'Your colleagues have blood on their hands!': Grand National protester battled desperate allergy to ‘protect’ racehorses
17 April 2023, 11:01 | Updated: 17 April 2023, 13:14
Nick Ferrari grills Robert Gordon from Animal Rising for 'bloody hands' after horse race death
Robert Gordon from Animal Rising told Nick Ferrari how he "dosed up on Piriton" before scrambling onto the racecourse at Aintree.
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast grilled Animal Rising activist Robert Gordon after he and fellow protestors clambered onto the racetrack at Aintree with the desire to postpone the Grand National.
Quoting racehorse trainer Sandy Thomson, who blamed protestors for the death of his horse Hill Sixteen, Nick put Mr Gordon in the hot seat, saying: “Your colleagues have the horse's blood on their hands”.
The animal rights activist defended his action claiming he was simply aiming to “protect” the horses with his aim being to “find these horses” alternative “suitable homes”.
Nick disputed Mr Gordon’s argument, stating race horses were unsuitable pets, are were wholly bred for racing purposes due to their “tempers and disposition”.
Detailing how he and his associates entered the racecourse, Mr Gordon said: “We ran through an open gate, and we attached to a fence too, and we hoped that would stop the race.
“Obviously the 18:20 race didn't go ahead, but they were insistent on running the grand national”.
Concluding the interview by questioning Mr Gordon on his future protesting plans, and whether he should anticipate further disruption at upcoming horse racing, the animal rights activist replied: “It would be foolish for me to say where we will be next”.
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The Grand National was delayed by almost 15 minutes after the animal rights activists stormed the racecourse and fixed themselves to the fences and railings along the route.
Police reported they arrested 118 people regarding Saturday’s disruption, which saw nine people enter the course.
Footage from the event depicted protestors venturing onto the track, attempting to attach themselves to a fence, before being removed by police.
The jockeys were asked to re-mount their rides six minutes after the scheduled start time, with the race starting eight minutes later.
Since safety measures were introduced in 2012, there have been five fatalities from 395 runners in the 10 Grand Nationals raced.
