The group who disrupted the start of the Grand National at Aintree on Saturday are only just getting started, according to one of their leading protagonists.
Just moments before the race was due to get underway at 5.15pm on Saturday, police were forced to deal with protestors from Animal Rising trying to scale the fence and break onto the course. They later took their protest onto the motorway, with the M57 briefly closed while officers removed people who were sitting down on the road.
Merseyside Police confirmed on Saturday night that had 118 arrests had been made, and by the following day 65 people remained in custody. And the activists received scathing criticism from leading racing figures while trainer Sandy Thomson, whose horse Hill Sixteen fell and died during the race, argued their behaviour disrupted the animals and inadvertently contributed to the fatality.
But amid a wave of publicity, group member of Alex Lockwood has vowed that the group will continue disrupting sporting events: “We will be holding a summer of campaign actions," he told GB News. “We’re campaigning against a whole number of sporting events. It’s going to be big this summer. We will be making a real statement for animals this year and we're trying to build a mass movement to change our relationship with animals.”
He also vehemently denied that his group was responsible for the fate of Hill Sixteen, claiming the protest was fuelled by a desire to stop the race and not disrupt the runners: “We were there to stop the harm and the reason why the harm happened, and the reason why Hill Sixteen died, was because they ran the race, and the reason why they ran the race was because millions of pounds would bet on it because it's a national institution,” he said.
“They did not want to see it stopped and what we would actually say is, if the you know that we know that jockeys and trainers have great relationships with their horses, if they knew the horse was spooked, I know Hill Sixteen had surgery quite recently, then they needed to pull that horse from the race."
However, the logistics and timing of Lockwood and co has been questioned, with Thomson reiterating his criticisms on Monday. He told Sky Sports News that claims from the group they were there to scupper the Grand National, and not simply seek publicity, were unrealistic given the amount of protestors that actually tried break in.
And legendary jockey AP McCoy, who was covering the event live on ITV, was equally scathing. He argued those involved were more concerned with temporary limelight than they were the welfare of horses.
"They're attention seekers and unfortunately we're giving them attention," he said. "These people don't have any understanding of horses and how well they are cared for."
