Awkward weights launch guests 'rude' says Aintree boss

Aintree supremo John Baker has confessed to frustration at the manner in which the significantly altered Grand National weights unveiling panned out and used the word "rude" to describe how some invited guests behaved.

Since 1977 the weights for jump racing's signature prize had been announced at a lunch, but this year the function was changed to an evening drinks reception at London's V&A museum.

Concern was expressed in advance that connections of entries – many of whom were present on Tuesday evening – could not be approached until the 9pm point when top weight Outlander was named, a stipulation that contributed to some newspapers not being represented.

In addition, bookmakers were given no prior sighting of the weights, making it difficult to produce odds in time for print deadlines.

Worse problems emerged on the night when soprano Laura Wright was embarrassingly talked over by the audience, many of whom then continued to ignore host Ed Chamberlin and experts Sir Anthony McCoy, Katie Walsh and Grand National handicapper Phil Smith. Some later attributed this to a difficulty in hearing what was being said on stage.

"I was at the back of the room trying to shush people," said Baker, the Jockey Club's north-west regional director.

"You want people to respect what those on the stage are saying. Ed tried as much he could to ask for quiet, so I felt for him, AP, Katie and Phil. We had quality interviews that people talked through.

"We had people stood up because we wanted to create a party atmosphere, but that backfired. We can't bury our heads in the sand. We have to hold our hands up. As much as it was a great event at a great venue, the acoustics were problematical and I can't avoid saying that people were rude."

Baker added: "We hold the event to gain as much media publicity and coverage as possible, and we made the most of broadcast opportunities, which is pleasing. I also think the way we tried to reveal the weights worked well, so there were lots of positives.

"We'd hoped to get on News At Ten but didn't quite manage that. However, 5 live recorded a half-hour piece and ITV were there to do something for Saturday's morning programme and hopefully the afternoon show too."

There will be discussions soon about next year's event, with Baker stressing nothing is ruled out.

"I would say the evening was frustrating for me," he said, giving his frank assessment of the first weights reception staged since Randox Health became sponsor and ITV took over as broadcaster.

"A lot of people put a lot of work into it. Lots of elements worked really well, and we got fantastic coverage – which is what we're judged on – but as an event we need to review what happened and decide as a team what we're going to do in the future.

"That's me being honest and brutal. I can't say everything was brilliant and fantastic because that just wouldn't be true."