A Review of Grand National
The Grand National is one of the most famous steeplechase races in the world, and has been taking place at Aintree in Liverpool since the 1830’s. The Grand National is run over a distance of 4 miles 4 furlongs, with a total of thirty fences to be navigated, some of which such as ‘Becher’s Brook’ are infamous for their brutality. In later years these fences have been tamed a little in an attempt to reduce casualties, but the Grand National is still a grueling race and the ultimate test of horsemanship, making it the event all the top runners and trainers want to win.
The difficulties of the Grand National make it an interesting and tricky race to predict. In the last hundred years an amazing 89% of the winners have been outsiders, which makes betting large sums of money a very risky venture. Because of this people usually bet for fun on the Grand National, enjoying picking long shots based on no more than the horses name, or even the colour of the jockey’s jersey.
This ‘fun’ element, combined with the exciting and dangerous course makes the Grand National an event that exists outside the racing world, with millions of people worldwide watching and placing bets. This universal appeal can be seen in the legends the race has produced, and the year jockey Tommy Stacks rode Red Rum to his third victorious Grand National win is often considered one of the greatest moments in sporting history.
It is interesting to note the majority of winners of the Grand National have been bay geldings, between 9 or 10 years old, bred in England or Ireland. The winners have not necessarily been the fittest in the field, or the ones from the most experienced training stables, because the main quality that seems to win the hardest steeplechase in the world is heart. The 2007 winner Silver Birch had all these qualities, a 10-year-old bay gelding who had been dropped by his previous trainer for bad tendons, he stormed through at 33-1 odds to become the sixth Irish-trained horse to win the Grand National in the past 9 years. 
Filed under: Tournaments
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