What Makes a Grand National Winner?

WHAT MAKES A GRAND NATIONAL WINNER? Crunching the Numbers Behind the Racing Calendar's Biggest Event From 1939 until 2012, The very first widely there have been a total of recognised Grand 1839 165 National took place in Grand Nationals at the now famous run at the course. Aintree racecourse. From 1839 until 2012 9 years Approximately have not held a Grand National £75million in bets had to be In 1993 refunded. From 1916 to 1918 Aintree was appropriated for war-time use, and From 1941 to 1945 the race was begun, but after two false starts, no race was held due to the on-going Second World War 30 of the 39 jockeys an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse could not be recalled and the result was declared void. A total of 30 fences The race is considered the most challenging test of a horse and jockey's ability in the racing calendar. must be jumped in order to complete the course. start The very first Today Grand National 1883 1929 40 runners featured 17 runners compete in saw the smallest was the biggest Grand National to date, with the event Grand National to date, with only 10 runners 66 runners The 2013 race will offer a Over those 165 years of racing, the Grand National has been won by prize purse totalling £975,000 157 different horses 135 different jockeys In the past 10 years, An 37% of runners estimated £550,000 124 different trainers 149 different owners have completed the race. of that will go to the winner! Amateur jockeys have won 40 times. Armytage is still the only jockey ever to have completed the track in less than 9 minutes, But amateur The most notable amateur jockeys have only won victory was that of Marcus Armytage in 1990. with a time of 8 minutes 47.8s, riding 'Mr Frisk'. 4 times since 1950 The top five winning times are: Of those, all but one were aged 10-12 1 Mr Frisk (Marcus Armytage): 8m47.8s (1990) 2 Rough Quest (Mick Fitzgerald): 9m0.8s (1996) 3 Ballabriggs (Jason Maguire): 9m01.2s (2011) The exception is RED RUM, who set his time at the tender age of 8 Older than most runners, Royal Athlete claimed his place in the top five aged 12 4 Red Rum (Brian Fletcher): 9m01.9s (1973) 5 Royal Athlete (Jason Titley): 9m04s (1995) All of the top five set their 10st5|b and 11st times at a weight of between Of the e13 fastest times, I have been recorded since 2000 The age of winning horses since 1839: 26% 13% 12% 9% 13% 10% 6% 1% 0% 0.6% 3% aged 6 1 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 The average age The average age for all winners for winners since 1839 is since 1946 is 8.8 years 9.7 years "Peter Simple" won the A horse under the age of 8 hasn't won No horse older than 12 has won since 1923. As of 2012, horses Grand National in 1853 must be a minimum at the ripe age of 15, making him the oldest the Grand National of 7 years old to since 1940. enter the race. ever to win the event. When the Going Gets Tough. Of the top winning times 23% 26% 33% •Only three in the top forty were achieved on ground HEAVY GOOD FIRM any softer than "good-to-soft". 9 year olds Under "good" track conditions, 9 year old horses When track conditions are "heavy", 10 year old horses appear to fare best with 23% of the wins. also win most on "firm" ground, •TWO of the top five were fare best with 26% of the wins. with 33% of the victories. achieved on "firm" ground. REPEATED The Legendary “Red Rum" SUCCESS The horse was sadly injured the day before he had a chance to still holds the record for the most Grand National wins with 3 compete for his fourth win in 1978, and was in 1973, 1974 and 1977. subsequently retired. Six other horses have won twice: Abd-El-Kader won back to back in 1850 and 1851. The Colonel won back to back in 1869 and 1870. Reynoldstown won back to back in 1935 and 1936. The Lamb won in 1868 and 1871. Peter Simple won twice in 1849 and 1853. Manifesto won twice in 1897 and 1899. JOCKEYING George Stevens FOR VICTORY is the jockey with the most Grand National wins under his belt at five in 1856, 1863, 1864, 1869 and 1870. Another 6 jockeys have three wins each: 14 jockeys Arthur Nightingall (1890, 1894, 1901) have two wins to their name. Brian Fletcher (1968, 1973, 1974) Jack Anthony (1911, 1915, 1920) Tommy Beasley (1880, 1881, 1889) Tommy Pickernell (1860, 1871, 1875) Tom Olliver (1842, 1843, 1853) TRAINING Two horse trainers TO WIN share the distinction of four Grand National wins a-piece Fred Rimell Ginger McCain A further six trainers can claim • 1973, 1974 & 197 with Red Rum • 1956 with E.S.B. three wins each. • 1961 with Nicolaus Silver 2004 with • 1970 with Gay Trip Amberleigh House • 1976 with Rag Trade Women at the Grand National: Geraldine Rees In 2012, The course was not 1977 completed by another woman until 1994, when She was also the first woman to be ranked as a favourite at 8/1. Katie Walsh was the first time a female jockey featured on the was, in 1982, the fourth woman to became the first enter the race, and woman to place the first to complete Rosemary Henderson in the top three, it, finishing in 8th and last place on running card, with Charlotte Brew finished 5th on finishing third on Seabass. Fiddlers Pike. riding Barony Fort. Cheers. National Pride: The following horses bred outside Britain have won Two from the USA Two from New Zealand Five from France Seagram (1991) Lord Gyllene (1997) Alcibiade (1865) Reugny (1874) Lutteur II (1909) Mon Mome (2009) Neptune Collonges (2012) Sergeant Murphy (1923) Battleship (1938) Ambush II (1900) Troytown (1920) Workman (1939) L'Escargot (1975) Bobbyjo (1999) Papillon (2000) Monty's Pass (2003) HedgeHunter (2o05) Numbersixvalverde (2006) Silver Birch (2007) Irish Horses have been quite successful, with sixteen winners Caughoo (1947) Early Mist (1953) Royal Tan (1954) Quare Times (1955) Mr What (1958) since 1990 Playing the Odds: On 25 occasions, the running favourite has gone on to win the race. That means that race favourites have taken 15% of all Grand National victories. The most common winning odds are 10/1 with 13 winning horses listed at that starting price. The longest odds to have paid out are at 100/1 with five horses sharing that honour: (1 Tipperary Tim in 1928 Gregalach in 1929 3 Caughoo in 1947 Tipperary Tim won when all 41 of the other riders were dismounted Foinavon in 1967 5 Mon Mome in 2009 Foinavon won after a spectacular pile-up effectively left the way clear PICK WINNER So, what can we expect from 2013's winner? •Aged between 9 and 10. •Handicap weight of no more than 11st. •Likely to be a British or Irish horse. GRAND NATIONAL •Unlikely to be won by an amateur jockey. .but, of course, anything can happen! While every effort has been made to check the accuracy of the information used, Trinity Mirror plc and its affiliated companies, the publisher of this website and third party providers of the information, disclaim all and any liability for any use made of the information in this infographic. RESOURCE LIST http://www.aintree.co.uk/docLib/2009 pages010109.pdf http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/3/newsid_4216000/4216143.stm http://www.aintree.co.uk/news/new_record_prize_money_at_john_smiths_grand_national_meeting http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/02/minimum-age-grand-national-runners http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/9200368/Ginger-McCaln-memorial-unveiled-at-Aintree.html