Grand National chiefs confident of dealing with potential protesters at Aintree

Officials at Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National, have insisted that they’re better prepared to deal with protests ahead of the iconic horse racing jump event.

Last year’s event, won by Corach Rambler, had a delayed start due to protesters at the course near Liverpool.

It comes as Aintree previously this month confirmed an earlier start time for the feature Grand National race as well as a smaller starting field and rearranged fences.

Different Grand National outlook

Aintree clerk of the course Sulekha Varma said: “We’re lucky that we’ve got a very good relationship with the police and we will take guidance from them.

“We learned a lot last year, and we saw that at Epsom, so we are going into this year with a different outlook.”

Dickon White, of the Jockey Club, said: “We’ve had nothing at all (threat of protests).

“We’re still reviewing last year’s incidents, as we would through the normal planning process with Merseyside Police and our security advisers.

“But there’s nothing at this stage which tells us there is going to be anything different to previous years. At this stage we’re not planning to do anything different.”

Nicholas Wrigley, outgoing chairman at the racecourse said: “What last year showed was how important the Grand National is, not just to racing but to the general public. It triggered a National debate which went on for days.

“It showed what the future is and what the future may hold for jumps racing. What was clear was the one thing that was at the front of everything was the safety of the horse.

“It’s why we’ve spent so long discussing everything, making everything safer for the horse because that is vital for the future of the race.

“What Sulekha and Dickon and the team have done is so important going forwards and we need all the people to support the changes and what Lucinda (Russell) and Peter (Scudamore) said in the aftermath of last year’s race which they won (with Corach Rmabler) was very helpful.

“We need people to focus on the horse rather than looking back in time at what has gone before so we’ll be asking people to get behind the changes.”