LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite suffering the serious injury.
It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival in March — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup.
Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll.
“The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after the line and dismounted," Aintree Racecourse said in a statement. “He was immediately attended to by our expert veterinary team but sadly he could not be saved. Our heartfelt condolences are with his connections.”
Jockey Paul Townend rode the gelding across the finish line and dismounted immediately once the horse pulled up beyond the winning post. Screens were put up around Gold Dancer as veterinary experts rushed to provide treatment.
Eddie O’Leary, racing manager for owners Gigginstown, defended Townend's actions for continuing to ride.
“What could Paul Townend do? He felt fine, it was just when he pulled up that something was wrong,” O'Leary said.
The British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) later released details of a stewards’ report which appeared to clear Townend of any wrongdoing.
“After reviewing the footage, the Director of Equine, Safety, and Welfare explained that Gold Dancer’s action was typical of a 3-mile chaser in the final stages of a race and supported the evidence of Townend," part of the statement said.
Two other horses, Miami Magic and Jordans Cross, fell during the same contest but both returned safely to their stables.
At last year's meeting, a horse that collapsed on the racecourse after running in the Grand National also died.
After the Cheltenham Festival deaths in March, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said the four deaths took the number of horses to have lost their lives in competitive racing in Britain this year to 24.
There was more criticism after Friday's Gold Dancer death.
“Year after year we see horses dying at Aintree for people’s entertainment and a cheap bet.” Emma Slawinski, chief executive at the League Against Cruel Sports, was quoted as saying by GB News.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Crowds watch the racing on Ladies Day, the second day of the Grand National Horse Racing festival, at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Crowds watch the first race on Ladies Day, the second day of the Grand National Horse Racing festival, at Aintree racecourse, near Liverpool, England, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Divers on Wednesday recovered the last two bodies of four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives last week.
The Italian divers had been exploring the cave in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday when they disappeared. The body of their Italian diving instructor was recovered outside the cave and the Finnish recovery divers brought the bodies of two of the divers to the surface Tuesday.
Presidential spokesperson Mohameed Hussain Shareef said the last two bodies were recovered by three Finnish divers supported by the Maldives coastguard and police.
The bodies were taken to a morgue and identified as Muriel Oddenino and Giorgia Sommacal. On Tuesday Monica Montefalcone and Federico Gualtieri were brought out, government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam said. The instructor, Gianluca Benedetti, was found near the mouth of the cave on the day the divers disappeared.
Montefalcone and Sommacal were mother and daughter.
“After that we will coordinate with the Italian government and start the procedure to repatriate the bodies,” Shareef said. He thanked the Finnish divers, praising them for their professionalism and leadership.
The four bodies were located Monday at a depth of around 60 meters (200 feet), twice the legal depth for recreational diving in the island nation. The search had been temporarily suspended after a local military diver died during a perilous retrieval attempt.
The Maldives government said the recovery divers spotted the bodies in the cave’s innermost area. Shaam said the four bodies were found “pretty much together.”
The cave has been explored in the past by local experts and foreign divers, presidential spokesperson Shareef told The Associated Press earlier.
While the Italian divers had a permit, authorities didn’t know from their proposal the exact location of the cave they were exploring, and at least two of the dead were not on the list of researchers that had been submitted, “so we didn’t know they were part of the expedition,” Shareef said.
He described the conditions deep in the cave as “challenging” with difficult terrain, strong currents and poor visibility.
An alert had also been issued due to bad weather and investigators must determine whether the divers took adequate precautions, Shareef said.
The Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which deployed the Finnish divers, described them as technical and cave divers with experience in search and recovery missions, including operations in “deep overhead environments, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios.”
The rescue team used closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization said.
The cause of death of the Maldivian military diver was still under investigation, but colleagues have suggested he may have died from nitrogen narcosis or decompression at depth.
Francis reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In this handout photo release by Maldives President Media Division, a Finnish diver gets ready to attempt to recover the bodies of two of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll earlier this month, at Alimathaa Island, in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Maldives President Media Division via AP)
In this handout photo release by Maldives President Media Division, a Finnish diver, left, gets ready to attempt to recover the bodies of two of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll earlier this month, at Alimathaa Island, in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Maldives President Media Division via AP)
