The Grand National
grandnational.org.uk is your complete guide to the Grand National and an indispensable aid to finding the winner of the most famous and prestigious horse race in the world. Click here to bookmark this site.
The National is one of the highlights of the entire sporting year and the race captures the imagination of millions around the world, thanks to its ability to consistently produce thrilling finishes and heart-warming stories, as horse and rider try to conquer the mighty Aintree fences.
Becher’s Brook and The Chair are now some of the most well known landmarks in the country, and the race has made the likes of Red Rum, Aldaniti, Jenny Pitman and Ginger McCain household names.
In fact, in many ways it is the history of this great event that makes it so special, and we are advocates of learning lessons from the past when trying to find the National winners of the future. Our site therefore includes a trends section dedicated to identifying those vital statistics that all successful horses have had in common. For example, did you know that only Red Rum has managed to carry more than 11st 5lbs to victory since 1957?
Just as noteworthy is the fact that no seven-year-old has won for 67 years and we have to go back another 26 years to find the last successful six-year-old. The last teenager to win the race was 84 years ago and none have made the frame in the National since 1969.
In 2005, four out of our five selections finished in the first six (including tipping HEDGEHUNTER to win) and in 2006 our top two selections came home in 1st and 3rd place (including tipping NUMBERSIXVALVERDE to win). In 2007, whilst not tipping the winner, our trends section identified 5 horses that ticked all of the right boxes, purely based upon historical trends - which included the 33-1 winner SILVER BIRCH. So be sure to check who our trends guide identifies as the most likely winner of the 2008 Grand National. Alternatively, see who our psychic challenger has picked to win this year!
We also have a full race preview containing an in-depth analysis of this year's race, providing you with invaluable guidance on how to find the winner. You can also click here to claim a free £25 bet from Betfair - the UK's leading betting website.
Finally, for those wanting to see this magnificent event live, we have all of the information you’ll need to make the most of your visit to Aintree, including information on getting to Aintree, ticket details and a summary of all of the enclosures and facilities at the racecourse.
The 2007 Grand National had a typically exciting finish as Silver Birch, ridden by Robbie Power, overtook Slim Pickings over the final fence and then resisted a late
charge from McKelvey to win a nail-biting finish by just three-quarters of a length.
Power was understandably delighted: "It is an unreal feeling, a dream come true," he said. "The last furlong was the longest I have ever ridden...we'll be celebrating tonight and it might be more a case of pints of champagne rather than bottles!" The winner was the sixth Irish-trained National winner in the last 9 years. Click here for a full review of the race.
In many ways it is the history of this great event that makes it so special. The Aintree Grand National was first run in 1839 and the famous four-and-a-half mile marathon now attracts a worldwide television audience of 600 million people. Bruce Hobbs, aged 17, was the youngest winning jockey in 1938, on Battleship - the smallest horse ever to win. Dick Saunders, aged 48, was the oldest successful rider on Grittar in 1982, his first and only Grand National ride.
No horse has run in the Grand National more times than Manifesto, who competed in eight renewals of the event between 1895 and 1904. Manifesto won the race twice, in 1897 and 1899, and finished third on three occasions.
The Grand National is also one of the rare major sporting events in which amateurs can, and do, take on professionals. This applies to both trainers and jockeys.
Jenny Pitman is the only woman to have trained a Grand National winner, capturing the race for the first time with Corbiere in 1983. She succeeded again with Royal Athlete in 1995 and finished second with Garrison Savannah in 1991.
As well as its fascinating past, Aintree’s unique course contributes to the mystique surrounding the event.
The fence-building programme at Aintree starts approximately a month before the Grand National meeting is run, with spruce sourced and transported from the Lake District. The total annual cost is about £20,000.
When it was first run at Aintree in 1839, the race featured a solid brick wall as one of the obstacles, although that was abandoned after five years.
Becher's Brook, the sixth fence on the first circuit, was named after Captain Martin Becher. He was unseated from his mount, Conrad, and fell into the ditch when leading in 1839. The obstacle bore his name from that day onwards.
The least number of horses to complete was two, in 1928: Tipperary Tim and Billy Barton (who remounted). In 2001, when Red Marauder beat Smarty, only four horses completed, two of these being remounted.
The biggest field occurred in 1929 when 66 runners faced the starters - a record number for any horse race ever. The smallest field was in 1883 when just 10 faced the starter.
