Ten Fascinating Facts About The Grand National
The Grand National, one of the world’s most exciting horse races, takes place this Saturday – 5th April – at Aintree in the UK. It’s a race that has been in existence since 1839, so there is a lot of history around it. Here we’ve rounded up some facts on some record-breaking Grand National horses.
1. Back to back winners are rare at the Grand National – the first time it was achieved was in 1850 and 1851, by Abd-El-Kader. The Colonel followed suit in 1869 and 1870, followed by Reynoldstown in 1935 and 1936. The last time a back to back win was achieved was by Red Rum in 1973 and 1974.
2. Red Rum has the highest level of success at the Grand National. He won it three times, the last being in 1977. He finished second in 1975 and 1976.
3. Red Rum’s racing career was so closely linked with the Grand National that he is even buried next to the winning post at Aintree.
4. Only one horse has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season – Golder Miller in 1934.
5. The horse that has run in the National the most is Manifesto, who ran eight times from 1895 – 1904. He won twice and came third three times.
6. Staggering amounts of money are bet on the Grand National – an estimated £150m. You can get antepost prices at Betfair now if you want to secure better odds than on race day. Betfair is the world’s largest betting exchange and the current Betfair favourite for the National this year is Teaforthree at 9/1.
7. Peter Simple is the oldest horse to win the National – aged 15 in 1853.
8. At the other end of the age spectrum, the youngest winners were all aged 5 when they won the National – Alcibade, Regal, Austerlitz, Empress and Lutteur III. All these horses won in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
9. The first horse to win the Grand National, the Scottish Grand National and the Welsh Grand National was Earth Summit in 1998.
10. Only thirteen mares have won the National, most recently when Nickel Coin won in 1951.
