Grand National: The numbers behind the race

Unless you’ve spent your entire life in hiding you’ll of course be well aware of the Aintree Grand National. This race, the pinnacle of National Hunt racing is an annual equine treat for us all to enjoy, and comes hot on the heels of the much anticipated Cheltenham Festival, so there is much to enjoy over months of March and April. The Grand National itself is held on Saturday 4th April at 5:15pm and has heightened interest on account of Tiger Roll’s attempt to win the Grand National for the third year running. The feat would be a first, and would finally allow Tiger Roll to eclipse the joint two in a row record that the horse currently shares with Red Rum (achieved way back in the 70’s). Since we’re on the topic of records and statistics, let’s have a stat-tastic look at some of the fascinating numerical facts that make up this prestigious race.

Starting where we left off we already have the answer to ‘who is the most successful horse in Grand National history?’. Winning in 1973, 1974 and again in 1977 Red Rum is often credited with being the horse that saved the National. To this day, Red Rum is held in the highest regard. With his first win in 1973, Red Rum took an impressive 18 seconds off the fastest Grand National at the time – set in 1935 by Reynoldstown. His time of 9 minutes 1.9 seconds is to this day, world class. Records are meant to be broken though, and as such the current fastest Grand National course time is 8 minutes 47.8 seconds , set by Mr Frisk in 1990. Will 2020 change that? Possible but not probable; Tiger Rolls winning time in 2019 was 9 minutes 1 second, so he’s surely one of the best bets for the Grand National. And who does the slowcoach award go to? Well that would be a very pedestrian 14m 53s by a horse named Lottery in the very first Grand National.

With all of this talk of winning times, perhaps a celebration of the event as a whole is more in the spirit of things. So with that in mind how about we highlight the year that saw the most finishers? Well that would be an impressive 23 finishers in 1984 when Hallo Dandy was the eventual winner. And the least finishers was 1928 when only two horses finished, one of whom (Tipperary Tim) was an 100-1 shot. What are we in racing for if not for that often elusive big win. Unlike the exchanges, Bookmakers tend to cap the ‘pie in the sky’ winner variety of horse at 100-1, and a few 100-1SPs have won the Grand National over the years. The aforementioned Tipperary Tim, and in the year after in 1929, Gregalach, Caughoo in 1947, Foinavon in 1967 and last but not least Mon Mome in 2009. Are we due another one? Conversely, the shortest priced winner was a stingy (yet correct!) Poethlyn at 11-4 in 1919. What records, if any, will the 2020 Grand National bring? We’ll soon find out.

Racing Festivals to look forward to in 2020

Horse racing festivals – that is, major multiple-day events featuring the crème de la crème of equine talent – are staged throughout the length and breadth of United Kingdom between March and December. We’ve previewed a few selected highlights, just to whet your appetite for the coming year.

Cheltenham Festival

Tuesday, March 14 – Friday, March 17

Known in some quarters as the ‘Olympics of horse racing’, the Cheltenham Festival is the undisputed highlight of the British National Hunt season. Extended to its current, four-day format for the first time in 2005, the Festival includes four major ‘championship’ races – namely, in chronological order, the Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase, Stayers’ Hurdle and the Cheltenham Gold Cup – plus a full supporting card of 24 high-quality races.

Aintree Festival

Thursday, April 12 – Saturday, April 14

Following hot on the heels of the Cheltenham Festival, the Aintree Festival understandable revolves around the most famous steeplechase in the world, the Grand National, run on the third and final day. However, the Aintree Festival also includes two more races – the Foxhunters’ Chase and the Topham Chase – on the celebrated Grand National Course and no fewer than ten prestigious Grade One contests in various disciplines and over various distances.

Epsom Derby Festival

Friday, June 2 – Saturday, June 3

As the name suggests, the Epsom Derby Festival centres on the running of the most valuable race in Britain, the Derby, which is run on the second day. However, the Derby is preceded, on day one, by the second fillies’ Classic, the Oaks, and the Coronation Cup – a Group One contest open to older horses and both sexes, both of which are run over the same course and distance as the Derby itself.

Royal Ascot

Tuesday, June 20 – Saturday, June 24

Ascot Racecourse, a favourite with YesBets visitors, was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, the first recognisably modern Royal Meeting took place in 1768 and Ascot Racecourse has enjoyed Royal patronage ever since. Nowadays, the Royal Procession drive up the Straight Mile serves as a prelude to five days of world-class horse racing action, including eight Group One races, at least one of which is staged every day. Highlights include the Queen Anne Stakes, King’s Stand Stakes and St. James’s Palace Stakes on day one, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes on day two, the Gold Cup – the traditional highlight of the whole week – on day three, the Commonwealth Cup and Coronation Stakes on day four and the Diamond Jubilee Stakes day five.

Goodwood Festival

Tuesday, July 28 – Saturday, August 1

Horse racing at Goodwood was the brainchild of Charles Lennox, Third Duke of Richmond, in 1802. In the intervening centuries, the Goodwood Festival, often referred to ‘Glorious Goodwood’, has evolved into a five-day bonanza of horse racing action on the Sussex Downs. Three of the 13 Group races staged during the week – namely the Sussex Stakes, Goodwood Cup and Nassau Stakes – have been awarded Group One status and, as such, form part of the British Champions Series.

A look at the most successful horses in racing history

There are some horses that are so famous, even those who know exactly nothing about horse racing have heard of them. Desert Orchid, Nijinsky, Red Rum, Arkle – all became celebrities in their own right and in each case, the world mourned their passing. Yet strangely, none of these household names make it into the top lists when you look at career success.

 

In many sports, it can become almost meaningless to try to define the greatest of all time. Pele or Ronaldo? Fangio or Schumacher? Bradman or Lara? It’s impossible to say. But horseracing is a sport steeped in statistics that has changed very little over the years. Here, then, we can say with some confidence, are the five most successful racehorses ever.

 

Secretariat

 

In 1973, this chestnut stallion became the first horse in a quarter of a century to win the Triple Crown. Justify repeated the feat last year, becoming only the 13th horse to do so in more than a century. But for Secretariat, that was just the beginning. By the time he went to stud, he had won an incredible 16 of his 21 races, coming second in three of the others. In his brief career, he generated more than $1.3 million in winnings, a sum that was unheard of in horse racing in the early 1970s.

 

Winx

 

From the USA of the 70s, we proceed to present day Australia. For the past three years, there has been only one word to describe Winx: Unbeatable. If you’d looked up the Unibet racing odds on any of the Group One races in Australia since 2016, you would have seen Winx head and shoulders ahead of the rest. Her record speaks for itself: 29 consecutive wins, 22 at Group One level is unprecedented, not just in Australia but in horse racing worldwide.

 

Man O’ War

 

Here’s the horse that is often compared to Secretariat by American racing fans. He single handedly put horse racing back on the map in the 1920s – in fact, many say he saved the sport from extinction. Born in 1917, there was no cosseting of special dietary regime for this stallion, who won all but one of his 21 races. Yet the one race he never won was the Kentucky Derby.

 

Frankel

 

An unbeaten career record and career earnings just shy of £3 million. Has there ever been a horse like Frankel? When he retired unbeaten in 2012, the BBC’s horseracing guru Cornelius Lysaght argued in his favour over such legends as those mentioned above. Frankel’s wins included the 2000 Guineas, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, the Champion Stakes and the St James’s Palace Stakes, to name just a few.

 

Phar Lap

 

Fans of horse racing on the big screen will know all about Phar Lap, but his real life was just as extraordinary as the movie. He was described as the horse that was just too good. With 37 wins out of 51 starts, he had only just begun, before his untimely death in 1932, the circumstances of which are still shrouded in mystery almost 90 years later.

Royal Ascot in Perspective!


Credit: Betway Horse Racing

It can often be said that ‘showing your age’ is a bad thing, especially when you happen to be over 300 years old. The History of Royal Ascot goes back so far though, that it’s only right to do it justice by putting it all into historical perspective for you. So take a tour with us down memory lane, and see ‘what came next’ as far as the birth of Royal Ascot is concerned. Spoiler alert: Most of the modern world came next!

Be sure to tune into the action this year from Tuesday 18th June to Saturday 22nd June 2019. Chance your arm and have a punt on the likes of the Queen Anne Stakes, the Group One Diamond Jubilee Stakes and of course the Ascot Gold Cup!