Gold Dancer Wins Aintree Grade One, Euthanized After Final Fence Injury

Gold Dancer crossed the Aintree finish line a Grade One winner on Friday, clear by four and three-quarter lengths, and was dead within minutes. That is the paradox consuming jump racing on the eve of the Grand National: a seven-year-old gelding trained by Willie Mullins, carrying the Gigginstown House Stud colours, won the William Hill Mildmay Novices' Chase on Ladies' Day with a broken back sustained at the final fence, and neither his jockey, the stewards, nor anyone watching from the stands knew it until the race was over.

Paul Townend, riding the 100-30 joint-favourite, told stewards that after 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." The horse showed no drift, no asymmetry. It was only after crossing the line, as Gold Dancer changed from a canter to a trot rounding the bend, that his action changed. Townend dismounted immediately. Screens went up around the horse on the track; he then collapsed and was euthanized on welfare grounds.

A stewards' inquiry took evidence from the veterinary team and Townend but ended without action. James Given, the BHA's Director of Equine Regulation, confirmed the horse ran "straight as an arrow" to the line and that Townend's riding was consistent with how a three-mile chaser behaves in the closing stages. Willie Mullins was unequivocal in his defence: "If Paul thought there was something wrong, he'd have been the first person to pull Gold Dancer up."

Eddie O'Leary of Gigginstown House Stud confirmed the injury on record: "Unfortunately he broke his back and they put him down. Paul said he made one mistake and he felt nothing and he kept going to the line no problem." Connections described the outcome as a "hollow victory." Aintree Racecourse stated Gold Dancer "was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team but sadly he could not be saved" and extended its condolences to his connections.

Gold Dancer's death brings to 68 the total horses killed at the Aintree Festival since 2000, per Animal Aid figures cited by welfare groups, with 17 of those deaths following racing in the Grand National specifically. Last year's festival claimed Willy De Houelle on its opening day and Celebre D'Allen, who died days after the Grand National. Gold Dancer arrives in that list not as an anomaly but as a continuation.

Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, condemned the sport: "Year after year we see horses dying at Aintree for people's entertainment and a cheap bet. Sadly, Gold Dancer is the latest victim of this heartless spectacle, which flies in the face of animal welfare." Slawinski called for a public boycott of the festival, an end to ITV viewership, and government intervention, arguing the BHA and Jockey Club are prioritising gambling profits over horses' lives. The League also called for an outright whip ban, citing Sweden's 2022 prohibition. PETA separately condemned the Grand National.

The Jockey Club stated the racing industry has spent £63 million on equine welfare since 2000. The BHA said it was saddened by Gold Dancer's fatal injury and offered its thoughts to all connected with the horse. That figure, and those condolences, now stand against 68 deaths across 26 Aintree festivals and the question of what it would take for the number to stop growing.