The 165^th Grand National was a very special one but not for the right reasons. The Gold Cup winner at Cheltenham last month had to be put down after suffering injuries during the race. Synchronised, who was ridden by Tony McCoy fell at Becher's Brook on the first circuit of the track, but did not appear to suffer a serious injury. However, he then broke down while running loose and was put down shortly afterwards.

Synchronised was one of the favourites for the race, and was the focus of attention before the National had even begun. The 9yo unseated McCoy on the way to the starting area and galloped loose for several minutes before being caught by a photographer. After being examined by a vet he was allowed to take part.

Before he ran loose The Racing Horse was more than perturbed as to how the horse looked. It was clear that the Cheltenham race had taken its toll and left a mark. During the week we had known that despite the hype this game horse could not win the race. A Lexus, Gold Cup and National treble was always most unlikely and we are reminded of what Paul Nicholls had said during the week. He said: " Despite the easier fences they still have to be jumped. We have seen at this meeting already that Cheltenham can leave its mark on the best of horses - even if horses win races on the bridle at the Festival, they still take plenty out of them."

Of course Synchronised did not win the Gold Cup on the bridle – he had a very hard race and it was a huge mistake to run him in the Grand National! We are not blaming Jonjo O’Neill or JP McManus as we understand when you have a horse like Synchronised the temptation to run him and create history must have been huge but it was a mistake nonetheless!

It was ironic that Synchronised is the most significant casualty of the Grand National since another Gold Cup winner, Alverton, was killed in a fall, also at Becher's Brook, in 1979. Alverton's jockey that day was Jonjo O'Neill.

The Grand National's safety record was the subject of close scrutiny in the run-up to this renewal after the death of two horses in the race last year. We know the intensity of the debate over the risks that are run by horses and riders in the world's most famous steeplechase will only increase. We await the nonsense!

The Racing Horse would like to say to those people above who would harm our horse racing to first check that every horse in every field, paddock, barn and patch of land has feed, shelter and veterinary care. Once they have wiped out real cruelty come back to us and we will discuss the Grand National further with them!

We do not agree but The Racing Horse has some time for the arguments put forward by David Muir, an equine consultant to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He said: "I would like to see drop fences removed before next year's race. I think the Grand National has a future if it changes and makes the risk factors lower and more acceptable. If racing is to continue, racing must realise that people are concerned about horse fatalities on racecourses and the impetus to reduce the risk factor has to be greater. I have never been happy about drop fences, and Becher's is a drop fence. Yes, they have reduced the size of the drop but it would appear horses still have difficulties coping with that fence. We'd love to see 40 finishers. The Grand National is a work in progress and we think we can get more finishers and a safer race."

We are particularly sad about the demise of Synchronised. As our reader will know we spent the day in his company just before the Lexus and have covered that horse more in our blogs than any other. We felt we knew him and can only imagine what the staff at Jackdaws Castle are feeling at this moment. One would imagine that Jonjo O’Neill and the owner are reflecting on whether they should have run him especially given the way he looked prior to the race – the horse looked gone! It was such a shame and we are filled with sadness...