Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Great article "How horseracing lives with the spectre of death" by Alastair Down on the Grand National web site

I love this article which followed up this year's Grand National steeplechase, Mr. Down understands the love of horse racing and says it like it is. Here's two excerpts:

"Everybody loathes the death of a horse. But fatalities are just a fraction of what jump racing is about and I would be honest enough to argue that, in an increasingly sanitised, risk-denuded society, the omnipresence of danger lies at the very kernel of its appeal."

"When they make their way to Cheltenham or to Aintree it is not without trepidation of what they may see. But, taken in the round, they find something about the sight, sound and spectacle of jump racing that is spiritually uplifting and nourishing to the soul in a way that no other sport comes close to providing."

Please read the rest of this article at http://grandnational.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/comment-how-racing-lives-with-the-spectre-of-death/840262/