Safety v tradition Grand National in high-wire act to keep magic alive

The numbers are nearly as breathtaking as the sight of 34 horses soaring over Aintree's famous fences.

- Sean Ingle

Before today's Grand National, a third of adults in Britain will place some sort of bet on the world's most famous steeplechase, with £150m wagered in total and six million tuning in for the spectacle.

But amid all the noise and fanfare surrounding the 177th running of the "people's race", organisers are increasingly engaged in a delicate high-wire act. Because the more they try to ensure the thrills come without horrific spills - and potential equine deaths - the more they upset traditionalists.

Claims the race has gone soft became increasingly loud after last year's National, which had no fallers, no fatalities, and the highest number of finishers since 2005. Timeform, the bible of horse racing, was among those to wonder whether making the National safer had not only stripped it of its fiendish difficulty, but also its magic.

"The old 'Wooden National' was primarily a test of jumping," one Timeform writer lamented. "That is no longer the case. The 'Plastic National' is only slightly different to other top marathon chases."

Yet at Aintree yesterday, organisers insisted that the marathon race, which takes in four-and-a-quarter miles and 30 fences, had changed for the better.