This Saturday sees the running of the most famous horse race in Britain, The Grand National. It doesn’t have as long a history as The Derby (first run in 1779) or feature the best thoroughbreds, the National is a steeplechase that started in 1836 and today is probably the biggest single betting event each year in the UK.
Its a race where even people who don’t gamble or know anything about horseracing will have a bet and in most offices and workplaces in the week leading up to the race people will be entering sweepstakes. Newspapers will print out the list of runners and people take turns drawing out a name of a horse for a pound or two. Who ever picks the winning horse collects the winning pot on Monday.
What makes the Grand National special is the one off course and size of the field which makes for a unique spectacle. Its run at Aintree racecourse on the north side of Liverpool and features 40 horses racing over two full circuits of the 2 1/4 mile Aintree course and jumping 30 of the biggest fences in jump racing. It normally takes over 9 minutes for the winner to complete the 4 1/2 miles.
The number of horses and the fences they have to jump make the National action packed from start to finish, 40 horses might start the race but most years only 6 or 7 will finish, the rest falling at some point in the race. The run to the first fence is like a cavalry charge with 40 horses strung out across the track.
Among the famous fences jumped in the Grand National are Beechers Brook which normally claims lots of victims as the landing side is 2ft lower than the take off side, giving a drop of almost 7ft, The Chair which has a 6ft wide ditch in front it, The Canal Turn where horses have to make an immediate 90 degree turn on landing as there’s a canal straight ahead of them and the Foinavon Fence named after the 100-1 1967 winner who avoided a mass pile up at this fence that year because he was trailing so far behind.
Its a very hard race to pick a winner in because luck plays a big part, this year’s favourite so far is Joe’s Edge along with 2006 winner Numbersixvalverde and 2005 winner Hedgehunter. If you’re in the UK this weekend don’t bet the farm but have £5 and join the rest of the country tuning in at 4.15pm to watch one of Britain’s biggest annual sporting events.
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