The Grand National..National Treasure or National Disgrace?
Discussion
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
Its fking wk...and im not a horse lover,I couldn't give a monkeys bare arsed uncle for them either!!
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?
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/
WARNING Graphic content.
http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/
Edited by Big Al. on Monday 16th April 21:09
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
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