Grand National protesters vow to not disrupt this year's event

Protesters who took part in delaying last year's Grand National main event have said they will not cause a disruption on Saturday (April 13).

Last year's race was delayed by almost 15 minutes after Animal Rising activists rushed to the course, resulting in over 100 arrests. Today's headline event is set to take place at 4pm. Organisers hope for "optimal conditions" on the track.

Bosses have also introduced a flurry of other changes, including whittling down the number of racers from 40 to 34, a standing start, a reduction in height to one of the fences, and additional foam and rubbed toe boards for every fence.

Read more: Grand National 2024 live results, places and updates from Aintree

Animal Rising co-found, Dan Kidby, is said to have sent an email to Jockey CLub chief executive Nevin Truesdale in which he says the group has no intention of disrupting the Grand National. Mr Kidby wrote: “Animal Rising’s actions last year shone a spotlight on the deaths that happen during the Grand National Festival.

“This light continues to shine and we don’t believe disruption is needed to draw attention to this again. Horses have died almost every single year at the Grand National; the safest bet one could make is that a horse would die.

“This continues to be the case in spite of rule changes, which are nothing more than a PR exercise to try to win back public opinion.”

A spokesman for Aintree Racecourse said: “We conduct an evidence-based review process after every Grand National which looks at all aspects of the race. The changes that we announced last year are data-driven and the result of a detailed assessment of recent Grand Nationals and the analysis of trends and statistics relating to the race over many years.”

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