List of equine fatalities in the Grand National

This is a list of equine fatalities in the Grand National (88 as of 2024), an annual steeplechase horse racing event held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool.

[2][3] The high number of equine deaths in the Aintree Grand National race has made it a focus for animal rights activists.

While course officials have taken safety measures over the years, such as improving veterinary facilities and reducing the severity of fences,[4] some campaign for further modifications and even the abolition of the event that was inaugurated in 1839.

Some within the horseracing community, including some with notable achievements in the Grand National, such as Ginger McCain and Bob Champion,[6][7][8] have argued that the lowering of fences and the narrowing of ditches, primarily designed to increase horse safety, has had the adverse effect by encouraging the runners to race faster.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Grand National saw a total of 12 horses die (half of which were at Becher's Brook); in the next 20-year period from 1990 to 2010, when modifications to the course were most significant, there were 17 equine fatalities.