There’s no bigger race than the Grand National
The Grand National dates back to 1839 when the race was run as the 1839 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase. It was won by 5/1 favourite Lottery and then continued every year until the present day. The race has grown in popularity over the decades and has a unique flavour thanks to the challenging track and the number of runners in the race.
The National is a handicap steeplechase race featuring the top-class horses from Great Britain and Ireland, with the distance being a gruelling four miles and three furlongs. There are also thirty obstacles to overcome and that includes famous fences such as Becher’s Brook, Foinavon, Canal Turn and The Chair.
The Grand National is a race where the UK public come out in force and place their bets accordingly. Everyone likes to pick out different horses and place small bets on the outcome of the famous race before settling down to watch the action.
There have been some famous winners of the Grand National and none more so than Red Rum, with the horse having won the race on three occasions. Red Rum won on consecutive occasions in 1973 and 1974 before returning to the Aintree track and landing a hat-trick of National wins in 1977.
Tiger Roll could end up matching Red Rum’s achievement after landing a Grand National win in 2018 and 2019. The Gordon Elliott-trained charge is likely to return in 2020 bidding for a third consecutive win and the horse could go off at an even shorter price than the 9/2 in 2019.
The Grand National Festival features other big races
The Grand National meeting is a three-day affair and there are stacks of other top-grade races that take place during the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the Festival. This Aintree meeting takes place just a few weeks after the Cheltenham Festival and you often get horses returning to the track after running in the latter.
On the Thursday of the Grand National Festival, there are four Grade 1 races including the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices’ Hurdle, Betway Bowl and Aintree Hurdle. The combination of hurdle and chase races means that Aintree attracts all kinds of star quality.
On Day Two of the Grand National meeting, there are more quality races and that includes the Top Novices’ Hurdle, the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, Melling Chase, Topham Chase, Sefton Novices’ Hurdle and Champion Standard Open NH Flat Race.
On Day Three of the Grand National Festival, there is naturally a big build-up to the Grand National, although there are several other good races taking place and it should be noted that the National is only regarded as a Grade 3 race, while there are races such as the Gaskells Handicap Hurdle, Mersey Novices’ Hurdle, Maghull Novices’ Chase and Liverpool Hurdle.
Aintree hosts other National Hunt race meetings
There is an October meeting and a December meeting at Aintree, with many prestigious races taking place on both of these months. The Old Roan Chase is run in October and it’s a Grade 2 steeplechase which is run on the Mildmay Course at Aintree.
The December meeting boasts plenty of high quality encounters too. There is the Grand Sefton Steeplechase which is run over two miles and five furlongs, while the Becher Chase sees the runners go over the famous Grand National fences and that’s run over three miles and two furlongs.
The Many Clouds Chase is another high quality race and that is named after the late Many Clouds which won the race in 2016 and was also triumphant in the Grand National in 2015.
Aintree racecourse is a popular place to visit and there are always record attendances when it comes to Grand National day, with racegoers wanting to enjoy the excitement of watching the most famous race from start to finish.
Many people attend the other days of the Grand National Festival including Ladies Day, with the opportunity to get dressed up for a day of racing and the chance to return to Liverpool and carry on enjoying the evening.