Grand National Festival horse Giovinco dies after falling mid-race, enraging animal rights activists 24 hours before Aintree’s big race, where a ring of steel has been built to stop protest invasion
- Giovinco, a seven-year-old gelding, died after a fall in the first race of the day
- An Animal Aid campaigner has called it a “scandal” that horses are still dying in races
- A steel ring has been created to protect Saturday’s Grand National
Animal rights activists are furious after a horse, Giovinco, died after a fall during the second day of the Grand National Festival.
Giovinco, aged seven, fell during the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, the first race of Ladies’ Day at Aintree.
The gelding was three lengths behind the lead and fell at the final gate. He was treated by vets at the scene but they were unable to save him as heartbroken festival goers looked on.
His tragic death comes just 24 hours before the festival’s showpiece event, for which a ‘ring of steel’ has been prepared to keep protesters out.
“If the death toll in any other sport were this ‘high’ it would be banned immediately,” an Animal Aid statement said.
‘However, because it is ‘only’ horses that are being killed, the racing industry and government seem content to allow these innocent animals to suffer horrific injuries and die.’
Giovinco was trained by two-time Grand National winner Lucinda Russell and jockeyed by Stephen Mulqueen.
He died Friday afternoon at 1:45 p.m.
Nina Copleston-Hawkens, campaigner for Animal Aid, said: ‘It is despicable that yet another horse has lost its life at The Grand National Meeting – a life that, although considered insignificant by the racing industry, was precious and important.
‘That horses continue to die in gruesome and terrifying ways during a race is scandalous enough, but even those horses that are ‘lucky’ enough to survive face an uncertain future where disposal methods such as slaughter and knacker-men are commonplace once they are not are no longer considered ‘useful’ to the industry.’
A ‘ring of steel’ will shut down next Saturday’s Grand National from animal rights protesters, with police deploying specialist undercover behaviourists to monitor the crowds.
Security cordons have been placed.
Senior officers are keen to avoid a repeat of the scenes at last year’s horse race, when activists stormed the track and tried to glue themselves to fences.
Concerned festivalgoers watched as medics treated Giovinco on the track, but he sadly died
A ‘ring of steel’ will try to prevent protesters from disrupting the Grand National as they did last year
Following an undercover expose by the Mail, police had been informed of the plot organized by campaign group Animal Rising a fortnight earlier and were ready to quickly arrest more than a hundred protesters.
It meant the world-famous spire was delayed by just 14 minutes.
But furious trainer Sandy Thomson later blamed the ‘ignorant’ eco-mob for the death of his horse Hill Sixteen, who took a fatal fall at the first gate after going ‘hyper’ due to the delay.
Last week Animal Rising claimed it had suspended its horse racing protests, but Chief Inspector Matthew Moscrop of Merseyside Police said a ‘ring of steel’ will greet them if they decide to swoop onto the Aintree course.
He said the force would deploy expert ‘Project Servator’ officers – specially trained undercover units who analyze crowd behavior to thwart attacks before they happen.
Mr Moscrop explained: ‘These are behavioral detection specialists who identify people whose behavior suggests they are not there to enjoy a day at the races – criminal or anti-social – and prevent this from happening.’
Large cordons have been erected and there will be a strong security presence, with police undercover in the crowd
Grand National organizers say analysis of data from previous races and discussions with welfare organizations such as the RSPCA have prompted several changes to this year’s race.
These include a smaller field, reducing the number of horses from 40 to 34; an earlier start time of 4pm to give the horses safer ground when landing their jumps and a shorter run to the first gate to slow the horses down.
The death rate in horse racing has fallen marginally compared to the previous year.
In 2023, the British Horseracing Authority recorded 158 deaths among 87,619 runners, a mortality rate of 0.18 percent. That amounted to a decrease of 11 deaths and 0.02 percent.
More to follow.