Owner Anger At National Backlash

Andy Stewart, owner of the racehorse Ornais who died after falling during Saturday’s Grand National, has hit out at ‘irresponsible reporting across the board’ following derogatory coverage which he felt took deserved coverage away from the eventual winner, Ballabrigs.

While Stewart admitted said: ‘It is the showcase of jump racing to the entire world. There were in excess of 600 million people watching worldwide. It is a race that is fair to the horse in every respect, and if it wasn’t, Paul Nicholls and myself would not run horses in it’.

‘Sadly, Ornais fell at the fourth and died instantly. We’re still grieving as far as that’s concerned and I think this whole hyped-up situation regarding the Grand National is totally wrong in my opinion’.

Stewart added that he would not be put off by the fate of Ornais: ‘Walk into any pub and ask who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and there will be silence. Ask them who won the last Grand National, and you’ll always get an answer’.

‘It is the people’s race, and that’s why people like me will always keep trying to win it’.

Ornais was one of two horses to suffer fatal falls at this year’s race, with Dooney’s Gate falling at the infamous sixth jump, Becher’s Brook.

19 of the original 40 horses made it to the finish line, which has also prompted animal welfare groups to get involved.

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, said: ‘It’s a depraved spectacle, on a par with Spanish bullfighting. It is straight- forward animal abuse’.

However Julian Thick, managing director of Aintree Racecourse, argued that safety was the ‘first priority’ for race organisers.

Thick explained: ‘All horses and riders in the Grand National have to meet very high standards set by an independent panel of experts. The Grand National is a well organised and professional race’.