THE region’s racehorse trainers last night sprang to the defence of the Grand National amid growing calls for the famous race to be banned.

Animal welfare groups have called for an outright ban on the gruelling four-anda- half mile steeplechase following the deaths of two horses on Saturday.

Only 19 of the 40 starters finished this year’s national, which took place in sweltering sunshine and claimed the lives of Ornais and Dooneys Gate, both of which fell on the first circuit.

Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler said: “The Grand National should be banned.

It’s a deliberately hazardous, challenging and predictably lethal event.”

He added: “It’s a depraved spectacle – on a par with Spanish bullfighting. It is straightforward animal abuse.”

The call for a ban was echoed by the Fight Against Animal Cruelty in Europe, while a spokesman for The League Against Cruel Sports said 17 Grand National horses had died in the past 16 years.

He said: “There is no way the race can reasonably continue in its current form”.

However, leading figures in the region’s racing industry defended the event.

Trainer Howard Johnson, from Roddymoor, near Crook, County Durham, had three runners on Saturday, only one of which completed the course.

He said: “The problem with the Grand National is the timing of it – it’s always at the hottest part of the day and it’s too long a time for the horses between getting saddled and starting the race.

“There is so much hype and noise, the horses have to parade past thousands of people who are making a lot of noise, so by the time they start they are already excited and sweating.”

But he added: “The Grand National will never be done away with, everyone gets excited about it – even the housewives who want to put a 50p bet on. The horses love it, although they get tired they enjoy themselves.”

Jill Williamson, general manager of Sedgefield Racecourse, said all sports have risks of injury associated with them – be they animal or human.

Malcolm Jefferson, of Newstead Cottage Stables in Norton, North Yorkshire, had one horse at Aintree, King Fontaine, which finished in 11th place. He said: “The Grand National is the Grand National – one of the greatest spectacles out there and it doesn’t matter what they do, accidents will still happen.

“I’ve worked with horses for more than 45 years and I’ve lost horses just on the gallops in training – it’s just one of those things.

“The Grand National is a great race, but they are always trying to spoil it by making changes to satisfy different people".