The Grand National

Sponsors

1984–91	Canadian whisky distiller – went out of business in 2000		Seagram
1992–2004	French brandy distiller – then a subsidiary of the previous sponsor		Martell
2005–13	Brewer based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire		John Smith
2014–16	Merseyside–based ginger beer brand		Crabbie's
2017 to date	Controversial health and clinical research company, based in Crumlin, Co. Antrim: the first Grand National sponsor that doesn't have an alcoholic beverage brand		Randox Health

Red Rum

Sire		Quarum
Dam		Mared
Trainer		Ginger McCain
Ginger McCain's real first name		Donald
Owner		Noel le Mare

Year		Red Rum's jockey		1st place		2nd place
1973		Brian Fletcher		Red Rum		Crisp
1974				Red Rum		L'Escargot
1975				L'Escargot		Red Rum
1976		Tommy Stack		Rag Trade		Red Rum
1977				Red Rum		Churchtown Boy

100–1 Winners

1928		Tipperary Tim
1929		Gregalach
1947		Caughoo
1967		Foinavon
2009		Mon Mome

The Course

Distance		4 miles 514 yards
Number of jumps		30
Number of fences on the first circuit		16
Fences jumped only on the first circuit – nos. 15 and 16 (bypassed on the second circuit)		The Chair
		Water Jump
Highest fence on the course (5' 2") – also the narrowest		The Chair
Notorious fence – the 6th and 22nd on the course – named after the jockey (and former soldier) who won the first Grand Liverpool Steeplechase (1836) but fell from his horse there in the first official Grand National (1839); amended after three horses were fatally injured there – one in 1987 and two in 1989		Becher's Brook
Name of the 7th and 23rd fence, after the 1967 winner		Foinavon
8th and 24th fence: famous for the 90° corner that comes immediately after it		Canal Turn
Road crossed by the course		Melling Road
Beat the record time set by Red Rum in 1973, in 1990		Mr. Frisk

Record time set by the above (in 1990)

8 minutes 47.8 seconds

Rules

Minimum age of a runner		7 years
Maximum field		40

Timeline

Not really a timeline – but the answer to each of these questions is a year.

First run as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase		1836
Became a handicap (Lottery's fifth and last race, won by Vanguard)		1843
Renamed the Grand National		1847
First BBC radio commentary of the race (by Meyrick Good and George Allison)		1927
Run on a Friday		1957
First televised (by the BBC)		1960
Bob Champion won on Aldaniti		1981
Race abandoned after two false starts		1993
Run on a Monday after an IRA bomb scare		1997
Only four finished (two of their riders having remounted after being unseated)		2001
Start time put back by 25 minutes because of Prince Charles's wedding to Camilla Parker–Bowles		2005

Other

The Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was first run in 1836. Three years later, three things happened that turned the race into a major event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with it, was not renewed after 1838, leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway arrived in Liverpool, providing transport to the course by rail for the first time. And finally, a committee was formed to organise the event better.

At one time, it was believed that the first three races (1836–8) were run at Maghull, and this supported the view that the Grand National was first run in 1839; but recent evidence has suggested that they were in fact at Aintree. According to Wikipedia, "most leading published historians ... now prefer the idea that the first running was in 1836 and was won by The Duke." But records of the early years are sketchy, and the official line is that the Grand National was first run in 1839.

If you're asked in a quiz when the Grand National was first run, you're advised to answer "1839". Similarly, if you're asked for the name of the first horse to win the Grand National, and you're not given a year, you're advised to answer "Lottery".

1836	Winner – also won in 1837			The Duke
	The winning rider: a former army officer, best remembered nowadays for being "fired into the brook" (by Conrad) in 1839 – giving his name to one of the course's most famous fences			Captain Martin Becher
1839	Winner			Lottery
	Jockey			Jem Mason
1840	Horse that gave its name to the second brook, after surviving a terrible mistake at it in 1840			Valentine
1853	Oldest horse to win (15 years)			Peter Simple
1862	Only Jockey to die in the race (at The Chair)			James Wynne
1868	First of two greys to win (just to be clear: it won twice!)			The Lamb
1871
1900	Winner owned by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII)			Ambush II
1905	The only winner trained in Wales			Kirkland
1923	First US–bred winner; also (at 13 years) the oldest winner in the 20th century			Sergeant Murphy
1928	Smallest number of finishers			2
1929	Largest field			66
1934	Only horse to win Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in same season			Golden Miller
1935–6	Last before Red Rum to win in successive years			Reynoldstown
1936	Jockey who finished second in the National in 1936, and won an Olympic gold medal in 1952			Harry Llewellyn
1938	Youngest winning jockey (aged 17)			Bruce Hobbs
	Horse			Battleship
1916–18	During World War I, an "alternative" race was run at (disused racecourse, on land now occupied as an airport)			Gatwick
1951	Last mare to win			Nickel Coin
1953–5	Only trainer to have three successive winners			Vincent O'Brien
	1953			Early Mist
	1954			Royal Tan
	1955			Quare Times
1956	Horse that collapsed when in the lead			Devon Loch
	Owner			Queen Mother
	Jockey			Richard (Dick) Francis
	Horse that won following Devon Loch's blunder			E.S.B.
1961	Second of two greys to win			Nicholaus Silver
1962	Horse that finished second three times (last time in 1962) but never won			Wyndburgh
1967	100–1 winner			Foinavon
	Jockey			John Buckingham
	Fence at which the pile–up occurred (smallest on the course!)			23rd
	Riderless horse that caused the pile–up			Popham Down
1967	Winners named after Scottish mountains			Foinavon
1980				Ben Nevis
1975	The second Cheltenham Gold Cup winner to win the Grand National (beating Red Rum into second place after the first two of its three wins)			L'Escargot
1977	First woman to take part			Charlotte Brew
	Horse (refused at the 4th last)			Barony Fort
1979	First Scottish–trained winner			Rubstic
1982	Oldest ever winning jockey (aged 48)			Dick Saunders
	Horse			Grittar
1982	First woman to complete the course (finished 8th)			Geraldine Rees
	Horse			Cheers
1983	First woman to train a winner (rider was Ben de Haan)			Jenny Pitman
	Horse			Corbiere
1984	Largest number of finishers			23
1990	Set the course record of 8 minutes 47.8 seconds – beating Red Rum's 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, set in 1973			Mr. Frisk
1991	Winning horse that (coincidentally) had the same name as the race sponsor			Seagram
1992	Appropriately–named horse that won 5 days before a general election			Party Politics
1993	First past the post (in the year that the race was abandoned after two false starts)			Esha Ness
	Jockey			John White
	Starter			Keith Brown
1994	Oldest woman jockey to complete the course (aged 51)			Rosemary Henderson
	Winner owned by Freddie Starr			Minniehoma
1997	Winner (in the year that it was run on a Monday following an IRA bomb scare)			Lord Gyllene
2000	Winner that shared its name with a 1973 film that starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman			Papillon
2004	Ginger McCain's second winner			Amberleigh House
2010	14 times champion jockey, won in 2010 at the 15th attempt (on Don't Push It)			Tony McCoy
2014	Winning jockey in 2014 (Pineau de Re) and 2015 (Many Clouds): first jockey to win the Grand National in two consecutive years since Brian Fletcher on Red Rum in 1973 and 1974, and the first to do it on two different horses since Bryan Marshall in 1953 and 1954			Leighton Aspell
2015
2021	First female jockey to win			Rachael Blackmore
	Horse			Minella Times

© Haydn Thompson 2017–22