from the waterjump, which the horses did have to clear the first time around, but none on the final run into the winning post which is, look, 45 yards away. a few more strides and dick francis would have realised his lifelong ambition. there are so many theories as to why the horse suddenly did what it did. you could safely say that devon loch s fall was the most astonishing fall in grand national history. it s almost unique, i d say, because he looked as though he was taking off for a fence. put both his forelegs into the air, then splayed out onto the ground to do a perfect belly flop. and dick actually stayed on board, as well, which is amazing. there are all sorts of theories. some wild and wonderful. perhaps the best one is someone had tightened his girth too much and the horse passed wind, if you like, and that is what caused his legs to stop working for a moment. but my father was convinced it was the noise. there were a quarter of a million people at aintree that day. i remembe
over the last fence, you could hear this crescendo of cheering building up. since then, i ve looked at it time and time again, the film, and just as the horse is approaching the waterjump or the outside or the outside of the waterjump, which he jumped first time he pricks his ears, a sign of, hello, i was here a little while ago, and, as he pricks his ears, the noise hit him. and down he went on his belly. how we didn t part company i don t know. the queen mother said most philosophically, she said, well, that s racing. in the room where the jockeys would have changed that day in 1956, felix told me how the incident had changed his dad s life as he went on to become a hugely successful crime writer of thrillers set in the horse racing world. he had written more than 40 international bestsellers by the time he passed away in 2010. with felix, who helped his father
and they are asking how can we trust the system yet again letting us down? they are having to relive the russia doping horror story once again. it is the sixth time in a row, going back to london 2012, when the russians have seriously and may be irreparably damaged games when the russians have seriously and may be irreparably damaged the games and its credibility. it is time to say what more has to happen before the ioc and wada wake up and decide to do the right thing? sir mark todd has been given an interim suspension by the british horseracing authority after a video on social media appeared to show him hit a horse with a branch. the former 0lympic equestrian champion turned racehorse trainer champion turned racehorse trainer will be unable to race horses while investigations continue. the 65 year old, who trains in wiltshire, has apologised for his actions. on sunday, the bha condemned the video. it appears to show todd strike the horse multiple times while attempting to coax it
the two time olympic champion sir mark todd has been given an interim suspension by the british horseracing authority after a video on social media showed him hitting a horse with a branch. the 65 year old new zealander, who now trains racehorses in wiltshire, has apologised for his actions. the bha has condemned the video of todd striking a horse multiple times when it refused a waterjump in a cross country schooling session. todd won individual eventing golds in 1984 and 1988 and was knighted for his equestrian achievements in 2013. after two rounds of matches, rugby union s six nations there s a huge all british fight coming up on satuday night in manchester. no titles on the line, but just scores to settle. after dodging each other for over a decade in their prime and badmouthing each other, we re going to get the grudge match between amir khan and kell brook. both had an open work out at the trafford centre today, not that they still need to promote the fight. tickets at the manch
champion turned racehorse trainer will be unable to race horses while investigations continue. the 65 year old, who trains in wiltshire, has apologised for his actions. on sunday the bha condemned the video. it appears to show todd strike the horse multiple times while attempting to coax it towards the waterjump in a cross country schooling session. liverpool are in champions league action tonight. they re in milan to face the italian champions inter. managerjurgen klopp is pleased that the first leg of their last 16 match is in the san siro stadium, so liverpool will have home advantage at anfield in the second leg but he hopes they won t need it. it s good, this way round. ..but it s not a decisive point because we. we actually don t. .. we don t want to rely too much on anfield. it s fine when we need it and if it delivers and can push us, but it would be better we don t have