The Grand National
A 100/1 outsider won after a pile-up, a horse once collapsed yards from victory, and a car dealer's beach-trained champion won it three times.
Published
Quick Facts
- Where
- Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool
- First run
- 1839, the first race now counted as a Grand National (Lottery won)
- Distance
- About 4 miles 2½ furlongs over two circuits
- Fences
- 30 jumps, 16 of them different
- Most famous winner
- Red Rum: won in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and was second in 1975 and 1976
- Biggest shock
- Foinavon, 100/1, in 1967
- Historic firsts
- Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to win the race, in 2021
- Field size
- Capped at 34 runners from 2024
The hotelier who started it all
The Grand National began with a Liverpool hotelier. William Lynn, who ran the Waterloo Hotel, leased land at Aintree from Lord Sefton and built a racecourse there. The race that is now counted as the first Grand National was run in 1839, and Lottery won it. Lottery's name suited the event. The National is a race where preparation, courage and sheer fortune get tangled together over about four miles and two and a half furlongs of big fences. The early races were rougher affairs. The course included a stone wall to jump and stretches of ploughed ground to cross. Over the years the course was tamed bit by bit, but it has never lost its reputation as the most daunting test in jump racing.
Why a brook carries a captain's name
Captain Martin Becher rode Conrad in the 1839 race and was thrown at the sixth fence, landing in the brook on the far side. The water-filled ditch became Becher's Brook and is still the most famous fence in the sport. It isn't the only jump with a story. The Chair is the tallest on the course and is jumped just before the runners pass the stands on the first circuit. The Canal Turn demands a sharp left-hand bend straight after the jump, so jockeys angle across it to save ground. Then there is the 23rd fence, which now carries the name of a horse that barely deserved to be remembered until he won.
The 100/1 shot that nobody saw coming
In 1967 Foinavon started at 100/1 and was so far behind that he was at the back when chaos broke out. A loose horse, Popham Down, veered across the 23rd fence and caused a pile-up that brought down or stopped almost the whole field. John Buckingham, riding Foinavon, steered round the mess and jumped it clear. He went on to win by 15 lengths. The fence was later named after him. The National has a habit of long shots. In 1928 Tipperary Tim won at 100/1 in a race where only two horses completed the course.
Red Rum and the car dealer's beach gallops
Red Rum is the horse most people think of first. Trained by Ginger McCain, a used-car dealer who worked from behind a showroom in Southport, he was exercised on the nearby beach and in the sea water. In 1973 he caught the long-time leader Crisp in the closing strides and set a record time that lasted until 1990. He won again in 1974 and finished second in 1975 and 1976. In 1977 he won a historic third National with Tommy Stack in the saddle. Brian Fletcher had ridden him to his first two wins. Red Rum died in 1995 and is buried at the winning post at Aintree.
Heartbreak, bravery and bombs
In 1956 Devon Loch, owned by the Queen Mother and ridden by Dick Francis, was going clear on the run-in when he suddenly sprawled flat on his belly yards from the line. ESB won instead. The reason for the collapse has never been settled. In 1981 Bob Champion, who had recovered from cancer, rode Aldaniti to a famous victory. Their story was later made into a film. The race has also been interrupted. In 1993 a false start left the race declared void after some jockeys carried on. In 1997 an IRA bomb threat forced an evacuation and the race was run two days later on the Monday, with Lord Gyllene winning. In 2020 the race was cancelled because of Covid.
Records, breakthroughs and modern changes
Tiger Roll won back-to-back Nationals in 2018 and 2019 for trainer Gordon Elliott. Tony McCoy won his first Grand National in 2010 on Don't Push It, at the 15th attempt. Women have made their mark too. Charlotte Brew was the first to ride in the race, in 1977, on Barony Fort. In 2021 Rachael Blackmore made history as the first woman to win it, on Minella Times, in a year when no spectators were allowed. The fences and field size have been changed repeatedly to improve safety, with the field capped at 34 from 2024. The Grand National remains the one race a lot of people bet on all year, and one of the great national sporting events.
Notable people
- William Lynn
- Martin Becher
- Ginger McCain
- Brian Fletcher
- Tommy Stack
- John Buckingham
- Dick Francis
- Bob Champion
- Charlotte Brew
- Tony McCoy
- Rachael Blackmore
- Gordon Elliott
- Davy Russell
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