The latest set of changes to the Grand National, which aim to reduce the number of fallers and injuries, will be put to the test for the first time at Aintree on Saturday, when the maximum field will be cut to 34 runners for the first time and the first fence will be 60 yards closer to the start. The 11th fence will be two inches smaller, there will be no pre-race parade, and the sport’s crustier traditionalists will no doubt be fulminating about giving in to “the antis” and the inevitable slide towards the National being “just another race”.
But it will still look like the National to the millions watching at home, just as it did back in 1996, when only 27 runners went to post, and in 1999, when Bobbyjo and Paul Carberry beat 31 rivals. A cut of about five seconds in the time spent galloping towards the first will also go unnoticed by all but the pickiest of viewers.
Ever since the first running in February 1839, though, the Grand National has never been dull, so it should be no surprise to anyone that as the threat of direct action by animal rights campaigners has seemingly started to recede, a fresh concern has arrived to take its place.
The going on the Grand National course was officially soft, heavy in places on Monday morning, when 51 horses were left in Saturday’s race at the five-day stage. At least 10mm of rain is forecast for the track on Tuesday, and perhaps as much as 20mm before the National meeting opens on Thursday. The “new” National could therefore end up looking very much like some of the older ones – races that were not, in all honesty, much of an advert either for Aintree or for jump racing in general.
It is 23 years since 40 horses set out on barely raceable ground for the most demanding National of recent decades. About a third of the runners were taken out in a melee at the first Canal Turn, and just two – Red Marauder and Smarty – completed without mishap. Two more eventually finished after being remounted, a practice that has since been banned.
Timeform’s write-up of Red Marauder’s unlikely success drew a comparison with the race on similar ground in 1928, when Tipperary Tim, the 100-1 winner, was the only runner from 42 starters to complete without mishap. Again, a pile-up at the Canal Turn – after Easter Hero, the favourite, refused at the ditch in front of the fence – was responsible for a significant number of departures. The carnage that year also prompted calls for changes to the track – and the ditch was removed before the following year’s race.
The story of Tipperary Tim’s unlikely success thus serves as a reminder that the Grand National has been adapting and changing throughout its long history. It is not simply a recent phenomenon to pander to modern sensibilities.
The BBC’s coverage of the 27-runner race in 1996, meanwhile, includes eerily similar concerns to those 12 months ago, when Aintree was braced for direct action by animal rights campaigners. It was staged three years after the void race in 1993, when a protest before the start contributed to the turmoil and uncertainty before the field failed to stop after a false start.
“There’s no sign of any demonstration today,” the late Julian Wilson reported five minutes before the off, “although we have had a streaker in front of the stands as the horses were making their way to post. All the fences are monitored by security men, there are 500 in all on the racecourse and 400 police on duty. Gerry Scott will be starting the race for the first time. He’s tense. I think we all are.”
Thirsk: 2.15 Atherstone Warrior, 2.45 Clansman, 3.15 Burj Malinka (nap), 3.45 Asadjumeirah, 4.15 Gemini Star (nb), 4.45 Catton Lady, 5.15 Fitz Perfectly, 5.45 Ey Up Its Jazz
Hereford: 2.30 Pep Talking, 3.00 Silver Atom, 3.30 Supasunrise, 4.00 Ask Me Another, 4.30 Tour Ovalie, 5.00 Kapamazov
Southwell: 5.30 Apache Star, 6.00 Robusto, 6.30 Bearwith, 7.00 Kynsa, 7.30 Gressington, 8.00 Never Fear, 8.30 Easy Equation
The lesson, perhaps, is that there is always a sense on National day that the big race might veer off in a wholly unexpected direction, either before, during or after the race. It was consciously built into the foundations of the event in early Victorian times and, while there have been plenty of tweaks and changes over the course of nearly 200 years, the air of unpredictability endures.
Lingfield 1.52 Niloufar, 2.22 Ballybaymoonshiner, 2.52 Justahunch, 3.22 Golden Path, 3.52 Dembe, 4.25 Jungle Charm, 5.00 Geelong
Market Rasen 1.57 Carrigmoorna Rowan, 2.30 The Midwife, 3.00 Jet Plane, 3.30 Smurfette, 4.00 Claret Dabbler, 4.35 Tramuntana, 5.10 Typhoon Flyer
Wolverhampton 2.05 Bashol, 2.40 Kaadi 3.10, Beveragino, 3.40 Con Te Partiro, 4.10 Something To Do, 4.45 Shaka, 5.20 Hard Solution, 5.50 Gidwa
Kempton 5.30 Theatrically, 6.00 Goodwood Odyssey, 6.30 Cavalluccio, 7.00 Silver Trumpet (nb), 7.30 Billiegee (nap), 8.00 The Craftymaster, 8.30 Fravanco
The latest alterations to the National were probably inevitable after last year’s race, when five horses went at the first – including Hill Sixteen, who suffered a fatal injury – and three more at the second. The 15-minute delay to the race, after demonstrators attempted to glue themselves to a fence, also heightened the tension to a point where a chaotic first circuit seemed on the brink of spiralling out of control.
The going on Saturday is likely to be the most testing since Red Marauder’s year and the added demands on horses and riders alike will be significant. As the starter calls them towards the tape, Wilson’s line from 28 years ago is likely to feel as relevant as ever.
