Grand National 2013 – Races and Tickets

Christopher 25/03/2013 no comments »
Grand National 2013 – Races and Tickets

The John Smith’s Grand National returns to Aintree racecourse in Liverpool between the 4th and 6th of April 2013. The Grand Opening will take place on Thursday 4th, Ladies Day on Friday 5th and Grand National Day, including the namesake showpiece steeplechase, on Saturday 6th.

Current

The 2013 Grand National will be the 166th annual running of the event at Aintree and it is one of, if not the, most famous event on the racing calendar. It is one of only four events held at Aintree each year. A maximum field of 40 runners will compete for a share of the £975,000 prize fund, making the National the most valuable jump race in Europe. The Grand National was won last year by the 33-1 horse Neptune Collonges, ridden by jockey Daryl Jacob, who beat Sunnyhillboy in a photo finish resulting in the closest finish to a Grand National ever. Joint-favourite Seabass finished third, meaning that Katie Walsh, in her first outing in the race, scored the best result ever for a female jockey in the Grand National. The favourite for this year’s Grand National at this present time is On His Own, followed by Prince de Beaucheme and last year’s third placed horse, Seabass, although it really is anyone’s race.

The Course

The race covers four miles and four furlongs and the course consists of two circuits of sixteen fences, the first fourteen of which are jumped twice. Many of the fences, such as The Chair, Becher’s Brook and Canal Turn are renowned in the horse racing world. The race is considered among the most demanding steeplechases in the world and the lead often changes hands during the 494-yard run-in after the final fence, which has happened on many an occasion.

No shows booked at the moment.

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History

The first National was supposedly in 1838 but there has been some debates as to when it actually first started. One thing for sure though is that there have been some incredible occurrences ever since. In 1967, one of the race’s most remarkable incidents happened, when a loose horse named Popham Down, who had unseated his rider at the first jump, suddenly veered across the leading group at the 23rd, causing them to either stop, refuse or unseat their riders allowing a rank-outsider, Foinavon, to become a surprise winner at odds of 100/1. In the 1970s, Red Rum dominated the Grand National. He became the only horse to have won the Grand National three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1977 and also finished second in the 1975 and 1976. The horse now has a statue at the racecourse. In 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied outside odds of 100/1 to win by 12 lengths. Mr. Frisk ran the course in the fastest time ever in 1990, completing it in 8 minutes and 47.8 seconds.


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