The group abandoned plans to attempt to disrupt Royal Ascot in mid-June, however, and Nathan McGovern, a spokesperson for Animal Rising, said on Thursday that this year's Grand National will not be a target. "We won't be there," McGovern said, "and the reason for that is that as far as we can see, last year there was a huge public conversation on the back of the Grand National, Epsom et cetera, and it would appear that the public have in large part been convinced that they don't want racing to be part of the fabric of British culture going forward. "If we look at the trend in dropping attendances at the races, that's downwards year- on-year, and beyond that, there are also public surveys and polling. YouGov's current figures on horse racing are around a 47% disapproval rating and only a 23% approval rating, and those numbers speak for themselves." The maximum field for this year's Grand National has been reduced from 40 runners to 34, and the start has been moved closer to the first fence in an attempt to limit the speed of horses in the early part of the race. The off-time has also been moved, from 5.15pm to 4pm. The changes were introduced at least in part as a response to Hill Sixteen's fatal injury, after which Thomson suggested that his horse had become "absolutey hyper" during the delay to the start, which could have contributed to his fall. "We think this is trying to offload the blame," McGovern said. "We empathise with Sandy Thomson's grief, and we've always maintained that the vast majority of people in horse racing genuinely love their animals, but this is a sport that puts animals knowingly in harm's way." Animal Rising's direct campaign against racing, however, may now be a thing of the past. "Never say never," McGovern said. "But is disrupting races going to be the most effective way to end horse racing? We think not, because we think the public has already made that decision for themselves:' Article count on You've read 23 articles in the last year This is what we're up against Teams of lawyers from the rich and powerful trying to stop us publishing stories they don't want you to see. Lobby groups with opaque funding who are determined to undermine facts about the climate emergency and other established science. Authoritarian states with no regard for the freedom of the press. Bad actors spreading disinformation online to undermine democracy. 1042
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