Safe as horses

THIS year's Grand National is set to be the safest ever - thanks to a racing robot.

- JERRY LAWTON

The Jockey Club has deployed artificial intelligence to help make the sport safer for horses and riders.

The Al tool, dubbed "clip-bot", uses algorithms to process data from thousands of horse races across the country.

Every fence leap is registered to produce an "obstacle risk analysis"

Analysis recorded from 443,000 jumps across The Jockey Club's 11 fence-and-hurdle UK racecourses identified how fences could be made safer.

But while the bot may be great at identifying improvements it does not actually build the tracks.

It is still good old-fashioned humans who are left to do the dirty work.

The Jockey Club invited the Daily Star along to see how Aintree is being prepped for this week's three-day Grand National festival culminating in the big race itself on Saturday.

The most important feature of the four-and-a-quarter mile steeplechase is its 30 fences, many of which have become household names since the race's first run in 1839.

Becher's Brook, Canal Turn and the biggest of all The Chairat a towering 5ft 2in - have struck fear into hearts of young jockeys.

As I stood in the ditch beneath The Chair, newly-dressed in immaculate spruce, the thought of clambering over with some step ladders filled me with trepidation - let alone attempting to fly over it on horseback.