Review recommends rise in Grand National minimum age

A BRITISH Horseracing Authority review into the Grand National has been completed, leading to the publication of 30 recommendations ‘designed to continue enhancing the safety and welfare’ of the Aintree showpiece.

The four-and-a-half-mile contest was the subject of negative headlines this year after two horses died, and a number of horses, including the winner, Ballabriggs, were dismounted after the line. However, the dismounting had been a pre-planned contingency and on the instruction of officials, a fact the BHA concede was not communicated as well as it might have been to the public at the time.

Several changes relating to the structure and groundwork around fences in the race were announced in August.