Birches and gee-gees

[Paul mabbott]

Well we should have picked Silver Birch, shouldn't we?

There are always arguments about whether horse racing is cruel and I can see the point although, of course, racing horses have been bred for that purpose. What makes this clear is when you see, as at the Grand National, riderless horses galloping around to complete the race .... (commonly ones that I've fancied!)

[Kymba]

I never bet on the national (personal preferance) But always look to see what nature related horses are running..
And low and behold Silver Birch won!!! Nature has come out on top again

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Kymba

I never bet on the national (personal preferance) But always look to see what nature related horses are running..
And low and behold Silver Birch won!!! Nature has come out on top again

The last time I bet on a horse was in the National in 197 ..... well, a long time ago. I did a triple bet, accumulator for 60p and won the princely sum of £6.50 which was a good night out in those days. So, I gave up betting on the gee-gees! Stop while you're winning Actually, I can see how horse-betting could become addictive: at that time, I thought, 'What if I'd put a pound on each race? I could have bought half a house ......' .

So, nowadays, I pick my three favourites, see none of them come in ... and see why it's not sensible for me to gamble!

[Garden Carpet]

A piece of usless information relating to the gee-gees... the winner of the first ever National.. was a horse called Lottery... I found this out on the lotto site.. and bought a couple of euro failures!!! Bought an instant and won £6... not bad...

jaki

[mrs fish]

My son won £33 thanks to silver birch

[werdnal]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Well we should have picked Silver Birch, shouldn't we?

There are always arguments about whether horse racing is cruel and I can see the point although, of course, racing horses have been bred for that purpose. What makes this clear is when you see, as at the Grand National, riderless horses galloping around to complete the race .... (commonly ones that I've fancied!)

The reason the rideless horses gallop on is 2 fold - they do enjoy a good run, but also being herd animals, they stick with the other runners by instinct. However, steeplechasing is not natural for them, and you will often see the loose horses running out at jumps or worse, turning across the field to try to get around them.

Horse racing itself is not cruel, but in previous years the massive loss of horses in the larger events like the Grand National could have been avoided, but its such a high profile and high revenue race (both for the bookies and government through taxes) they make fences far too high and hard for the horses safety. I heard of a case years back when a horse hit a fence and severed his front hooves! Safety has improved in recent years but the risks remain. Like all things these days, it boils down to money!!!!!!

The cruelty involved in the racing world is also not limited to the racing itself. Many horses who don't make the grade or are forced out of it through injury are sold for meat at an early age. Greyhounds face a similar fate.

My late grandad use to always like a flutter on the National and put a bet on in my name when I was about 10. The horse died and I will never bet again on this or any other animal related sport!