It is a well known fact that not every horse that starts the Grand National will finish it. Many horses fall and the worst Grand National for fallers was in 1929 when a record number of 66 runners saw only 10 complete the course. Some of these were pulled up, but at least 40 of them were fallers. In 1927 only 2 of the 42 starters finished the race, but at least half of these were pulled out, so cannot be classified as fallers. (continue reading…)
Posts Tagged ‘Grand National’
The news that JP McManus has added to his racing interests will please many racing pundits as well as his retained jockey Tony McCoy. Last week McManus bought this year’s two best three year old hurdlers in France ? Sway and Temple Lord. He also purchased the only horse to beat the Grade One winner Rendons Grace. The three horses will for the time being stay with their trainers Guy Cherel and Marcel Rolland, but the time will no doubt come where McCoy will race one of them in the Grand National. McCoy has raced for McManus since 2004, and even though they have not yet had a victory at the Grand National, he has admitted that there is no way that he would race for anyone else. Fans of McCoy find it gutting for him, McManus and themselves that McCoy hasn’t managed to pull off winning the great race, especially as he is such an accomplished jockey and he is so loyal to McManus. McCoy has raced the National 14 times, with 5 of them being raced on McManus’s horses. While this may sound like a bad record, it does not prove as poor as McManus’s who has had 23 losers in the past 8 years.Looking at these records paints both McCoy and McManus in a very bad light ? they are both in fact extremely talented at what they do. Richard Dunwoody used to be the most successful jump jockey winning 1,699 races but McCoy quickly took that title having won over 3,000 National Hunt races. This in itself is hugely impressive, and will probably not be matched in our lifetimes. He is extremely dedicated and performs to a very high level of consistency ? he won the conditional riders title in 1995, and never looked back, he has an unbroken run as champion jockey which extends to 13 years. He also holds the record for the most winners in a British season ? in 2002 he won 289 races compared to the original record breaker’s (Sir Gordon Richard) total of 269.JP McManus on the other hand is a big national hunt supporter and nearly always has more than one horse racing in the Grand National. He has his own stud farm, Martinstown Stud, near Kilmallock, County Limerick in the Republic of Ireland where he is from, and he owns excellent horses ? his most celebrated horse, Istabraq, won the Champion Hurdle three years in a row at the Cheltenham festival. McManus is not just celebrated for his huge support of horseracing or his profound wealth, he is respected so much because he loves taking the bookies to the cleaners and he undisputedly has a good heart. He regularly donates money to worthy causes, to such an extent that he has been presented with the Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society of Trinity College Dublin in return for his charitable contributions.Could this be the reasons whey McCoy holds such respect for McManus? Whatever the reason may be, McCoy has no intention of ever letting McManus down, having stated that he would much rather ride a 50-1 shot of his than the 6-4 favourite. McCoy knows what the Grand National means to McManus, so no-one will ever tempt him off one of his horses. Now that is a good combination, and hopefully one that will get to see McCoy ride and win one of McManus’s new purchases at some point in the not too distant future!
In UK, one of the major events is Horse Racing. For attending the major races like Cheltenham or the Grand National, people are having a big craze about race, women don their best attractive dressing and man are also wear impressive dress. The first thing for which you should look is that if any horse had already won in previous races at same distance and for this you need to watch on the right side of the horse. The letters you will look will be a ‘C’ & ‘D’ if the horse has won at the course before or if the horse has won a race at the same distance respectively. Sometimes you will see a ‘CD’, which written because the horse has won a race at the same distance which was at this course. This is a good idea to choose the horse already won very similar race as it has already proven it is potential and thus there is no question, why it cannot win again. There are likely as lot of horse race betting sites as there are horse races these days and that makes it very easy for both the seasoned pro and the beginner bettor. The very first thing to do, of course is sign up at any large, reputable betting site online. The way it works are you first select which site, or sites, you had chosen to join and then you make cash payment in advance before making a bet. The benefit is you can experience in real-time, which races are due to run and what the odds are on each horse. At the time of bet you want to be sure, you have the most up-to-the-minute statistics on each horse. Since there is no magic ball involved, your better bet will be to analyze these odds before investing your hard-earned cash.When it comes to betting, winning depends intemperately on luck however, to improve your odds you will want to examine your chances of winning. Take a few minutes time before each race and judge the information readily available. Remember, when we say about beginners guide to online horse race betting you should only wager what you can afford and if you are new to the experience then you may end up relying on selecting a horse that has an attractive name or is a pretty color. This is the improper strategy. You require analyzing the odds, hedging your wagers against these odds, and then betting what you can afford to lose in the event you go bust.Once you have make the bet and feel easy without imaging the outcome, it is time to sit back, enjoy the ride (so to speak) and be prepared to win or lose. Either way, horse race wagering can be a merriment and exciting experience if done in moderation and can be done affordably.There is enough more components to take into account when selecting winning horses. The selection must have a good run and hope fully with a bit of look it will finish well. (continue reading…)
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Unfortunately in horse racing, like all sports there is sometimes foul play to be found, and it was discovered in the first ever Grand National in 1839. An Irish challenger Rust, ridden by William McDonough was running so well that a crowd invaded the course and hemmed in the horse until all the other runners had long since passed. McDonough was foiled again four years later when a spectator invaded the course on horseback and knocked him from the saddle.In 1842 hooligans again made their way onto the course and made Peter Simple flinch and draw back; throwing his rider from the saddle; all because he had taken the lead beyond Valentine’s second time around. The rider remounted and finished third.In 1854 the heavily backed Miss Mowbray was withdrawn one hour before the race as someone had managed to apply a blister to her fore-leg. In 1885 devastating foul play occurred when former winner Zoedone, the 5-1 second favourite was ‘got at’. Her rider-owner Count Charles Kinsky had received a number of anonymous letters prior to the race warning him that an attempt would be made on his mare. He therefore hired detectives to watch over her 24 hours a day and all her food and drinking water were scrupulously checked. On the day of the race all was going well until Zoedone was led down to the course where she was to be mounted. In the scramble that took place of racegoers attempting to get a better view of the runners, it was some time before her rider got to his horse on the course. When Kinsky prepared to mount he noticed a smearing of blood on his white jacket which came from a small puncture mark near Zoedone’s nostril. This could not be evidence that she had been doped until she fell at the first practice hurdle on the way to the starting line. When she was remounted she became lethargic and crashed into the fence before Becher’s second time around. There she lay motionless for several minutes and could only be led away after a quarter of an hour had elapsed. The eight year old mare never raced again.Finally, in 1910 the National Hunt Committee declared the doping of horses to be illegal. There has never been an instance of a Grand National runner being found to have been given illegal drugs but rumours of foul play continued to arise every now and again.The most outrageous allegation of foul play has to have been when Eddie Dempsey; who had won the 1947 National on Caughoo, a 100-1 chance , by 20 lengths from Lough Conn; was accused by the runner up of having taken a short cut through the Aintree fog, missing at least 15 of the 30 fences. As you can imagine a right royal punch-up ensued, followed by a very ridiculous law suit which was of course almost instantly dismissed. Just goes to show how passionate people get about the Grand National! For more on the great race go to grand-national.me.uk (continue reading…)
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Lester Piggott was born in 1935, the son of Keith Piggott, who was a successful national hunt jockey and a Grand National trainer. Keith’s father before him, Ernest Piggott was a champion jockey and won the Grand National three times and founded one great horseracing dynasty and joined it with another when he married Margaret Cannon, a descendant of Sam Day, three times winner of the Derby and sister of jockeys Mornington and Kempton Cannon. This of course all adds up to a pretty impressive introduction to the world of horseracing, and it can most definitely be stated that Lester has horseracing in his blood, and it was of course natural for Lester to have started horseriding from a very early age. He rode his first race winner at the Chase at Haydock Park at the age of 12 and rode his first Epsom Derby winner, Never Say Die in 1954 at the age of 18 ? they youngest person to ever win the event.Piggott was nicknamed ‘The Long Fellow’ due to his exceptionally tall height for a jockey of 5 foot 8 inches, and is recognized both for being the finest flat racing jockey of his generation, but also as the Epsom Derby champion, having won the race a total of nine times. After winning the Epsom Derby he got together with trainers Vincent O Brien and Henry Cecil, and won the Derby again in 1957 on Crepello.Piggott has won almost every race you could name in Western Europe, winning 5,300 times in more than 30 countries and has been victorious at the Ascot Gold cup 11 times, as well as being Champion jockey 11 times.In 1985 he retired from horseracing for the first time, venturing away from being a jockey to try his hand as a racehorse trainer. In this he was also successful until he had a disaster in 1987 by ending up in prison due to tax evasion. As well as his three year prison sentence he also had to deal with the shame of being stripped of his OBE.He returned to horseracing with his head held high in 1990 and had won a race within 10 days of being released from jail. In 1992 he won another Classic, the 2,000 Guineas on Rodrigo de Triano bringing his British Classic total to 30. With so many races won and being a jockey of such distinction it is hard to pinpoint was Piggott’s greatest achievement is, but some would argue that winning the Epsom Derby 8 times, in 3 consecutive decades would be at the top of the achievement list!He retired in 1995 but did take part in a special race at the Melbourne Cup meeting in 2001. He has had some health problems but was seen out and about at the Ascot in 2007 as well as the Epsom Derby, where in an interview with the BBC he tipped the winner! (continue reading…)
John McCririck, born April 17, 1940 in Surrey, is almost as famous for his for his hats and flamboyant attire as he is for being a television horse racing pundit. He is an eccentric character who lives in London with his long-suffering wife of 37 years, Jennie, whom he calls ‘The Booby’ – a ‘silly South American bird which ‘flaps and squawks’, and as a professed chauvinist, refers to her as his Minister for Finance, Motoring and Catering. (continue reading…)
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a three mile, two and a half furlong race with a horrible 237 yard uphill finish. It started in 1924 and was then considered to be no more than a form guide and trial for the Grand National. The reason for this was mostly due to the prizes ? the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner received ВЈ685, while the winner of the National got a whopping ВЈ8,240.It has always been that horses who did well in the Gold Cup tended to go on to the Grand National but there has been some derision about the correlation between how a horse running in the Gold Cup may fare when handicapped in the National. There is also the issue of the severity of the National so soon after the challenge of the Gold Cup ? there are just three weeks between the races, and sometimes due to Easter, they can occur but 15 days apart. Furthermore the National weights are framed before the Gold Cup, so the horses form at Cheltenham doesn’t get taken into account during handicapping. In 1999 Double Thriller was made a well-backed favourite for the National after coming fourth in the Gold Cup. It was very evident for all to see that if the handicapper could have taken into account his Gold Cup run he would have allotted him at least a stone more than his 10 stone 8 pounds. The National occurred 23 days after the Cheltenham race and he fell at the first fence. Again in 2002 the National included three horses who had run in the Gold Cup ? Marlborough, What’s Up Boys and Alexander Banquet. All three were among the top four in the weights at Aintree: Marlborough weighing in at 11st 12lbs, Alexander Banquet 11st 11lbs and What’s Up Boys 11st 6lbs. Marlborough fell at the first, Alexander Banquet fell at the sixth and What’s up Boys finished runner up by just one and a quarter lengths. This really is amazing considering no horse had carried more than 11 stone to win since Corbiere at 11st 4 lbs twenty years previously.The days have long gone since the Cheltenham Gold Cup has been regarded as a warm up for the Grand National. In fact it is now a race of very high regard and horses who win it are rarely risked in the turbulence of the race that is the Grand National. In 2003 it was noted that the six finishers in the National had missed out Cheltenham as they were being specially targeted for the Aintree race. In the past decade only two horses have won the Grand National after running at Cheltenham ? Bindaree in 2002 and Silver Birch in 2007, but Silver Birch’s victory may have been due to the fact that there was a four week gap between the races. Only one horse has won the Gold Cup and the National in the same season, but six jockeys have managed it: Tommy Cullinan, Gerry Wilson, Fred Winter, Tommy Carberry, John Burke and Jim Culloty.
The Grand National is one of the most famous steeplechases in the world, and it was two Irish fox-hunting men, Edmund Blake and Cornelius O’Callaghan who came up with the name ‘steeplechase’ in 1752. They did this by running from steeple to steeple in Co. Cork, so it is fitting that Ireland have the greatest ‘foreign’ impact on the Grand National, a race that is run over approximately the same distance as the original steeplechase from St John’s Church in Buttevant to St Mary’s Church at Doneraile. So great is the Irish influence, that the Grand National has become a distinctly Anglo-Irish festivity.The Irish have been competing in the race since it was first run in 1839, with owner Tony Ferguson bringing over three horses to compete that year ? Daxon, Rust and Barkson. Ferguson himself rode Daxon, but fell as did Barkson, but Rust proved such a worthy contender that the course was invaded by opposing punters who brought him to a halt. Needless to say, it didn’t put the Irish off ? the following year half of the contenders were Irish with one of them giving name to the second brook – Valentine, so good was his handling of it.In 1847 the Irish won the Grand National for the first time, with Matthew, a joint 10-1 favourite. Three years later they won again with Abd-El-Kader who went on to become the first horse to win successive Nationals. Since then, even though many are English trained and owned, the majority of National winners have been bred in Ireland ? including Red Rum, the Nationals only triple champion; Golden Miller, who is the only horse to have won both the National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same year; Cloister, twice runner up before winning by a record 40 lengths even though he weighed in at a huge 12st 7lb; Manifesto, who ran in a record eight Grand Nationals, winning two, coming third twice, and fourth once.As well as excellent horses, Ireland has also produced brilliant trainers and jockeys with Henry Eyre Linde, Willie Garrett and Michael Vincent O’ Brien to name but a few of the former group. Things stepped up a notch for Irish born jockeys when four brothers ? the Beasleys, rode in the National in the same year ? 1879. None of them won that year, another Irishman did, but it didn’t stop them coming back again and again with Tommy winning in 1880, 1881 and 1889 and Harry winning as rider and trainer in 1891.Since 1995 no fewer than ten of thirteen National winners have been ridden by Irishmen, and they are recognised as a dominant force in the National Hunt. 2006 saw a record number of Irish horses entered for the National ? thirty eight. Twentyone made it to the 40 runner line-up, and they took first, second and fourth places , while the third and fifth finishers, though England-based, were both owned and trained by Irishmen, JP McManus and Jonjo O’Neill.
The rules of entry to the Grand National have changed greatly over the years, and today the race is restricted to horses over the age of five, with a British Horseracing Authority rating of at least 110. Each entry to the race costs ВЈ450, closes in January and in February the allotted weights are announced. A horse who is not qualified for a rating in either Great Britain or Ireland may be eligible at the discretion of the handicapper as long as the handicapper is satisfied that the horse would merit a minimum rating of 110 and he has run at least three times in chases run under the Rules.In recent years more safety measures have been introduced due to criticisms that the race has been exposed to. All runners in the race now have to pass a pre-race veterinary examination. It is also now compulsory that if a horse has not run at least six times over fences in Britain then they have to be discussed by the Jockey Clubs Entry Review Panel.In principle the rules are regarded as excellent but in practice they sometimes don’t work as well. In 2002 there was a record entry of 144 which produced no fewer than 16 horses that had not run six times over fences in Britain. This included a six year old handicap hurdler Majed, who had never raced over fences in Britain and was still a novice despite seven attempts at Auteuil as a four year old trained in France. The weights allotted allowed Majed to enter yet there were other horses who had won races such as the Tote Becher Chase and the Grand Yorkshire Chase who were excluded.However the rules of entry have made the game safer, and not just for the horses. Since 1990 jockeys also have to pass a medical examination and have to have ridden ‘not less than 15 winners in steeplechases or hurdles’. This was introduced when the 300-1 outsider Brown Trix, ridden by a 52 year old amateur suffered a very upsetting end when he slithered into the ditch after falling at Becher’s Brook. Until 2002 you could apply for special dispensation form the 15 winner rule and it was with this allowance that amateur Joe Tizzard was able to race Straight Talk in 1997. After this, the rule was strictly applied, much to the disgust of Martin Pipe who approached the Jockey Club to seek permission to use the 18 year old amateur Jamie Moore, who, in the week before the Grand National had a career total of 10 winners. The request was politely declined. However the jockey managed to ride two trebles to qualify with four days to spare, and he finished 13th at Aintree on Royal Predica.In the Autumn of 2006 the rules of entry were slightly relaxed when the Licensing Committee decided they would consider applicants on an individual basis if they had ridden ten or more winners over fences. (continue reading…)
In 1982 Geraldine Rees riding Cheers became the first female jockey to complete the Grand National course and in the history of the race just fourteen women have ridden and just four have completed the course. They are Geraldine Rees, the last of eight finishers on Cheers in 1982, Rosemary Henderson who came fifth in 1994 on Fiddlers Pike, Carrie Ford took fifth place on Forest Runner in 2005, and Nina Carberry came ninth on Forest Gunner in 2006.It wasn’t until 1971 that the Jockey Club agreed to let women ride under Rules in Britain and then only in amateur races on the Flat. In May of the next year the first all-women jockeys’ race was won by the 50-1 shot Scorched Earth ridden by Meriel Tufnell. Meriel went on to become a champion rider in Britain and Europe, but it was not until 1975, when Meriel retired, that women were allowed to ride against professionals. Although change was in the air, the idea of ladies being allowed to ride in the National Hunt was strongly resisted. The introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act came into effect in January 1976 and Diana Thorne became the first woman to ride a winner under the National Hunt rules. In April that year Charlotte Brew became the first woman to complete one circuit of the National course. By finishing first and last in the Greenall Whitley Fox Hunters’ Chase, Brews horse Barony Fort had qualified for the Grand National. So on April 2, 1977 history was made as the 21 year old Brew became the first woman to ride in the Grand National, successfully clearing 26 of the 30 fences before her horse gave up at the fourth last. This was the same year that Red Rum won his third National, so the only attention given to Miss Brew was Red Rum’s trainer Ginger McCain declaring that the Grand National was no place for female riders.McCain was not the only one opposed to female riders and this was even more concentrated in 1979 when Jenny Hembrow, a former champion point-to-point rider suffered a heavy first fence fall on Sandwilan. But she is one of just two women to have two cracks at the race ? she tried again the following year on the same horse and got to the 19th before pulling up. The 19th also proved to be the downfall of the race for Linda Sheedy who rode Deiopea in 1981. Geraldine Rees became the first woman to complete the course when Cheers came 8th (and last) in 1982 but didn’t do so well the following year when she rode Midday Welcome who fell at the first.Valerie Alder fell eighth at the Canal Turn in 1984 on Bush Guide. In 1987 Jacqui Oliver was unseated on the 15th. 1988 saw the first and only triple challenge by lady riders ? Gee Armytage on Gee-A, Veneita Williams on Marcolo and Peny Ffitch-Heyes on Hettinger. Hettinger fell at the first, while Marcolo crashed out at Bechers after safely negotiating five fences. Gee Armytage had the most promising ride of the three and Gee-A briefly disputed the lead but had to be pulled up after Becher’s on the second circuit, due to Miss Armytage pulling a muscle in her back.Only one lady rider secured a place in the line-up in 1989 ? Tarnya Davis on Numerate who jumped well enough but was exhausted on the sticky ground and had to be pulled up at the 21st. In 1994 Rosemary Henderson was dubbed the ‘galloping granny’ due to her 51 years, though in reality she had no children. Even though jockeys were required to have a minimum of 15 winners under the Rules, Ms Henderson was granted dispensation because of her wide experience in point-to-points where she had been successful 39 times. She became the second woman to finish the National on Fiddlers Pike.Carrie Ford came fifth in 2005 on Forest Gunner after a lot of media speculation that Ford may have been the first lady rider to win the race. She had won with Forest Gunner over the National fences in the 2004 Fox Hunters Chase just 10 weeks after giving birth, and she lacked nothing in experience having ridden her first point-to-point at the tender age of 16, and had 99 rides against professional jockeys. The great joy of her placement of fifth was that she came five places ahead of Amberleigh House whose trainer Ginger McCain had threatened to bare his bum if a lady rode the winner of the National.In 2006 Nina Carberry took over the ride of Forest Gunner, but sadly her credentials were not matched to the horse ? he was now 12 years old, 3lb heavier and past his best, but despite all this they still managed to come ninth.Women are asserting themselves more and more in the world of sport and it will only be a matter of time before a woman is given the opportunity to ride an outstanding chaser in the Grand National! (continue reading…)
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