Deaths mar Aintree’s Grand National

• Becher’s Brook is bypassed to avoid stricken horse • Ballabriggs misses chaos to land famous victory The name of the winning trainer was part of the Aintree tradition, but the Grand National changed for good on Saturday as two fences at Aintree, including Becher’s Brook, the most famous obstacle of all, were bypassed by the field on the second circuit to avoid stricken horses. A gruelling race was won by Ballabriggs, trained by Donald McCain, whose father, Ginger, trained Red Rum. Two horses, Dooneys Gate and Ornais, suffered fatal injuries, while Ballabriggs was too exhausted to be ridden into the winner’s enclosure. He recovered fully from his exertions within a few minutes and was able to return to McCain’s yard at Malpas, Cheshire. On a warm afternoon at Aintree, and on ground officially described as good, good-to-soft in places, Ballabriggs completed the four-and-a-half-mile course in 9mins

Posted by on April 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.