Paul Townend has been defended after Gold Dancer was put down following his win at Aintree on Friday.The seven-year-old had won the Mildmay Novices’ Chase on day two of the Grand National Festival.Townend has been defended after Gold Dancer died moments after winning at AintreeGettyHowever, Gold Dancer suffered a broken back during the race and had to be put down moments afterwards.The horse dragged its back legs through the final fence before winning by four lengths under Townend for trainer Willie Mullins.There were immediate concerns, though, as he was pulled up after crossing the finishing line.Townend dismounted as veterinary screens were put up around Gold Dancer.Despite receiving treatment on the course, the horse sadly had to be put down.Owners Gigginstown confirmed the devastating news, stating: “He’s been put down. He broke his back. It’s terribly sad for the horse.“What could Paul Townend do? He felt fine, it was just when he pulled up that something was wrong.”talkSPORT verdicttalkSPORT’s Lizzie Kelly also leapt to Townend’s defence after he rode out Gold Dancer for the win before dismounting the horse.The former jockey explained it is unlikely he would have been aware of the injury until he had crossed the finishing line.She told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee & Jacobs: “I think what is really important to remember is that obviously as a jockey, you don’t really have a huge amount of information when you’re on top of the racehorse.Gold Dancer was put down after breaking his back under Townend on FridayReuters“It’s very easy to see things when you’re watching but when you’re actually sat on the horse, it’s really difficult to have all of the information.“So when the horse made a mistake, obviously he’s then got to try and collect the horse back together and then get that horse to carry on racing.“He would not have known and there is absolutely no way he would have known that the horse had broken its back.“I expect that from what I could see, he’s ridden him away and thought, ‘right, I’ll just carry on and go and win this race,’ unaware of the situation and because of the adrenaline running through the racehorse, that horse wouldn’t have felt as like there was a problem.“Probably I think you saw Paul Townend look down didn’t you? And he immediately put his stick down and kind of stopped riding him.“Obviously at that point I think Paul Townend probably realised the horse didn’t feel 100 per cent and so therefore he’s essentially eased this horse down as best he could.Kelly believes Townend dismounted as soon as he realised something was wrongGetty“I think the fact that he got off the horse as quickly as he did afterwards, at that stage he realised.”Kelly continued: “There is a serious problem here and I would very much want people to kind of think about all of those aspects of riding a horse. It’s literally not as easy as it looks and it is very difficult to know exactly what’s happening.“Sometimes when you’re riding in a race you might feel that the horse feels a little bit uncollected, a little bit unusual but that can be so many different things and it might actually even be the jockey.“You might think, ‘oh it feels a bit weird,’ and then you sort of realise you’re out of rhythm with the horse and that’s possibly what would have been happening with Paul Townend and Gold Dancer.”Townend is set to be on board favourite I Am Maximus for Saturday’s Grand National.The Mullins-trained 10-year-old won the race in 2024 before finishing second behind Nick Rockett last year.With Nick Rockett a non-runner this time around, I Am Maximus remains the favourite for the race, which is scheduled to begin at 4pm.Townend was the winning jockey when the horse claimed victory at Aintree two years ago.