23 arrests according to the Observer although henumber being 118 according to BBC.
Firstly I would think it was obviously cruel considering the height of the fences and the nuber of horses that fell- although this was not reported in the Observer, (3 horses died during the 3 day Aintree Meeting, including one in the Grand National), there were certainly a lots less than 40 at the finish!. Do the horses enjoy it – it is claimed that they do, I am sure they do not enjoy falling. But hey, who am I to judge from a position of total ignorance. There is the matter of what happens to those horses that do not go onto stud farms after a short ‘pampered’ career. The League Against Cruel Sports said the death toll at the Aintree festival was now 62 horses since 2000 – with 16 killed in the Grand National, including two last year. The League called for “much more stringent” safety measures in horse racing, including banning the use of the whip.