Grand National jockey explains why Gold Dancer was not pulled up after breaking back

Paul Townend did not immediately realise the severity of Gold Dancer’s injury after the horse died with a broken back during the Grand National Meeting at Aintree on Friday.

Gold Dancer dragged his back legs through the final fence and landed awkwardly but went on to win the Mildmay Novices’ Chase by four lengths before collapsing.

Townend, who continued to whip Gold Dancer after his stumble on the last, eased the seven-year-old horse down to a trot after crossing the finishing line and quickly dismounted before screens were put up.

Shortly after, it was announced that Gold Dancer could not be saved, while Townend was the subject of a routine stewards’ enquiry following the horse’s death before it was confirmed that the jockey would not face punishment.

According to James Given, the British Horseracing Authority’s director of equine regulation, safety and equine welfare, Townend told the enquiry that Gold Dancer ‘felt normal’ after the stumble on the final fence and that there was ‘no indication’ that the horse had suffered a fatal injury.

‘What happened with the horse I’m sure everyone’s seen, he’s slipped on landing after the last, his hind quarters and legs went to the right-hand side but he popped up very quickly and then galloped away,’ Given told Racing TV.

‘I was in the enquiry when, correctly, the stewards were looking into what happened and I was able to watch the replay from the front and the back and the horse stayed as straight as an arrow, so there’s no indication at that point that there was anything amiss.

‘He [Townend] said all a jockey could do is go on how the horse feels and the horse felt normal to him. It was only when he crossed the finishing line, the finishing line is slightly immaterial here, it’s actually when he was turning left and was when going down from a canter to a trot, a canter is a smoother, rolling action to a trot, a more of a stumpy action, and only when that happened that he felt something change in the horse’s action that was amiss. He puled the horse straight up, dismounted and let the vets attend the horse.

‘The horse stayed, as I say, absolutely straight, he came up, there was no hanging, the hind feet were following exactly the front feet, it was a symmetric action, it wasn’t an asymmetric action, no quarters out to one side or another, it was only when that action changed from a canter down to a trot that the effects of that slip became apparent and the horse showed there was something gone amiss.’

Asked why Gold Dancer could not be saved, Given replied: ‘The horse had collapsed and was unable to rise and the working diagnosis at that point was a fracture to his sacroiliac, lumbar region and at that point there was no ability to recover the horse in that recumbent position.

‘It certainly is [a catastrophic fracture], he’s going to have a post-mortem so we will have an absolute diagnosis of what went wrong. But these are very experienced vets who have unfortunately seen other things like this who are dealing with him.

‘They were able to examine him and see neurological responses to his hind limbs and so on as to what had gone wrong and were then forced to make that decision.’

Meanwhile, Willie Mullins, who was Gold Dancer’s trainer, also defended Townend’s decision to carry on with the race.

‘It’s a big loss because he’s a horse we thought was improving all the time,’ Mullins said.

‘To give such an exhibition of jumping, to give his owner, give me, give Paul, all the people who backed him such a thrill, and then for that to happen after the line is unbelievable. Unbelievable.

‘I haven’t spoken to Paul about the stewards enquiry but he said to me that the horse galloped through the line fine and went down to a slow pace canter. Just as he was turning he went into a trot and that was the first he felt anything. He felt the horse was fine going through the winning post, pulling up in a canter. You have to turn the bend, he pulled on the rein to turn and next thing the horse lost his action. He’s assuming whatever happened, happened there.

‘Everyone has to gather their thoughts. I wanted the vets to go and look and see what they think. I’ll probably talk to them after the last race. What’s done is done. What’s happened has happened. I’m sure they’re looking to see what actually happened if they do an autopsy.

‘I would say Paul didn’t feel the horse had any damage and he galloped all the way to the line. That’s what you do when you’re a rider, like a forward going for goal, you keep going and kick the ball into the net if you can. It’s the same with a jockey. Unless they feel the horse’s action is really wrong, he’s not going to stop. If he stops, he’ll lose his licence and the punters will say ‘why did you pull him up?’

‘He didn’t feel anything was wrong. Horses make mistakes and people out running trip and get up and go on and run another 10 miles and only find out later that night they’ve pulled a muscle somewhere. It’s just life. We can’t legislate for everything. People go on with their daily lives and their daily sports. You do what you have to do. That’s the way I look at it. If Paul thought there was something wrong, he’d be the first man to pull it up.’

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