THE last few months of this jumps season have seen us needing to absorb tragic events but followed by some uplifting aftermaths.

And we’ve seen tears shed in different circumstances. The tragic death of Michael O’Sullivan remains embedded in recent racing experiences. Context and perspective is everything.

From the terrible week in February, we came to March and Cheltenham, where we saw Michael O’Sullivan’s name still attached to many winners, creating many mentions and emotions.

The meeting also ended with an emotional Gordon Elliott getting on the scoreboard at the final attempt. Winners matter, it’s why we still rock up.

Roll on to Aintree, and the once-in-a-lifetime card fell into place giving an amateur rider victory in the world’s most famous race. It left his esteemed father Willie Mullins, who we might have felt had achieved every desired success, choken with emotion.

Desired goal

It was clear the history of the National had a particular significance. But you still wonder where the race now sits. There is a wider gap between those who appreciate its history, and those digesting its current place.

This year did not fully seem to fill that role of a most desired goal in the sport.We joked in our office of seeing childhood movies about horses and how National Velvet was one still remembered by many of us. Would that fairytale gain much interest now? How much appeal does the race have to a younger audience?

Saturday’s Grand National crowd of 60,000 at the track was more than 4,000 up on last year but on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the TV viewership was well down, peak Grand National viewing figures for 2025 at 5.2 million compared to 9.9 million in 2019.

No horses were killed in the race, that big shadow always in the background but Celebre d’Allen died two days later, despite appearing to recover from the race.

Watching the events unfold, it was a wonderful winning story, but then, checking online comments, there was a feeling that those of us who take in the race and its significance in racing history, were not on the same wavelength as many of the younger race fans.

ITV flack

ITV Racing took much flak for not giving news immediately on Broadway Boy, who fell heavily four out.

An update that he and Celebre d’Allen were receiving veterinary attention was mentioned about 45 mins after the race had finished, in the re-run before they went off air and also on Racing TV. The fall was not shown in the re-run.

They may have thought the worst, as many did, and perhaps decided to run with the winner’s story rather than saying, ‘we’ll update you’, thinking it would be bad news to report.

By contrast, on Thursday, Willy De Houelle was killed in the juvenile hurdle and it was reported that he had not risen in commentary as the race ended and runners passed the winning post.

The initial relief that Aintree had got lucky this time as Broadway Boy recovered, was negated come Tuesday by the news that Celebre d’Allen had died.

The Hobbs and Johnson White stable announced “We’re heartbroken to share that Celebre D’Allen has passed away.”

It was followed by posts on X by many racing fans saying it was ‘absolutely heartbreaking’, while more were ‘devasted’. by the news.

Well-meaning

Now, while it was well meaning, there seems to be a chunk of unintentional hypocrisy in the aftermath. And it can’t be good for the race either.

You simply cannot be heartbroken over the death of an animal you had no connection with and were hardly aware of a week before, and will likely have been forgotten come the classic contenders appearing next week. The ‘heartbreaking news’ posts do more harm than good. It’s sad, it’s a shame, he’s another unfortunate death around the race, those are the facts.

Celebre d’Allen had looked fine in a Sunday video. He should have been pulled up sooner on a warm day when beaten but was his age at 13 that big of an issue? Sam Brown is winning races at 13 and no one asked is this wrong, indeed he could have run in the National and be expected to have run well. All the pre-race checks are still no guarantee of no injuries in any race.

Let’s face it, it would not be acceptable in this changed environment to race a horse who often finished distressed in his races as the winner just 10 years ago, Many Clouds did. Had his racecourse death occurred now, there would be a massive outcry and fingers pointed.

But last week, the three-year-old Ancient Truth was injured, not on the racecourse and could not be saved. In Meydan’s Al Quoz Sprint, the favourite Howdeepisyourlove was fatally injured. Hunter chaser Sine Nomine also died prematurely. And no one posted ‘devasted’ to lose Willy De Houelle.

Each year, introducing new conditions and qualifications just eats away at the National. And this year confirmed its changing face, the older horses are unlikely to be involved, it’s the younger, classier stayers. Any idea of moving Aintree to the end of April and better weather is not a goer now.

Will there be forced changes next year? I hope not as it just adds to the negativity, and trainers would surely be unlikely to run an older horse. While the victory on Saturday was fantastic, you couldn’t help feel that we are seeing the history of the race losing a battle in trying to ensure the future of the race.