The Grand National is a world famous National Hunt horse race which is held at Aintree in the United Kingdom. It is a handicap chase containing thirty fences which is run over a distance of 4 miles and 856 yards. It is presently scheduled to take place each year on a Saturday afternoon in early April.
It is the most valuable National Hunt event in Great Britain, and in 2010 it offered a total prize fund of £925,000. The race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year.
The race is run over two circuits of Aintree's National Course, which is triangular in shape and on which there are sixteen fences. All, except The Chair and the Water-Jump, are jumped twice. Some fences are notorious for their severity, particularly Becher's Brook and The Chair, although in recent years Aintree authorities have worked in conjunction with animal welfare organisations to minimise the danger of the jumps while still preserving them as formidable obstacles. The Grand National is the centrepiece of a three-day meeting, one of only four run at Aintree in the racing season.
The most recent running of the race took place on April 10 2010, and was won by Tony McCoy and Don't Push It for trainer Jonjo O'Neill and owner J P McManus.
The event was founded by William Lynn, proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree from William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton. There is much debate among historians regarding the first official race held, the majority of leading published historians, such as John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse won again in 1837, while Sir William was the winner in 1838. These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that the 1836 - 1838 runnings took place at Maghull and not Aintree. In the last twenty years, several race historians have unearthed evidence that these three races were all run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid 1860s. To date though, calls for the Nationals of 1836 - 1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful.
During 1838 and 1839 three major events occurred to transform the Liverpool race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, The Great St Albans Chase, which had clashed with the race at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838, this left a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, which made transport to the course by rail a possibility for the first time. And thirdly, a committee was formed to better organise the event. These factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage and an increased attendance on the day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the 1839 race its place in history as the first official running of the race. It was won by the aptly named horse, Lottery, ridden by Jem Mason. For three years during the First World War, while Aintree racecourse was closed, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, on the site of the present Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase, and in the following two years the race was known as the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognised as "Grand Nationals" and their results are often omitted from winners' lists.
During the 1950s the Grand National was dominated by Vincent O'Brien who trained the winner of the race for three consecutive years between 1953 and 1955. Early Mist won the race in 1953 with Royal Tan winning in 1954 and the hat-trick of victories for the Irish trainer was completed by Quare Times in 1955.
1956 saw one of the National's more bizarre incidents. Devon Loch, owned by HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had cleared the final fence in leading position five lengths clear of ESB. Only forty yards from what seemed like certain victory, the horse suddenly appeared to half jump in the air before collapsing in a belly flop on the turf. Despite efforts by jockey Dick Francis, Devon Loch was unable to complete the race, leaving ESB to cross the finishing line first. Responding to the commiserations of ESB's owner, The Queen Mother merely commented: "Oh, that's racing".[19] Had Devon Loch completed the race he may have set a new record for fastest finishing time, which ESB missed by only four fifths of a second. Many explanations have been offered for Devon Loch's behaviour, but the incident remains inexplicable. In modern language, 'to do a Devon Loch', is used to describe a last minute failure to achieve an expected victory.
The 1967 running saw a major incident when most of the field were dismounted allowing the rank outsider Foinavon to become a surprise winner at odds of 100/1. At the 23rd fence a loose horse from the 1st fence, Popham Down, suddenly veered across the leading group causing them to either stop, refuse or unseat their riders. Racing journalist Lord Oaksey described the resulting pile-up by saying that Popham Down had "cut down the leaders like a row of thistles". Some horses even started running in the wrong direction. Foinavon had been lagging some hundred yards behind the leading pack, this gave his jockey, Johnny Buckingham, time to steer his mount wide of the melee and make a clean jump of the fence on the outside. Although 17 jockeys remounted and made up considerable ground, especially Honey End, the 15-2 favourite, none had time to catch Foinavon before he crossed the finishing line. The 23rd fence has since been named The Foinavon Fence. In 1993 the result of the race was declared void. While under starter's orders a series of incidents occurred which resulted in several horses and jockeys being caught in the starting tape which had failed to rise correctly.
In 1997 the Saturday meeting was abandoned after two coded bomb threats were received, reportedly from the IRA. The course was secured by police who then evacuated jockeys, race personnel and local residents along with 60,000 spectators. The race was run on the following Monday, with the meeting organisers offering free admission. Cars and coaches were locked in the course grounds leaving some 20,000 people without their vehicles over the weekend. With limited accommodation available in the city, local residents opened their doors and took in many of those stranded.