Fences ‘not to blame’ as horse dies at Aintree

Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies was not attaching blame to the Grand National fences at Aintree after Little Josh was put down following a fall in the John Smith’s Topham Chase.

Little Josh was the second horse to die in two days at the Aintree Grand National meeting, despite officials making changes to fences after criticism of deaths last year. Battlefront collapsed and died on Thursday. “We are sad to confirm that it has been necessary to humanely put down Little Josh on welfare grounds, as a result of his fall at the 15th fence in the Topham Chase,” an Aintree statement said.

The deaths of two horses during last year’s race and two in 2011 brought equine safety into focus and prompted an official inquiry amid calls by animal welfare groups for the National to be banned. A number of modifications were subsequently recommended, with the organisers making famous fences such as the notorious Becher’s Brook less dangerous.

Grand National-winning trainer Twiston-Davies paid tribute to Little Josh, who won the 2010 Paddy Power Gold Cup. He said: “He’s gone out doing what he loved the most. He’s jumped round those fences before and it’s one of those things. It could happen anywhere, it could happen at home and it’s not the fences – it could have happened at a park course. It’s desperate, as he is one of (jockey) Sam’s favourite horses and he has been a great servant.”