The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase over a distance of four miles and 856 yards (7,242 m), with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course. It is currently scheduled to take place each year on a Saturday afternoon in early April. The next Grand National will be held on 9 April 2011.
The steeplechase is the centrepiece of a three-day meeting, one of only four run at Aintree in the racing season. It is the most valuable National Hunt event in Britain, offering a total prize fund of £950,000 in 2011.The race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year. The Grand National has always been run over the same course at Aintree and consists of two circuits of sixteen fences, the first fourteen of which are jumped twice. Participating horses cover a distance of four miles and four furlongs, the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. The course is also notable for having one of the longest run-ins from the final flight of any steeplechase, at 494 yards.
The Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on the edge of the racecourse and raced away from the course out over open countryside towards the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The gates, hedges and ditches that they met along the way were flagged to provide them with the obstacles to be jumped along the way with posts and rails erected at the two points where the runners jumped a brook. The runners returned towards the racecourse by running along the edge of the canal before re-entering the course at the opposite end. The runners then ran the length of the racecourse before embarking on a second circuit before finishing in front of the stands. The majority of the race therefore took place not on the actual Aintree Racecourse but instead in the adjoining countryside. That countryside was incorporated into the modern course but commentators still often refer to it as "the country", much to the confusion of millions of once-a-year racing viewers.
Many well-known jockeys have failed to win the Grand National. These include champion jockeys such as Terry Biddlecombe, John Francome, Josh Gifford, Stan Mellor, Jonjo O'Neill (who never finished the race), Fred Rimell and Peter Scudamore. More recently Richard Johnson and Adrian Maguire have failed to win the race.
No comments:
Post a Comment