Horses still die on shorter courses with fewer and lower fences, Al. It wouldn't trouble me were it a rare occurrence, as accidents can happen in any sport despite care being taken to avoid them, but those numbers I dug up appalled me.

I'd like to see some really imaginative efforts made to make jump racing much safer. I know next to nothing about horses, jockeys and trainers, so I don't know what to suggest. I don't go for banning stuff. I wouldn't ban boxing, heading footballs, fox hunting or bullfighting, though in the latter two cases I'd campaign to persuade people not to do them and threaten to ostracise and ridicule them if they continued to indulge. Animals involved in our sports add a whole extra dimension to the responsibility we should bear. We humans get to choose what risks to take or whether to not take any risks, but animals don't have a choice at all. I'm happy to see stuff already banned staying banned. I can't watch rugby because of the prospective sight of two very large people smashing into each other at a net speed of 30mph. Whatever stirs yer loins...