It shouldn't be banned but I do think 40 runners is a bit much. Synchronised won the Gold Cup earlier this year and didn't even want to run this, now he's dead.

Yes it's annoying when people object to animals dying for sport

(I'd have betted on Killyglen btw x)

The whole sport shouldn't be banned just because of one race that carries high risk, people who say that haven't got a clue and just basing their judgement of horse racing from the Grand National but i don't think they have done enough to the fences they still look as high as they did last year and the width needs to be increased on that field but Horses are really injury prone anyway so they are always going to have a good chance of getting injured when they fall

http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/

It's not just the Grand National.

Race horses are normally really well cared for though and have a higher quality life than most horses, it's a shame that deaths happen and maybe it could be safer but even in the most dangerous races like the national fatal injuries are relatively rare

Even for minor injuries horses need to be put down most of the things they suffer can easily be treated on a human people

The thing is, they're bred to race and they love it. If you watch a race, once a jockey falls off, the horse carries on to finish without him. If I were a horse, I'd prefer to have the life of a race horse than stand in a field avoiding my **** for eight years. They're kept active, well groomed, well fed and, once they retire, have a great quality of life. Yes, accidents happen, but at least once they do get injured they're put out of their misery. In the wild, they'd be left to suffer in pain (Before anyone says, I understand that the likelihood of a horse getting injured in the same was is is significantly lower in the wild). I've already said in this thread, perhaps the National should be looked at, the numbers of runners reduced and some action to make the course safer, lower fences and a wider field, as Novo said, but I horse racing shouldn't be banned as a sport.