BBC attacked for 'covering up' Grand National deaths

The BBC has been accused of “covering up” the deaths of two horses during yesterday’s Grand National after its television commentary failed to mention them.

Horses go round the 21st fence because of a dead horse the other side
Horses go round the 21st fence because of a dead horse the other side during the 4:15 John Smith's Grand National Chase Credit: Photo: BBC

The race had to bypass two fences on the second lap of the Aintree course because a horse had fallen at each one on the first lap, causing them fatal injuries.

But the BBC One commentary team did not provide the full reason for the diversion and said only that there were “obstacles” in the course. Even on the television re-run of the race, which follows almost immediately after the finish, there was no mention of the dead horses.

It is understood to have been the first time in Grand National history that two fences were bypassed after fallers.

After the race, which was won by Ballabriggs, viewers criticised the BBC on messageboards and Twitter, for failing to mention the fatalities.

One, on the Corporation’s own website, accused the BBC of a “cover up”.

Another wrote: “I’m just amazed that the BBC coverage pans over the tarpaulins on the re-run and the commentators just talk about “obstacles”.”

One said: “And the BBC - shame on you. No mention of what’s happened, even when there’s 2 dead covered horses on screen.”

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, which campaigns against horse racing, said the BBC’s coverage of the race had been “disgusting” and “callous”.

“The BBC did their best to minimise and conceal the deaths,” he added.

The BBC’s commentary team for the race was led by Jim McGrath, with Ian Bartlett and Darren Owen.

On the BBC website, where there was a live blog of the race, the commentary did not mention the deaths.

It appears that readers following the race online emailed in to inquire what had happened to the fallen horses and why the race had been diverted, because after the finish, the online commentator, Oliver Brett, wrote: “In answer to various requests, we are attempting to find out what happened to the two most serious fallers and their jockeys. We are not ignoring the issue, but don’t want to assume anything until fully aware of the facts.”

Ten minutes later, 45 minutes after the start of the race, the blog did announce the deaths.

Clare Balding, who was presenting on BBC One, did also mention the two fatalities after the four and a half mile race had finished. They were Ornais, which broke his neck, and Dooneys Gate, which broke his back.

According to Animal Aid, their deaths mean that 20 horses have now died on the Grand National course since 2000.

A BBC spokesman said the Corporation was "aware of the unfortunate events of the two fatalities".

"During the race and the re-run this was covered with as much sensitivity as possible.

"Clare (Balding) was also most sensitive in her reporting of the incidents and even touched on it in her closing links to the programme," he said.