Arthur is only the second horse to win the National for Scotland since Rubstic triumphed for John Leadbetter way back in 1979 and Lucinda now joins Jenny Pitman, Venetia Williams and Sue Smith as the only females to have trained the winner of the world renowned steeplechase. Thankfully all 40 horses reportedly returned home safely which is the most important thing, racing professionals do a seriously good a job in looking after our horses and one of the great additions to the big race has been the establishment of a huge cooling down area where gigantic fans cool the horses as they are washed off in cold water, this year for the first time all the horses were dismounted and washed off under the fans and, while there is no doubt this is a fantastic and valuable addition to the facilities -well worth doing especially on hot days, I do wish they had put a cooler and water in the winner’s circle too because ‘not’ seeing the winner in that coveted enclosure was a huge disappointment for connections, the public and the horse too, horses love being the centre of attention and they bask in the glory of the moment as much as their connections do.

 

Please Aintree, put a fan in the winner’s enclosure and stick to normal practice.