The Infamous Grand National

There is a growing lobby (which after many years of racegoing I belatedly support), for this race to be drastically altered or taken out of the racing calendar altogether, but with thousands of visitors at the course, a worldwide television audience of over 400 million and £100 million stakes in betting, lobbyists like Animal Aid have an uphill struggle to persuade the powers that be that this race contravenes the 1911 Protection of Animals Act, a statute intended to protect animals from 'unnecessary suffering'.

I shall be interested to hear your thoughts on this and look forward to your comments.

Racegoers who have not already bought badges for any of the Stands will be in for a disappointment. They are sold out. Latecomers will have to join the 30,000 crowd in the Tattersalls Enclosure or watch the race on television.

This is one race, however, which I shall not be watching this year. I have finally got over my love affair with the Grand National; an attraction first acquired 60 years ago when I watched a beautiful Elizabeth Taylor, then a juvenile star aged 12, star in National Velvet, the eponymous film about this race.

April sees the end of National Hunt Racing until the autumn and the 'Off' for the flat racing season, with the best of the new three year olds vying for the Triple Crown from among the five English Classics. These are the 2000 Guineas, (colts and fillies), and the 1000 Guineas, (fillies), raced at the Newmarket May meeting; the Derby, (colts and fillies) and the Oaks, (fillies), raced at the June Epsom meeting; and the Doncaster St. Leger in September.

The Box Office is now open for my favourite equestrian event of the year; the Badminton Horse Trials, the 4-day international event which takes place on the Duke of Beaufort's Gloucestershire Park from 5 - 8 May.

No fewer than 18 nations are represented this year, with four previous winners competing. A 4-day pass at £22 for car park and £32 per person is a tremendous value for attendance at this prestigious international event.

I have now retired to the Isle of Wight. I invite you to share my weekly jottings at Rosemary Lane, my weekly chronicle of the changing seasons and unhurried village life at my country cottage on Wight, my island idyll.

Related Links
Aintree Racecourse Full details of The Grand National Meeting.
Animal Aid Animal Aid's

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