THE tragic death of Hill Sixteen at the Grand National last Saturday has dominated the news headlines over the past few days, with Bingley-based trainer Sue Smith critical of the Animal Rising protesters who caused the race to start nearly 15 minutes late.

Sandy Thomson, Hill Sixteen's current trainer, has blamed the activists for the horse's death, saying them enforcing a delay to the race caused his horse to be agitated ahead of a horrific fall at the first fence.

The subsequent broken neck for the 10-year-old gelding meant he had to be put down.

It was also particularly painful for Smith to see, as she had Hill Sixteen under her care on Craiglands Farm in High Eldwick from 2018 to 2020.

The 75-year-old told the T&A: "He was a lovely horse, and it just shows once again that this is a sad job.

"Losing any horse is not so good."

The Animal Rising activists insisted their protests were designed to highlight that horses should not be used for sport, given they are at risk of serious harm, especially in jump racing.

But Thomson and others believe their actions made things worse, and that the disruption of his usual routine was the cause of Hill Sixteen's death.

Smith stopped short of saying that, but reflected: "It was a chaotic start after what happened with the protesters.

“I can’t say that delay was the cause of Hill Sixteen’s death, because I don’t know too many details, and it was the same situation for all the horses.

“But it doesn’t help to have them hyped up like that, especially when they’re trained especially to do the job they do.

“We, as trainers, have bred those horses to race.”

Smith did question the motives of the protesters, saying: “Are these people necessarily vegans or vegetarians for example?

“Targeting the Grand National at Aintree just seemed like a publicity stunt because it’s such a big event.

“Protesters targeted The Crucible on Monday night as well. Why were they there? What has snooker got to do with their environmental beliefs?

“If the Animal Rising people had their way, there’d be no cows or sheep as well, unless they were purely bred to born and die.

“I’m sure some of these protesters will eat meat, so it’s not just one simple thing when it comes to beliefs.

“We have to hope it wasn’t the protests that were Hill Sixteen’s cause of death, but I can certainly understand Sandy’s criticism of them.”

Smith won the Grand National as the trainer of Auroras Encore back in 2013, but her best finish at the Scottish Grand National was second place the year before with the same horse.

That could change on Saturday, with a gelding of hers, Small Present, primed to compete in the showpiece event at Ayr Racecourse.

Discussing the Irish eight-year-old, Smith said: “His last two runs weren’t great.

“We’re actually on the reserve list with Small Present, but he is first reserve, so as long as one horse pulls out between now and Saturday, he’ll be racing in the Scottish National.

“Prairie Wolf (a six-year-old Irish gelding of Smith’s) is also competing at a couple of other races up there this weekend.

“Both are going to the event in good order and they’ve been trained to run well.

“If they don’t, then that’s just in the lap of the gods.”