend to avoid squaring up to the racing fraternity. It's money of course. It's an industry. And a very powerful one. |
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Post by everso on Apr 10, 2011 16:27:34 GMT
Well, I backed the winner yesterday and for a £1 e.w. bet I won £19.50. My son did the same horse and for £5 e.w. he got £97.
It IS a tragedy when any animal dies in the pursuit of sport though, and we were very sad to see those tarpaulins draped over what we knew were the horses.
However, you're never going to stop people enjoying animal sports (unless, of course, you outlaw them).
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