Grand National
A Grand National history lesson: From Aintree origins to world’s greatest steeplechase
A Grand National History Lesson: From Aintree origins to the world’s greatest steeplechase
Ever wondered about the history of the Grand National and how it has grown over the years to become the world’s greatest steeplechase?
We take a look at how the race has transformed over the years from its humble beginnings and has reached the levels of popularity we see from the British public every year.
In our Grand National history lesson, we’ll cover the development of Aintree racecourse and some of the records in the race’s rich folklore.
Country beginnings
Horse racing may be the sport of kings, but the concept of steeplechasing was born from cross-country riding. Galloping across open countryside using the spire or tower of village churches as start and end points to races has an old-world quality to it.
In days when we simply didn’t have the tarmac roads we travel along now, taking the direct route rather than along country lanes made more sense. That meant natural obstacles like brooks or streams, ditches, gates and hedges had to be cleared on horseback.
And that’s the heritage in which Grand National history is placed. It was originally a cross-country contest held on land leased from Lord Sefton on his Aintree estate in 1829. Debate rages among historians as to when the race was first officially held at what we now know as the racecourse.
Steam trains and barges
We’ll leave that bone of contention to the historians and take the widely accepted 1839 renewal as the first official running of the Grand National. The establishment of the race was contemporary to Merseyside undergoing many changes resulting from the Industrial Revolution.
A canal between Leeds and Liverpool that took around 50 years to complete was extended in 1822, creating easier trading links between the historic counties of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. That canal is where the Canal Turn fence – an obstacle that horses must clear and then turn through almost 90 degrees on landing or risk jumping at an angle – gets its name.
The Canal Turn is a notoriously treacherous section of Aintree Racecourse
More important than the waterway for Aintree was the advent of the steam engine and the building of a railway to Liverpool that included a station nearby. This allowed greater public access from further away for people to attend.
Gap in the fixtures
The Grand National was also fortunate that the Great St Albans Chase – a National Hunt fixture which clashed with early unofficial runnings of it – wasn’t renewed after 1838. With a grandstand already built and a cross-country course in place, Aintree was willing and able to step in to cover this gap.
After founder and hotelier William Lynn became ill, another member of the Aintree committee that organised the race made Grand National history. Edward Topham changed the race from a weight-for-age contest into a handicap in 1843. He would later take over the lease from Lynn and descendants of Topham then purchased Aintree racecourse.
The popularity of the Grand National grew throughout the remainder of the 19th century and a work of popular fiction was even set there. Long before the days of Dick Francis, Henry Hawley Smart penned his 1887 thriller Cleverly Won: A Romance of the Grand National with Aintree as its backdrop.
And to this day, many long-standing Grand National records remain. Peter Simple became the oldest horse – aged 15 – to win the race back in 1853, while the youngest race victors were five-year-olds. The race is now only open to horses aged seven and above, so the record jointly held by Alcibiade (1865), Regal (1876), Austerlitz (1877), Empress (1880) and Lutteur III (1909) is safe.
Size of the field
We’re used to seeing 40 horses taking on the unique spruce-covered obstacles at Aintree, yet there have been times when there have been considerably more or fewer runners. The 1883 renewal saw the lowest ever turnout with just 10 horses taking part.
The 1928 Grand National saw just two horses complete the course after Easter Hero caused a mass-pile up at the Canal Turn. In the end, 100/1 outsider Tipperary Tim came home clear. And just a year later, there was another big-price winner as Gregalach won the 1929 Grand National – a race that saw 66 runners go to post.
While there’s much greater emphasis on equine safety today, melees in Grand National history only added to the race’s allure. It’s not just the larger obstacles that cause chaos either.
The fence we know now as Foinavon is the smallest on Aintree’s Grand National course but in 1967 a pile-up occurred here, taking out almost the entire field. However, jockey John Buckingham spotted the trouble in front of him and guided Foinavon around it, jumping clear before going on to become the fourth 100/1 winner.
All-time greats
Red Rum is immortalised at the racecourse after his three wins
As our history lesson creeps into modern times, another factor in its popular appeal is the race being televised from 1960. Like the railway before it, this opened the Grand National up to a wider audience, with hundreds of millions now tuning in worldwide to watch.
We’ve also been blessed with some magnificent horses turning out at Aintree. Golden Miller remains the only horse to have won both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year (1934). He would go on to score five consecutive victories in the blue-riband race at the Cheltenham Festival.
No Grand National history would be complete without mentioning iconic three-time winner Red Rum. Trained locally by Ginger McCain, on the beaches of Southport about 15 miles up the road from the racecourse, his battles with 1971 Champion Chase victor Crisp and dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L’Escargot are the stuff of legend.
McCain would later saddle Amberleigh House to Grand National glory in 2004 and join Fred Rimmell as the only two trainers to win the four times in the post-war era. But one man looking to join them is Gordon Elliott. Silver Birch got him off the mark in the 2007 Grand National before the lovable Tiger Roll went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
Throughout the years major changes have been made to the fences at Aintree, but it’s still rare for more than half the field to complete the course, with a record-high of 23 finishing in 1984.
Only once in the race’s long history has it had to be declared void. That was in 1993 after a false start, which saw many of the runners carry on and complete. Esha Ness was first past the post. Then, four years later in 1997, the Grand National had to be postponed for 48 hours after bomb threats made by the IRA.
For all that controversy and drama, great horses with character, agility and endurance are needed to prevail, so it’s their exploits with the human interest that give us this great steeplechase.
