How are Grand National fences constructed?

With the exception of the Water Jump, the fences on the Grand National Course at Aintree range in height from 4’6″ to 5’2″. Outwardly, they appear much the same as they always have but, following a research and development programme by the Aintree Racecourse Executive and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), their anatomy has changed significantly in recent years.

Traditionally, Grand National fences consisted of a rigid timber frame which, although protected by foam rubber padding on the take-off side, was nonetheless solid. The timber frame, in turn, was stuffed with natural birch switches, cut and bundled together, and the fence was dressed with a loose topping of Norway or Sitka Spruce to a minimum depth of 14″. The spruce topping was, and is, intended to be forgiving, such that horses can brush through it, if need be.

However, striking a rigid timber frame at racing speed can be hazardous to horse and rider so, in the interests of safety, wooden posts and natural birch have been replaced by more forgiving, plastic birch units in all the plain fences on the Grand National Course. Thus, even if horses knock the spruce off the fence, they run less risk of becoming unbalanced and/or injuring themselves. Each fence is fronted by a foam padded rail, approximately one-third of the way up the fence, and a toe board, 14″ high, at the base to provide a clear sighting.

Did Richard Pitman ever win the Grand National?

Richard Pitman was, of course, the first husband of Jenny Pitman who, in 1983 – six years after their divorce – became the first woman to train the winner of the Grand National. Between 1972 and 1975, Pitman was stable jockey to Fred Winter and, in that capacity, won several notable races, including the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Pendil in 1972 and 1973 and the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on Lanzarote in 1974.

Pitman never won the Grand National yet, for all his success elsewhere – he rode a total of 427 winners – he will probably always be best remembered for coming off second best in one of the most thrilling finishes in the history of the world famous steeplechase. In fact, he once said, ‘I’m quite embarrassed that people still want to talk about it, all these years later.’

On March 31, 1973, Pitman lined up for the Grand National aboard the Australian-bred Crisp, affectionately known as the ‘Black Kangaroo’, who was sent off 9/1 joint favourite, alongside an up-and-coming Red Rum. Crisp jumped boldly at the head of affairs for most of the way and, at one point, was 25 or 30 lengths clear of his nearest pursuer. He was still 15 lengths ahead jumping the final fence but, shortly afterwards, Pitman committed what he described as ‘a basic error’. As he picked up his whip, right-handed, his rapidly tiring mount fell away to the left and, agonisingly, was caught and passed by Red Rum, who was receiving 23lb, two strides from the winning post.

Who was Dream Alliance?

While, perhaps, not quite in the same league as the fairytale triumph of Aldaniti and Bob Champion in the 1981 Grand National, the story of Dream Alliance was considered sufficiently uplifting to be made into the documentary ‘Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance’ in 2015 and the feature film ‘Dream Horse’ in 2021.

Around the turn of the twenty-first century, Cefn Fforest barmaid Janet ‘Jan’ Vokes hit upon the unlikely idea of buying a thoroughbred mare with a view to breeding a racehorse. Jan and her husband, Brian, duly acquired the mare Rewbell for the princely sum of £350 and sent her to the unheralded sire Bien Bien, who was standing at Kirlington Stud in Oxfordshire for a stud fee of £3,000. The resulting foal, Dream Alliance, was born and raised on an allotment on a disused coal tip before entering training with Somerset handler Philip Hobbs as a three-year-old.

Vokes recruited a disparate group of 22 local, working-class people – each of whom contributed £10 a week towards training costs – to form the so-called ‘Alliance Partnership’, supervised by local accountant and ‘racing manager’, Howard Davies. The name ‘Dream Alliance’ derived from the fact that, as Vokes put it, ‘We’re all an alliance, and this is our dream.’

The rest, as they say, is history. Dream Alliance won twice over hurdles in 2005/06 and twice over fences in 2006/07. The 2007/08 season started well enough, with a second place finish behind Denman in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November but, the following April, Dream Alliance suffered a near-fatal tendon injury. After revolutionary stem cell treatment and an absence of 18 months, he returned to racing and, remarkably, on his second start back, completed his rags-to-riches tale by winning the Welsh National at Chepstow at odds of 20/1.

Why are horses disqualified?

Horses can be disqualified before or after a race for a variety of reasons, some of which are more common than others. Far and away the most common reason for disqualification is that, by accident or design, a horse causes interference to one or more of its rivals, to such an extent that it affects the result of the race, as far as the winner and placed horses are concerned. Depending upon the severity of the interference, the placings may be reversed or the offending horse may be disqualified.

Following a race, a horse may be subject to an objection by the Clerk of the Scales, for example, if a jockeys fails to ‘weigh in’, at all or, for whatever reason, the horse is considered to have carried less weight than it should have done, according to the race conditions. Occasionally, a horse may be disqualified, before or after a race, because it is found to be ineligible to run or, after a race, because its jockey is ineligible to ride. If a horse is subject to a routine examination and subsequently tests positive substance, it can be disqualified long after the race has been run. Other, more obscure reasons for disqualification include a horse that is leased, rather than owned outright, running in a selling or claming race without the written consent of the lessor.

As you can see these are nuanced issues of which knowing the ins and outs of can benefit us. The better your understanding the more likely you are to come away from it as a winner!

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