Dad and I visited Aintree, the
home of the Grand National, the day before Mr Frisk’s 1990 record-breaking
victory. For me it was watching the Grand National as a child that really
sparked my interest in horse racing, so I was absolutely thrilled to be there.
The best part of the visit was definitely the two of us walking one circuit of
the National course before racing started. Seeing the iconic fences up close
really put the challenges of this unique set up into focus and I felt
privileged to follow the path taken by Red Rum, Aldiniti, West Tip and other
National legends. One day I hoped we would return for the big race itself.
Without realising at the time, I would see two future Grand National winners
competing at Aintree at this Friday fixture. Seagram, who would win the
following year, came second in the opening handicap chase. Later, Miinnehoma
was the beaten favourite in the concluding novices hurdle. Four years later,
back at Aintree, he would more than make up for it with victory in the big one.
In truth, this was not my first visit to Aintree. A couple of years earlier I
had travelled there by train with Paul, a friend from College. We attended the
Thursday meeting prior to the Grand National and witnessed a victory for one of
the all-time national hunt greats, Desert Orchid. Of course, I knew better thinking
he was unsuited to going left handed and unsuccessfully backed KIldimo in the
race. Other memorable runners on my first visit to Aintree included Rapier
Thrust, Brown Windsor, Villierstown, Delius and The West Awake.
I still have the original racecard
from 1990 as a fantastic momento of the day with my Dad, which makes this
account much easier to put together. Once again, my Dad also supplied another
great source with his personal diary entry from the day. This read, “Linda rang
at 7.30am to let me know she was not coming to Liverpool with me and Jason. I
was up anyway sorting out my horses. We set off at 9.30am and it only took us
an hour. Jason and I walked the course at Aintree and we managed an odd winner
each. Meals out consisted of fish and chips (£2.45 each) and soup for me
(£1.20). Other expenses included parking (£4), entrance (£14) and £10 for
Jason’s betting money. The day cost just over £60.” Once again, there was more
detail about the food than the horses but his last point was never lost on me.
My Dad spent a lot of money taking me around the racecourses and he would need
a very successful betting day just to cover his costs. He never highlighted it
as a big issue though. Two horses in particular stick out in my memory from
that day. An old favourite of mine Giolla Padraig ran with merit over the national
fences finishing third to Lean Ar Aghaidh. Giolla Padraig won plenty of races for
me around this time. My main selection of the day though was Young Snugfit who
I backed with confidence in the big novice chase. Trained by Oliver Sherwood
and ridden by Jamie Osbourne, they just failed by a diminishing head to catch
the winner Boutzdaroff, who had made a mistake at the last.
Exactly twenty-three years later,
my Dad and I returned to Aintree but this time for the greatest race itself.
Grand National Day 2013 was a very special day. We had bought tickets for my
Dad as an early birthday present and what a great decision this was. In fact,
two superb things happened even before the official racing began. Firstly, my
Dad and I walked the course again, though this time we were restricted to half
a circuit for security reasons. Nearly a quarter of a century on you could see
the changes that had been made for safety reasons. The fences remained
challenging but were much fairer with some of the extreme elements, like the
big drop on the landing side of Beechers Brook, removed. It was great to now
retrace our own steps, especially on the big day itself and I have some
cherished photos of the occasion. Secondly, the meeting began with a legends
race, with many former top jump jockeys taking on their flat counterparts. An
almost unique event. The race was won by Tony Dobbin on War Singer, with
Richard Hills in second. Most surprising though was the involvement in the race
of Fred Archer! It was in fact the racehorse of the same name, not the famous
19th Century jockey. The race was run in aid of the Bob Champion
Cancer Trust. I was lucky enough to meet Bob at a more recent Grand National
preview event. His stories about his life and racing career were great. His tips
unfortunately were not. In fact, I think one of them is still running now!
The official racing started in the
best possible way for my Dad. He managed to find the 25-1 winner of the first
race. Fantastic. Now my Dad backs plenty of winners but very few are in this
kind of price bracket so it was a real thrill to cheer home Ubak who won easily,
despite the long odds. Ubak was in the capable hands of father and son trainer
and jockey combination of Gary and Jamie Moore. The racecourse was beautifully
presented for its feature day and though it was very busy, the crowd level was
manageable. You could just about get to the paddock and back to the stands
between races if you were patient enough. It was a thrilling experience
enhanced by a successful days punting. Later we both confidently backed Battle
Group who was going for a second win of the meeting having already won two days
earlier. Victory was never in doubt as he stalked the leaders and came through
for a comfortable success at around 4-1. By the time of the Grand National
itself, we had built up some profits to invest in what was our annual
conundrum, selecting the winner of the most difficult race of the year. My
biggest challenge here has always been restricting the number of my selections
to a handful from the forty contenders. It would be very easy for me to select
ten or more. On this occasion, I had three main fancies. They were Teaforthree,
Cappa Bleu and Imperial Commander (who my Dad backed too). The favourite was
Seabass trained by Ted Walsh and ridden by his daughter Katie. Could we be
about to witness history, with the first winning female jockey? We were
positioned opposite The Chair on the run in, in what proved to be a great
vantage point.
The roar of the crowd as the race
began without a hitch was electric. Unusually there were no fallers in the
initial set of fences that by Dad and I had walked past earlier. When they all
cleared Beechers as well, there was a great cheer from the crowd in reaction to
the commentators update. Jumping the chair at the end of the first circuit AP
McCoy unseated right in front of us from Colbert Station, a fancied runner now
out of the contest. As the field gradually whittled down on the second circuit
my confidence was growing around Teaforthree who was well positioned in the
first few and jumping well. When he took the lead two out with only a few left
in contention, I really thought I was on a winner. This would have been a great
thrill as I rarely pick the National winner, let alone when I am actually
there. I can only think of about four winners I have selected since Mr Frisk in
1991. However, it is still a long way from the second last to home and as they
approached the last Auroras Encore, who had briefly looked held, renewed his
effort. At the same time a now tiring Teaforthree, hit the last, losing crucial
momentum. On the run in there was only one likely winner, the Sue Smith trained
Auroras Encore extending away from his opponents for a great victory for jockey
Ryan Mania. The strangest element of this finish was the quietness of the
crowd. With still a furlong to go but the race pretty much decided there was
very few people now cheering in what was now a strangely eerie atmosphere,
especially after the initial frenzy. Clearly few had backed the winner. I could
literally see (and hear) the only two who had near my vantage point. Close to
the line, one of my other selections Cappa Blue rallied well to take second,
with Teaforthree in third both giving me some worthwhile place returns. As is
often the case after the big one, I was a little hard on myself for not backing
this big priced winner. I had read a good report about the horse’s wellbeing on
the day and he did tick the key box of having proved himself over this extreme
distance. Ultimately, you cannot back them all though and I soon got over it,
especially based on such a fantastic day out with my Dad. Katie Walsh completed
the course on Seabass but they never really looked like making history.
The best thing about this race was
that all forty runners returned safely to their stables afterwards. In fact,
only two horses actually fell, though quite a few unseated their rider or
pulled up. The safety improvements have undoubtedly made a difference.
Realistically of course, the dangers for horse and jockey have been reduced
rather than removed and I can understand the concerns of those who see this as
their yearly example of horse racing. In truth, horse racing is dangerous
though I believe a lot of hard work goes in to minimising the risk. As my previous
trainer Chris Thornton once explained to me, horses are not really built to
jump, given their heavy bodies and fragile legs. Indeed, my own racehorse
Smarties Party, trained by Chris, fell only once in her long career. That was
over hurdles at Aintree and she was not quite the same horse afterwards,
struggling with a niggling back problem, before a graceful and long retirement.
My Dad and I returned in 2016 to Aintree for a December fixture that featured another
future national hero in One For Arthur and a courageous win for previous 2014
champion Many Clouds. Aintree has a brilliant set up, usually holds high
quality racing and though it does not have numerous fixtures per year we really
should go more often given our proximity to it. Rachel has expressed an
interest to go the National one day so a return visit could be on the horizon
sooner rather than later.
