That's an interesting point, which I honestly never noticed till after the finish, and the amount of people kicking off on twitter/x to complain that the Grand National has now become a farce! From what I have read there were no fatalities this year, which is a great thing.
They say such things like this is not a test, wow.. And they were showing pictures of the chair back in the day, but who the ferk would really want that, I bet not the trainers, owners, or any other animal lover.
My view is, there is no need these days, to see horses lose their lives, and yeah if it becomes a stamina test on the distance, over light hurdles, so be it.