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Telegraph
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
I won the Grand National, but would not get a ride in it now
Will the Grand National be won by one of the big guns who has stacked the field with multiple runners? Or will it be one for the romantics? It so often used to be a triumph for a small outfit barely known outside jump racing, when the story around a horse had an uncanny knack of being more important than its form. Part of me still believes that the National is more magical than any other race, that it has a mystical power. It always seemed there was a strong helping hand from fate, and the National would bestow winning on certain people for unexplainable reasons in a way the Cheltenham Gold Cup could not. The National was open to all, a part-time amateur like myself had the same chance as, if not better than, the champion jockey. These days I would not get a ride in the race. A modern National is very different from the ones I used to ride in the latter part of the 20th Century. It is easy to forget that in my era it was very different from the 1950s and 1960s, an age when the fences were like brick walls and the drama was such that incidents in two Nationals, 1956 and 1967, both made it into modern language; to 'do a Devon Loch' or, the opposite, 'a Foinavon'. When I won the National aboard Mr Frisk, it smashed Red Rum's course record by 14.1 seconds, purely because it was firm ground and Uncle Merlin set an impossibly strong gallop until unseating at Becher's Brook. Red Rum's trainer Ginger McCain told me it was because the fences were so small (the ditch on the landing side of Becher's had been filled in that year). You could not let Ginger get away with that sort of stuff, so to annoy him more I replied by way of backchat that by the time Red Rum was coming to the Elbow I was already weighed in. With my journalist's hat on rather than as an ex-jockey, the truth is it had to evolve to something near what it is today. Had I been in charge, I would have held my nerve and left it at 40 runners rather than reducing it to 34. I would also cut the prize-money because the race's problems really began when they became hell-bent on making it the first £1 million race. It had the prestige, it did not need to make the prize so valuable in monetary terms that people started running unsuitable horses in the race. But the large number of horses fielded by certain trainers this year is more a reflection of the way jump racing as a whole is going rather than the way the race has gone. Whether or not you consider it a better race depends on what you want out of the National. If as a once-a-year punter you want 15 horses in with a shout at the second-last and there is a blank in the casualty list, then it unquestionably is better. If you want lots of colour, thrills and spills, a once-a-year high-risk challenge and maybe just four horses in with a chance from the last time they cross the Melling Road, then it fails the better count. Where old Nationals with solid fences and steep drops tested a horse and jockey's courage and bravery, the current one merely tests stamina and a different type of equine intelligence. I was taken to my first National aged eight in 1973. My father had two runners in the race and I stood behind Fred Winter, trainer of Crisp, on the grandstand because he was short and the only person I had a chance to see over. Red Rum gradually closing down Crisp inspired this small boy to one day be part of what had just unfolded in front of him – just to ride in it, let alone win it. I did not sleep for the two nights before my first ride on a 200-1 outsider in 1987. Because of Foinavon I still had a chance and I was so excited. Every sinew of a horse's being was stretched over Becher's and I have a photograph of Brown Veil's nose just an inch off the ground as she landed safely. Now horses barely nod. One of the great things about the National was its accessibility to all. If you had the wherewithal and the determination you could probably work at a desk on a Friday and ride in the National on a Saturday. But in becoming sanitised it has become almost too professional for its own good and it does appear that a modern National is devoid of colour. That said, maybe we are collectively suffering from short memories. It probably irked people in the 1950s when Vincent O'Brien won it three years on the trot with three different horses. One imagines not too many ardent National fans were upset to see him switch his attention to the Derby. I am not saying we must go and dig up the likes of Tim Durant, the American amateur from Hollywood who completed the course at the age of 68 after remounting, or the various other Eddie the Eagles who took part. They, however, gave the race something extra and I, for one, mourn their passing. For this reason this year I will be rooting for Idas Boy – trained by Richard Phillips, an old housemate who lit candles at mass for me in 1990. Phillips is employing jockey Harry Bannister as much as anything because he, like me as a boy, kept scrapbooks on the race. He gets the National and is a jockey with one ambition. Some of his weighing-room colleagues may think it is 'just another race'. For him and Phillips, the National is sacrosanct and I hope the racing Gods pick them.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Grand National 2025, explained: Date, time, when are horses announced and more
The year has turned and that means the Grand National 2025 is now firmly on the horizon. No other race captures the imagination quite like it and this year promises to be no different with up to 34 horses bound for the start line at Aintree. For a rundown of the top contenders for this years race – click here The Grand National takes place on Saturday April 5, 2025 and is the biggest race of the three-day Grand National meeting at Aintree racecourse, starting on Thursday, April 8. The tapes will go and the runners will be off at 4pm on April 5. The Grand National, as well as the three-day meeting bearing its name, take place at Aintree Racecourse, just outside of Liverpool. The vast majority of races held at Aintree are run over the Mildmay course, which features normal hurdle and chase tracks. The Grand National is a triangular-shaped course, just over 2m2f long. All races on this course, including the Grand National itself, are run over the famous fences. Until 2023, the maximum field size for the race was 40 but that has since been reduced to 34 as part of wider efforts to make the race safer of jockeys and horses. The deadline for entries for the race is today, with the handicap weights then published on February 11. One of the longest races of the entire season, the Grand National is run over 4m2f – just under two circuits of the Grand Nations course at Aintree. This is very dependent on conditions. The fastest time ever was recorded by Mr Frisk in 1990, who remains the only horse in history to compete the course in under nine minutes. For what it's worth the slowest time is still the first ever running of the race in 1839, when Lottery took 14m53s to win the race. The average winning time all time is 9m10s. We will not know the confirmed field until 48 hours before the race but there are several hoops to jump through until we reach that point. Click here for a full list of entries for the race. February 11 – Weights published for all runners February 25 – First round of scratches* March 18 – Second round of scratches March 31 – Five-day confirmations April 3 – 48 hour declarations and final field confirmed * Scratches are official deadlines for connections to withdraw their horses The 34 runners will be asked to jump 30 fences to complete race, a number of which vary in terms of size and width. Changes have been made to the fences over the years to make them safer for horses and riders. These include removal of solid cores to allow horses to brush through easier and increasing the height of toe boards so they are in line with normal fences. The race is perhaps the only one in the world to have fences that have as a big a reputation as the horses running. Undoubtedly the most famous in Beechers Brook, the 6th and 22nd fence of the race. The fence itself is not the biggest on the course but landing area is between 5 and ten inches lower (depending on where it is jumped) than the take-off side, making it more of a challenging landing for horses. The fence itself has undergone major changes over the years in order to make it safer. The Chair is the biggest fence on the course. Not only does it stand 5ft2in tall but also features a 6ft-wide ditch in front of it. The landing side is six inches higher than the take-off side, creating the opposite effect to Beecher's Brook. The Canal Turn is another famous fence, known best for the 90-degree turn horses have to make after the landing. The fence itself is fairly fearsome as is, standing 5ft tall. Another fence of note is one of the smallest on the course, Foinavon. This one gets its name from the famous pile up that occurred there during the 1967 Grand National. Foinavon was the biggest beneficiary. As the only horse who was not impeded by the chaos, he and jockey John Buckingham scooted clear to seize victory. The total prize fund for the race is £1 million, with winning connections earning £500,000. The remaining prize-money breaks down as follows: Second place – £200,000 Third place – £100,000 Fourth place – £65,000 Fifth place – £40,000 Sixth place – £30,000 Seventh place – £20,000 Eight place – £ 15,000 Ninth place – £10,000 Tenth place – £5000 Yes, tickets are available to purchase now, with prices varying from £85 for the Festival Zone area through to £195 for a dedicated seat in the best vantage point in the grand stand. Across the opening two days of the meeting, the tickets are cheaper, ranging from £31.50 to £130. There are also a host of hospitality packages available. Visit for more information. When was the first Grand National?
