Category: Grand National

Nowadays run over 3 miles, 6 furlongs and 130 yards, the Welsh Grand National has been a fixture of the Yuletide programme at Chepstow since 1979. Notwithstanding the fact that the going at Chepstow in late December is often soft or heavy, the marathon distance of the Welsh Grand National and its position in the calendar – three months or so before the Grand National, in late March or early April – ought to make it a reliable trial for the Aintree showpiece.

However, it may surprise you to learn that, since 1979, just four horses have won both races and just two of them did so in the same season. The first of them, Corbiere, trained by Jenny Pitman, fought out a tremendous finish with Pilot Officer in the 1982 Welsh Grand National, eventually winning by a head. In the 1983 Grand National, Corbiere held off Greasepaint by three-quarters of a length, thereby making Jenny Pitman the first woman to saddle a Grand National winner.

In 1997, having returned from a 634-day break at Haydock Park in mid-November, Earth Summit, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, won the Welsh Grand National at odds of 25/1, beating Dom Samurai by 1¼ lengths, all out. The following April, he justified favouritism in the 1998 Grand National, staying on well to beat Suny Bay, who was conceding 23lb, by 11 lengths.

Nigel Twiston-Davies also won the Welsh National and the Grand National with Bindaree, although he won at Aintree in 2002, the year before he won at Chepstow. The other horse to win both races was Silver Birch, who won at Chepstow in 2004, when trained by Paul Nicholls, and at Aintree three years later, when trained by Gordon Elliott.

 

The popularity of ante-post betting on horse racing – that is, placing a bet on the outcome of a horse race well in advance of, or at least a day before, the off – is not what it once was. Betting ante-post doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll receive better odds than if you bet on the day of the race, with the added risk that you’ll lose your money if your selection doesn’t run, for whatever reason.

‘NRNB’ stands for ‘Non Runner No Bet’ and describes the terms of bet offered by some bookmakers, usually a week or two ahead of major meetings, such as the Cheltenham Festival or Aintree Festival. NRNB is, effectively, a no-risk ante-post bet since, in the event of a non-runner, the bet, or at least the portion(s) of it involving the non-runner, is deemed void and stakes are returned.

Note that bookmakers may offer both standard ante-post and NRNB markets on the same future races. Obviously, the odds on offer in the latter are likely to be shorter, sometimes significantly, than those in the former because of the reduced risk involved. Which you choose essentially boils down to how certain you are that selection will line up, all being well, and your overall attitude to risk.

It’s not unusual for horses to be withdrawn on the morning of, or immediately before, a race because of going changes, poor appetite, lameness or other injury or simply failure to enter the starting stalls. Betting NRNB does, at least, cover you for all these eventualities.

For lover or sports and gambling there is little to rival the Grand National. It’s a time where even those who love casino games and the like, and drawn towards the sport of kings. The Table Top Jump was situated on the Grand National Course at Aintree, specifically on the Anchor Bridge Crossing of the Melling Road, which follows the twelfth, and twenty-eighth, fence in the current layout. Back in the days when the Grand National was run, in part, on farmland and open countryside, the Anchor Bridge demarcated the ‘racecourse proper’.

By 1870, long before the age of online casinos and indeed many of today’s major gambling and sporting staples, the Table Top Jump was no longer considered an obstacle, per se, so details of it rely on contemporary reports from over a century and a half ago, which are, at best, a little sketchy. Confusingly, the Melling Road was originally known as the ‘Sunken Lane’ and, for a decade or more, ‘Proceed’s Lane’, following an incident involving the well-backed Proceed in 1849. However, the Anchor Bridge Crossing was on an elevated part of the track that required the horses to jump over a hedge onto a bank and off again, over another, in rapid succession. Thus, the Table Top Jump was akin to banks found on the cross-country courses at Cheltenhham or Punchestown, or in the cross-country phase of eventing.

As early as 1843, the second hedge was removed, leaving just a downhill incline on the far side of the Table Top Jump. In 1870, the first hedge was also removed, leaving just the bank, which was reduced in height and abruptness two years later, before being completely levelled off in 1887.

 

In today’s world, the ways media intersects with ‘the big events’ is also a point to note when you’re looking for a front-row seat for a slice of ‘history in the making. The clarity of footage and numerous ways to tune into the world-class sport is more diverse than ever. Whether it’s F1, Premier League Football, UFC, or, yes, the jewel in the crown of horse racing, The Grand National, you’re more likely to find people streaming these world-class events than consuming them from the old-fashioned media like television. Even though studies have shown that the most streamed sports in the UK are still football, rugby, and golf, horse racing is slowly winning over the streaming fans across the country.

With that in mind, let’s dive into the history of the most famous horse racing event, the Grand National, and give an overview of the most successful mares through the years.

 

It would certainly be fair to say that winning mares in the Grand National have been relatively few and, since the turn of the twentieth century, far between. The first ‘official’ running of the Grand National took place in 1839, and mares have won just 13, or 7.5%, of the 173 renewals so far. Interestingly, in the first 50 years of the Grand National, ten mares, namely Charity (1841), Miss Mowbray (1852), Anatis (1860), Jealousy (1861), Emblem (1863), Emblematic (1864), Casse Tete (1872), Empress (1880), Zoedone (1883) and Frigate (1889), won the celebrated steeplechase.

However, in the subsequent 132 years, just three mares – Shannon Lass (1902), Sheila’s Cottage (1948), and Nickel Coin (1951) – have been welcomed into the winners’ enclosure at Aintree as winners of the Grand National. In 2019, Magic Of Light, an 8-year-old Flemsfirth mare trained by Jessica Harrington, made a bold bid to strike a blow for the fairer sex; she jumped the final fence upsides the eventual winner, Tiger Roll, but although staying on gamely on the run-in, went down fighting, by 2¾ lengths.

Though as far as mare winners go, over seven decades after winning the National in 1951, Nickel Coin remains the last mare to do so. Trained by Jack O’Donoghue and ridden by Johnny Bullock, Nickel Coin defied odds of 40/1, taking advantage of a final fence blunder by Royal Tan – who would win the National three years later – to win by six lengths. Just three finished, with Derrinstown the only other horse to complete the course.

In all likelihood, due to the length of time at hand, any future mare winning the Grand National will also be seriously big odds (and as a way of reminder, these odds are with bookmakers, rather than betting exchanges, where they can be truly astronomical). As such, those who get it right will certainly be winning big.

We live in an era of female excellence in sports, which also shows in horse racing. Who could forget Rachael Blackmore’s spectacular Grand National win just last year on Minella Times – a first in the event, she then went on to become the first female winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup on A Plus Tard. So when you think about it, is it highly likely that this wave of ‘girl power’ will eventually apply to mares too. In fact, it’s surely only a matter of time before history repeats itself!