The Grand National the History and the Legacy
The Grand National is the Super bowl of horse racing, well sort of. It is one of the most esteemed races in the world; it is steeped in rich history, and you have to be the best to compete. Only the best horses ages 6 years and up are allowed to participate. It is held at the same time each year, in early April, and it is what all horse owners and jockeys train for. This race has been held since 1939 on the record some say 1937; that is up for debate by those who know.
The Grand National is considered to be one of the toughest races in the world. There have been many horses lives lost and one jockey in over the years the race has been run. The course has 16 fences to be jumped; “the chair” and “the waterfall” are also jumps that the horses must make. The latter two are only jumped one time during the total race which is done in a two set series.
The race is done in a two set series so all but two of the jumps must be made twice. There are drop fences in which the horse will land on lower ground than they started on, and also fences where they will land higher on the ground then where they jumped from. The horse has no way to know this about these jumps until they are air borne. This is to test the abilities of the horses.
Another test of the horse’s abilities is about halfway through the race course; there is difficult fence jump with a 90 degree turn at the end of the jump. This is also to test how well the jockey and horse work together to keep in tune with the track. At the final lap of the 4.5 mile course is a long run in to the finish. The horses are usually tired by this point and you can start to see the strain on them as they run toward the finish line.
This is an extremely difficult course for the horses and their jockeys. The horse is exercised and in his best weight and shape, and the jockey also must maintain his weight and strength. With this course being 4.5 miles strength and endurance is tested. The painstaking jumps on this race course take a toll on both the horse and jockey. This race is why they have worked and trained so hard. Six Hundred million people watch this race annually.
There are wonderful old stories about the Grand National. One is about the 1st race and what year it actually took place, some say it was in 1837, while the majority say it was 1939 and that is officially on the books. During World War 1 the race track was closed down, and the race was moved to Gatwick Racecourse, which is the site of the current Gatwick Airport.
As you can imagine, along with the stories are the records that have been set at the Grand National, such as, the youngest winning jockey at age 17, the oldest winning horse at age 15, and fastest winning time at 8m 47.8s, Mr. Frisk in 1990. There are many great stats and stories about this race and track. The most winning horse was Red Rum who won 3 races in 1973, 1974, and 1977.
Some have a way of deciding which horse is the favorite by the stats, and there are some that just pick a favorite by the sound of the name, the look of the horse, or whatever else stands out to them. This is a special day for all concerned especially for the horses.
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