2011 John Smith's Grand National Chase

Jason Maguire rides a wonderful race on board Ballabriggs to win the 2011 John Smiths Grand National Chase at Aintree

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• chase
• race
• jason maguire
• Ballabriggs
• aintree
• grand
• national
• john smiths

[aguy313]

@smthssarmour I assume you are a human?!?

[jamesm228]

running ballabriggs in the grand national this year is wrong, he nearly died of a heart attack after the race last year. have some respect for the horse for a change.

[CharlesOlney23]

I call for only positive comments for this video. Long may the Grand National continue to be the best race in the world. No matter how many fall and come to grief the National will only ever be remembered for the horses that win it and the brilliance of their race to achieve the trophy.

[minisciencebites]

what i noticed is that most deaths are not due to falls but exhaustion, and often these are riderless horses. Exhaustion is a key factor in the reason for the falls. To take on these fences you need a gutsy horse, and gutsy horses will jump when they should'nt but early in the course its nearly impossible for them to refuse safely because of the speed. Its an interresting issue of safety. One positive of racing is our ability to treat fractured limbs in horses has improved.

[minisciencebites]

Im on the fence with regards to jumps racing in general. Horses jump and run in a pack, i dont think that the lose horses continuing to jump is an argument that they enjoy it, although it is true some horses do, some dont, and if they dont they wont! i have had a number of ex racehorses, three of note, one came out of racing great, another never raced needed a purpose and would never settle in a quiet life, the last, retired when he dispatched AP Mcoy! Is a very nervous horse but recovering!

[Mr75littlebay]

i watched the becher chase and sefton and the fences didnt look any different they are more than enough of a challenge , and bechers claimed 2 fallers and is still daunting

[boomdocker100]

making fence 4 smaller and filling in bechers, isnt going to make the race any safer, the falls are caused by speed and thats because the fences are too small, when racehorses get killed at smaller courses i dont see front page headlines or animal fanatics screaming, this is because the national is a high profile race and elements of our society want rid of it, eventually they will probably turn the race into a 4 and a half mile flat race and thed still complain

[Shazzy172]

Lol I can't help but laugh at the riderless horses XD

[Mr75littlebay]

in the 60s and 70s each year was possibly the last with threats of the course being sold which took some of the enjoyment away. now we are faced with annual changes to the course every time any incident happens and so the enjoyment goes in watching the race. i feel aintree are in an impossible position now if too few finish or 30 plus in 2012 they will be heavily cr.itised. no more fence changes and aerial cameras only used on reruns otherwise the national will be doomed

[higglu2008]

@Ultimus1 different alias...no this is my only account im afraid! doing a levels now and i dont do physics but hey, guess what nice a* there at gcse lvl so im not an amateur. there is also a requirement of force to push them off the ground. and the low angled jump (due to the smaller jumps) means the horses cannot round their jumps, thus not losing any speed in the act of jumping. fair enough, but most jockeys actually miss the old size because thats what made the Grand National so special.