Pro-hunting faction rents Aintree runner

Anti-hunt protesters have condemned the Countryside Alliance's leasing of a runner in the Grand National as a cynical publicity stunt. The Countryside Alliance, the pro-hunting pressure group, has joined forces with the charity, Riding For Life, to lease Buck Rogers for around £20,000 from the Irish trainer Victor Bowens for the race at Aintree on 8 April. He will run in the name and colours of Josephine Skinner, a Countryside Alliance member from Wetherby, Yorkshire.

Riding For Life is raising money for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust and Riding for the Disabled. The Countryside Alliance, which organised the raffle for the horse, receives one-third of the money raised. The raffle raised £27,000.

But Steve Rickett, The League Against Cruel Sports' press officer, said: "The Alliance is trying to get away from the image of a pro-hunt organisation, away from defending foxhunting, to get into more mainstream areas of activity."