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A visibly emotional groom, Amy Morrissey, was seen wiping away tears as she led Impaire Et Passe off the Aintree racecourse following a fall on the opening day of the Grand National Festival. The horse came down at the second-last fence in the 2.55pm Grade One Racing Welfare Bowl Chase, which was claimed by favourite Jango Baie.

Fortunately, both the eight-year-old horse and two-time Grand National-winning jockey Paul Townend escaped unscathed, with Townend set to return to the saddle on the second day on Merseyside for Ladies Day. The Irish rider will be aiming to join a distinguished group of multiple Aintree winners on Saturday, when he rides 2024 champion and last year's runner-up, I Am Maximus. ITV cameras captured the heartfelt moment as the groom guided the fallen horse from the track. ITV Racing presenter Ed Chamberlin commented: "These grooms just love their horses. Isn't that a welcome sight? Impaire Et Passe is absolutely OK.

"What a relief for Amy Morrisey there, in floods of tears. She's got her boy back and he is OK thank goodness. He was travelling pretty well still, wasn't he, AP [McCoy]?"

McCoy replied: "He was going to make a race of it, that's for sure." Victory went to Jango Baie, ridden by Nico de Boinville for trainer Nicky Henderson.

"He really came for me at the second-last and put the race to bed," said winning rider De Boinville, who himself had hit the turf earlier in the day when unseated from Lulamba in the Grade One Manifesto Novices' Chase. "I'm absolutely delighted with him and it's all down to the team at home."

Favourites Jango Baie, Barton Snow and Brighterdaysahead all claimed successive victories in a significant boost for punters on the opening day at Aintree.

Like all sports, horse racing involves risks, but The Jockey Club - the owner of 15 racecourses in the UK and the organiser of both the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals - are working to continuously minimise the risks at its events.

Their data shows that at the Grand National, the average number of fallers has halved throughout history, while the 10-year fatality rate has reduced by over a third.

Since 2000, the racing industry has invested more than £63 million in equine welfare, including veterinary science, education and research.

At Aintree alone, the changes include: replacing the timber central frame of fences with more forgiving plastic cores, levelling the landing side of some fences including Becher's Brook, a £400k investment in Aintree's watering system, reducing the maximum field size from 40 to 34 and a stricter qualification critera and vetinary checks.

British racing has an independently-chaired Horse Welfare Board, whose long-term strategic plan 'A Life Well Lived' is already yielding results.

The racing industry regularly consults with established welfare organisations such as World Horse Welfare, RSPCA and Blue Cross to ensure it continually meets the highest standards.