Shocking number of Grand National entries brings shame on British racing

All is not well on the good ship of British racing. We know that – various warning lights have been flashing at the helm for some time – but if this week's Grand National entries are not treated as a Mayday signal then we may as well start selling tickets to view the wreck.

Just 31 horses trained in Britain were entered for the country's most valuable chase. That is just over a third of the possible runners and not enough to fill the race's limit of 40.

Let that sink in. This is the people's race, a handicap in which all are weighted to have an equal chance of winning their share of £1 million in prize-money, and British horses could not even fill the field. Two men, Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, have almost as many entries between them with 29.