Grand National UK Horse Race
Go Down to the Beaten: Tales of the Grand National
[Hardcover] Chris Pitt (Author) 3/11The Aintree Grand National Meeting
[Hardcover] Andy Stansfield (Author) 3/10The Grand National: The Irish at Aintree
[Hardcover] Anne Holland (Author) 10/08A-Z of the Grand National
(Paperback) by John Cottrell (Author), Marcus Armytage (Author) 2/08The Punters' Guide to the Grand National
(Paperback) by John Cottrell (Author) 1/07The Grand National Since 1945 (100 Greats S.)
(Hardcover) by Stewart Peters (Author) 9/05The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt horse race in the United Kingdom. It is the biggest betting race in the UK, and is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year.
The Grand National Event is a Grade 3 handicap chase currently restricted to six-year-old and above horses. It is run over a distance of 4 miles 4 furlongs (7,242 metres) at Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, usually on a Saturday in early April. There are thirty fences to be jumped in the race.
It is run over two circuits of Aintree's National Course, on which there are sixteen fences. All except The Chair and the Water-Jump are jumped twice. Some fences have acquired near-legendary status for their severity, particularly Becher's Brook and The Chair, although in recent years this severity has been much reduced due to pressure from various animal rights groups. The National is the centerpiece of a three-day meeting, one of only four run at Aintree in the racing season.
It is one of ten events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under the ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events. Each year since 2000 the Grand National has been watched worldwide by over 600 million viewers. Since 1987 the viewing base for the Grand National has been over 500 million showing the fan base for the big race has increased significantly.
In 2007 the Grand National sponsors John Smith's launched the John Smith's Peoples Race which gives 10 members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day.
From a betting perspective, the Grand National forms the second leg of the Spring Double - the first leg is the Lincoln Handicap.
A fictional account of a young girl training the winner of the Grand National by Enid Bagnold was made into a film, National Velvet, starring the young Elizabeth Taylor as the heroine, Velvet Brown. The events surrounding the 1981 National, and the winning jockey, Bob Champion, were also dramatised in the film Champions.
History
Beechers Brook, 1890, engraving of horses jumping the famous fence in the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree
The Big Raspers At Aintree , 1927 painting of an incident at the Grand National
A Grand National Impression, 1926 painting of the field tackling one of the fences before Bechers in the premier steeplechasegrand national 2014, grand national winners, aintree grand national, grand national runners, grand national 2013
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