THE owner of a North Yorkshire horse fatally injured in the Grand National yesterday spoke of his devastation – as animal welfare groups called for action to prevent more deaths.

Peter Nelson, of Helperby, near Thirsk, said entering According to Pete into the fourand- a-half-mile Aintree race had been “a fairytale”, but his worst fears were realised when the gelding was brought down by another horse after jumping Becher’s Brook for the second time.

The 11-year-old steeplechaser suffered an untreatable foreleg fracture and, alongside last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Synchronised, which also suffered a fracture after unseating its rider at the same fence on the first circuit, was put down by a vet.

Mr Nelson, who runs an MoT garage, said: “I haven’t slept and my family is devastated.

He was part of the family.

He had won £200,000 in prize money, but we loved him as he had such a strong character, he was a lovely horse.

“When you fed him a couple of polo mints he would go for them and eat the whole packet.

“People in the village have been very upset. I can’t tell you how many cards I’ve had posted through the letterbox and I’ve been given flowers and a bottle of wine.”

The 71-year-old said that after coming from humble beginnings, owning a thoroughbred had been a dream, and entering a horse into the Grand National had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to end North Yorkshire’s five-decade wait to win the race.

Mr Nelson said he felt According to Pete, which was trained by Malcolm Jefferson, of Norton, North Yorkshire, and won 11 races including the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby on Boxing Day, would have had a good chance of winning if it got in front at the first fence.

But he said his main concern had been that the horse made it round the course safely.

He said: “If he had won I would have paraded him down the street. But now I will never enter the race again.

“I know I’ve had a bad experience, but it’s daft, there are 40 horses running and any of them could be brought down at any time, like According to Pete was.

“You can’t make the jumps easier because it is an international race. But two horses were killed and two more are fighting for their lives.”

The deaths bring the number of horses killed at the Grand National in the past 50 years to 36.

Two other horses, Killyglen and Weird Al, were receiving veterinary treatment yesterday after falls in the race.

Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, called the race a shameful spectacle.

“There is nothing sporting about an event that routinely kills so many horses,” he said.

RSPCA spokesman David Muir called for the number of runners to be reviewed and said jump design and race length should be looked at.

“I am not happy about drop fences like Becher’s,” he said.

“It appears the horses still had difficulties with it.”