Speaking about the historic 2019 Randox Health Grand National Festival, Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), said:

“The Grand National Festival always provides some wonderful stories, but the last three days have been exceptional, obviously culminating in Tiger Roll’s remarkable follow-up success, a performance that will go down in history. It was an “I was there” moment which many of us will never forget. Tiger Roll is a new National legend and his name will be rightly be added to the list of the greatest horses our sport has seen.

“Following off the back of a memorable Cheltenham Festival, jump racing has shown in the last few weeks why it holds such a special place in British society. This has been reflected in the coverage in today’s papers – racing is back on the front pages of the national press, for the second time in a matter of weeks. In addition ITV Racing have posted remarkable viewing figures, with an audience of 9.6m tuning in to the race, a reflection of the popularity of the sport and the ITV team’s first class coverage of it.

“Our congratulations go to the whole team at Aintree racecourse for hosting three wonderful days. The course was immaculate and the atmosphere around the venue was electric throughout.

“Our thanks and congratulations also go to our participants. Our jockeys – both professional and amateur – rode exceptionally overall, putting the care and welfare of our horses above everything else, and were fantastic ambassadors for the sport. Trainers and their teams of staff once again participated openly in the pre-race check process and we are grateful for their support and cooperation.

“It is obviously sad when we lose any horse, but it is important to note that the Grand National Festival, and the big race itself, have a very strong recent record since the measured changes implemented by the course and the BHA following the review in 2011. As you would expect, and as is the case after every race run under the rules of British racing, we’ll look at the incidents that took place, gather information about them and build any relevant learnings into future regulatory policy.”