Why Grand National jockey avoided punishment after forcing injured horse to finish race before dying
Ben Williams
Featured Image Credit: (Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
People watching Gold Dancer’s final moments were left asking the same question after footage showed Paul Townend riding and whipping the horse over the line before he was later put down.
Because backlash had built rather fast around this Grand National story, plenty in the UK expected an immediate ban or some kind of sanction from racing officials.
However, when stewards reviewed the incident, they decided there was no case to punish him. Their reasoning did not centre on the result of the race, but on whether Townend could actually tell at the time that something had gone seriously wrong.
Officials heard that a jockey can only react to what a horse feels like beneath them in real time, not what viewers might assume from a replay. In this case, they said the warning signs simply were not obvious until after the winning post.
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The incident happened during the William Hill Mildmay Novices Chase at Aintree on Ladies Day, when Gold Dancer hit the final fence, landed awkwardly and still went on to win. After crossing the line, the seven-year-old was pulled up, assessed by vets and later euthanised after it was discovered he had broken his back.
Townend then faced heavy criticism, with many questioning why he continued to ride the horse to the finish. A routine stewards’ enquiry followed, but officials concluded he would not face punishment.
According to the British Horseracing Authority, James Given, director of equine regulation, safety and equine welfare, said that the explanation came down to what the horse was doing after the slip.
As reported by The Daily Mail, the BHA’s statement on the matter included said: “We are all saddened by the fatal injury of Gold Dancer and our thoughts are with everybody connected to the horse. After the race, the stewards held an enquiry to consider the circumstances of this incident and took evidence from vets and the horse's jockey.”
“Paul Townend told the stewards that, following a bad mistake at the final fence, Gold Dancer took a stride or two to gather himself but felt sound and continued running in a straight line to the finish.”
“He then reported that Gold Dancer's action changed after the line, as he rounded the bend and changed from a canter to a trot, at which point he immediately dismounted to allow veterinary surgeons to quickly attend to the horse.”
“The veterinary assessment was that the appropriate course of action was to humanely euthanise the horse.”
The statement followed: “Having reviewed the footage of the incident, James Given, the BHA's Director of Equine Regulation, Safety and Welfare, agreed that Gold Dancer's action was typical of a horse in the closing stages of such a race, that he appeared sound until rounding the bend.
“As is the case with any fatal injury, the incident will now be looked at in detail through our fatality review process, which is part of the sport's commitment to ongoing improvements in racehorse safety.”
“As is the case with any fatal injury, the incident will now be looked at in detail through our fatality review process, which is part of the sport's commitment to ongoing improvements in racehorse safety.”
Previously, Given said: "What happened with the horse I’m sure everyone’s seen, he’s slipped on landing after the last, his hind quarters and legs went to the right-hand side, but he popped up very quickly and then galloped away.
"I was in the enquiry when, correctly, the stewards were looking into what happened, and I was able to watch the replay from the front and the back, and the horse stayed as straight as an arrow, so there’s no indication at that point that there was anything amiss."
Given added: "He [Townend] said all a jockey could do is go on how the horse feels, and the horse felt normal to him.
"It was only when he crossed the finishing line, the finishing line is slightly immaterial here, it’s actually when he was turning left and was when going down from a canter to a trot, a canter is a smoother, rolling action to a trot, a more of a stumpy action, and only when that happened that he felt something change in the horse’s action that was amiss. He pulled the horse straight up, dismounted, and let the vets attend the horse."
Trainer Willie Mullins gave a similar version of events, saying: "I haven’t spoken to Paul about the stewards' enquiry, but he said to me that the horse galloped through the line fine and went down to a slow pace canter.
"Just as he was turning, he went into a trot, and that was the first he felt anything. He felt the horse was fine going through the winning post, pulling up in a canter."