Inquiry into big-race death

HORSERACING chiefs will look into the circumstances surrounding the death of Up For Review in the Grand National, but yesterday stood up for Aintree’s recent safety record. Up For Review, who suffered fatal injuries when brought down at the first fence, is the first horse to be killed in the race since changes to make the famous fences safer were introduced in 2012. Three horses died in total at the Grand National meeting. That followed the Cheltenham Festival, where three horses also died amid intense scrutiny on equine welfare after the deaths of seven there in 2018 and a BHA welfare review. BHA chief executive Nick Rust said: ‘It is sad when we lose any horse, but it is important to note that the Grand National Festival, and the big race, have a very strong recent record. ‘We’ll look at the incidents, gather information about them and build any relevant learnings into future regulatory policy.’