Chris Davie
Published April 10, 2026 4:25pm
Updated April 10, 2026 4:42pm
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Gold Dancer was put down after suffering from a broken back (Reuters)
Gold Dancer was put down after suffering a broken back during his win in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase on day two of the Grand National Meeting at Aintree on Friday.
The seven-year-old dragged his back legs through the final fence and landed awkwardly but was ridden out to win by jockey Paul Townend, who whipped the horse after his fall.
Gold Dancer was immediately pulled up after winning the race and Townend quickly dismounted before screens were put up for veterinary experts to treat the horse.
However, it was announced shortly after that Gold Dancer ‘could not be saved’.
Eddie O’Leary of Gold Dancer’s owners Gigginstown said: ‘He’s been put down. He broke his back. It’s terribly sad for the horse.
‘What could Paul Townend do? He felt fine, it was just when he pulled up that something was wrong.’
Gold Dancer dragged his legs through the final fence (Action Images via Reuters)
A stewards’ enquiry was held after the race and confirmed that no action will be taken against Townend for continuing to ride Gold Dancer with a serious injury.
‘Paul Townend explained that Gold Dancer had made a bad mistake at the last fence after which it had taken a stride or two for the gelding to gather himself before, in his opinion, Townend added that it was only until rounding the bend towards the pull up area that the gelding’s action changed when Gold Dancer went from a canter to a trot after which he immediately dismounted from the gelding,’ the report read.
‘After reviewing the footage, The Director of Equine, Safety, and Welfare explained that Gold Dancer’s action was typical of a three-mile chaser in the final stages of a race and supported the evidence of Townend.’
Former jockey Lizzie Kelly also defended Townend and believes he ‘eased this horse down as best he could’ after realising he had suffered an injury.
‘I think what is really important to remember is that obviously as a jockey, you don’t really have a huge amount of information when you’re on top of the racehorse,’ Kelly told talkSPORT.
‘It’s very easy to see things when you’re watching but when you’re actually sat on the horse, it’s really difficult to have all of the information.
Paul Townend and trainer Willie Mullins moments after Gold Dancer won the race (Getty)
‘So when the horse made a mistake, obviously he’s then got to try and collect the horse back together and then get that horse to carry on racing.
‘He would not have known and there is absolutely no way he would have known that the horse had broken its back.
‘I expect that from what I could see, he’s ridden him away and thought, ‘right, I’ll just carry on and go and win this race,’ unaware of the situation and because of the adrenaline running through the racehorse, that horse wouldn’t have felt as like there was a problem.
‘Probably I think you saw Paul Townend look down didn’t you? And he immediately put his stick down and kind of stopped riding him.
Paul Townend will face no sanctions after riding Gold Dancer to victory with an injury (Getty)
‘Obviously at that point I think Paul Townend probably realised the horse didn’t feel 100 per cent and so therefore he’s essentially eased this horse down as best he could.
‘I think the fact that he got off the horse as quickly as he did afterwards, at that stage he realised.
‘There is a serious problem here and I would very much want people to kind of think about all of those aspects of riding a horse. It’s literally not as easy as it looks and it is very difficult to know exactly what’s happening.
‘Sometimes when you’re riding in a race you might feel that the horse feels a little bit uncollected, a little bit unusual but that can be so many different things and it might actually even be the jockey.’
Gold Dancer managed to win the race with a broken back (Racing TV)
Emma Slawinski, the chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: ‘Year after year we see horses dying at Aintree for people’s entertainment and a cheap bet. Sadly, Gold Dancer is the latest victim of this heartless spectacle, which flies in the face of animal welfare.
‘The public and businesses should boycott the Aintree Festival, refuse to bet on the racing, and stop watching the ITV coverage and advertising which glosses over the animal cruelty.
‘The government needs to act as the British Horseracing Authority and Jockey Club is prioritising gambling profits over the lives of the horses.’
Animal rights group Animal Aid issued a statement after Gold Dancer’s death which read: ‘The fact that the ‘winner’ of this race was dead minutes later proves that this so called “sport” has no winners. Injuries and deaths such as these are common in racing, occurring on average every other day across the country.
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‘It’s no accident – it’s a predictable consequence of pushing horses beyond their physical limits and using a whip to bully them into running faster than they want to. Injury and death go hand in hand with racing, and that’s why Animal Aid is calling on the public to turn their backs on this “sport” and boycott horse racing.’
An Aintree Racecourse statement read: ‘The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after the line and dismounted.
‘He was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team but sadly he could not be saved. Our heartfelt condolences are with his connections.’
Last year, Willy De Houelle and Celebre D’Allen, died at Aintree.
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