58 Fun Facts About Grand National

Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National, is in which English county?

Aintree lies in Merseyside, near Liverpool, and new rail links helped turn the 1839 race from a local chase into a national event.

Under what name was the Grand National first run in 1839?

The Grand Liverpool Steeplechase of 1839 is the official first, though some historians argue three earlier Aintree races from 1836 should count.

Which aptly named horse won the first official Grand National in 1839?

Lottery was so superior that later Nationals saddled him with heavy weight penalties, and he never won the race again.

Becher's Brook is named after a rider who did what there in the first Grand National?

Captain Martin Becher fell into the water from Conrad and took shelter in the brook, then remounted and rode on.

Which jockey won the 2000 Grand National on Papillon, a horse trained by his father?

Ruby Walsh, 20, was having his first ride in the race, on a horse punters had backed from 33-1 that morning to 10-1.

Which handicapper made the Grand National a handicap in 1843, his family later buying the course?

Edward Topham's change stuck: the National has been a handicap ever since, so the best-rated horses carry the most weight.

Which proprietor of Liverpool's Waterloo Hotel founded the Grand National?

William Lynn first leased the Aintree land in 1829 to stage flat racing, and only later turned to steeplechasing.

During WWI, the Grand National's substitute 'War National' was run at which racecourse?

Gatwick Racecourse staged the wartime races while the War Office held Aintree, and its land now lies under Gatwick Airport.

Which horse won the 1928 Grand National at 100/1, when only two of 42 starters finished?

Tipperary Tim's amateur rider, a Chester solicitor, was told he'd only win if all the others fell, and his was the only horse to get round without falling.

Which amateur won the 2022 Grand National on 50-1 shot Noble Yeats in his final ride?

Sam Waley-Cohen's farewell still earned him a nine-day ban and a £400 fine for his use of the whip in the finish.

Which man rode Grand National winners Sundew and Kilmore, then trained the winners Jay Trump and Anglo?

Fred Winter was proved right that Anglo would improve over the National's marathon trip, and the horse's stamina carried him clear.

Which Irish trainer won three straight Grand Nationals from 1953 to 1955?

Vincent O'Brien then turned from jumps racing to the Flat, where he trained six Epsom Derby winners.

Which royal owned Devon Loch, who inexplicably collapsed on the 1956 run-in while five lengths clear?

The Queen Mother answered the winning owner's sympathy with 'Oh, that's racing!'

Which Devon Loch jockey later became a best-selling thriller writer?

Dick Francis blamed the crowd's deafening cheers for Devon Loch's collapse, before leaving the saddle to write thrillers.

Which horse crossed the line first in 1956 after Devon Loch's collapse?

E.S.B.'s jockey admitted he had given up hope of catching Devon Loch and was resigned to finishing second.

Which 100/1 outsider won the 1967 Grand National after a pile-up at the 23rd fence, now named after him?

Foinavon was so far behind that he could be steered round the mêlée, and neither his owner nor his trainer was at Aintree to see it.

Which riderless horse caused the 1967 Grand National pile-up by veering across the leaders?

Popham Down had lost his rider when hampered by a faller at the first fence, and he was still running loose at the 23rd.

Who rode the 100/1 winner of the 1967 Grand National, steering wide of the pile-up?

John Buckingham was riding in the race for the first time, and none of the rivals who remounted after the pile-up could catch him.

In the 1973 Grand National, which champion, giving 23 lb, was caught by Red Rum two strides out?

Crisp was a champion over two miles, and his stamina gave out on the run-in of a race more than twice that distance.

Red Rum was famously trained on the beach at which seaside town?

Galloping on the Southport sands and in the sea may have eased the bone disease in Red Rum's feet that threatened his career.

Where was Red Rum buried after his death in 1995?

Red Rum was buried by the winning post at Aintree in 1995, and his death made the front pages of national newspapers.

Which famous showjumper's wife, Sue, trained 66-1 shot Auroras Encore to win the 2013 Grand National?

Harvey Smith was disqualified for a V-sign after winning the 1971 Hickstead Derby, then kept the win by showing photos of Churchill's V for Victory.

How did Red Rum get his name?

Red Rum's name joins the last letters of his dam and sire, Mared and Quorum, and the future National hero began as a five-furlong sprinter.

Cancer survivor Bob Champion won the 1981 Grand National on which horse, itself recovered from leg problems?

After Aldaniti's win, Champion set up the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, which has raised millions of pounds for cancer research.

Which actor played jockey Bob Champion in the film Champions?

John Hurt took the lead role, while the horse Champion had won on in 1981 played himself.

Which horse was first past the post in the void 1993 Grand National, 'the race that never was'?

Esha Ness, a 50-1 shot, ran the second-fastest time in the race's history, but it counted for nothing: 30 of 39 riders had missed the false start.

Which commentator called the 1993 fiasco 'the greatest disaster in the history of the Grand National'?

Peter O'Sullevan called 50 Nationals before retiring in 1997, then set up a foundation that raised millions for racing and animal charities.

Why was the 1997 Grand National postponed and run on the Monday?

IRA bomb threats forced 60,000 people out, and locals who took in stranded racegoers inspired headlines like 'We'll fight them on the Becher's'.

Which New Zealand-bred horse won the Monday National of 1997?

Lord Gyllene won in front of 20,000 people who came back to Aintree when the race was finally run, 49 hours late.

Which 100/1 outsider won by 12 lengths in 2009, giving Venetia Williams her first National?

Mon Mome, on jockey Liam Treadwell's first ride in the race, went on to finish third in the next year's Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Which horse won the CGI 'virtual' Grand National run in place of the cancelled 2020 race?

With real racing suspended by the pandemic, Potters Corner, the 2019 Welsh National winner, won the computer-simulated race.

Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National in 2021 on which horse?

Minella Times won with no crowd present because of Covid rules, and a year later Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to win the Gold Cup.

Who was the first female jockey to ride in the Grand National, on 200/1 shot Barony Fort in 1977?

Charlotte Brew's Barony Fort refused late in the race, so the first woman to complete the course was Geraldine Rees, in 1982.

Who was the first woman to train a Grand National winner, in 1983?

Jenny Pitman won again with Royal Athlete in 1995, and after retiring from training she wrote thrillers set in racing.

Which fence, the tallest on the Grand National course, is jumped only once, in front of the stands?

The Chair takes its name from the seat once used by the distance judge alongside the fence.

Aintree's Canal Turn takes its name from which waterway running beside it?

Before WWI, loose horses sometimes carried straight on into the Leeds and Liverpool Canal instead of making the 90-degree left turn.

Valentine's Brook is named after a horse reputed to have jumped it in 1840 in what way?

Valentine is said to have gone over hind legs first while his rider chased a bet on leading early, and he finished third.

The Grand National fences are topped with spruce brought from where?

Lake District spruce still dresses the fences, though most of their wooden cores gave way to softer plastic before the 2013 race.

Which horse set the Grand National's fastest winning time, 8 minutes 47.8 seconds, in 1990?

Mr Frisk was one of the rare chasers at his best on firm ground, and he relished the firm going on the day.

Which 19th-century jockey holds the record of five Grand National wins?

George Stevens died not from a racing fall but after a freak riding accident on Cleeve Hill.

Which son of Man o' War carried 17-year-old Bruce Hobbs to Grand National victory in 1938?

Battleship was retired straight after the race and went home to America, where he sired champion jumpers.

Which airline boss owned Rule The World, the novice who won the 2016 Grand National?

Michael O'Leary's horse was a novice who had never won a chase, breaking a long-standing trend against novices winning the National.

Count Karl Kinsky, who rode his own mare Zoedone to win the 1883 Grand National, came from which empire?

Austria-Hungary's Count Kinsky spotted Zoedone while hunting in England, bought her, and rode her to victory the following spring.

Which broadcaster took over UK television rights to the Grand National in 2017?

ITV's racing coverage had moved to Channel 4 in 1985, and 32 years later ITV took the rights back from Channel 4.

Which champion jump jockey won his only Grand National on Don't Push It in 2010?

Tony McCoy won at his 15th attempt, and that December became the first jockey voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Which distiller's final year as sponsor, 1991, saw the race won by a horse bearing its name?

Seagram caught Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Garrison Savannah on the long run-in to win narrowly.

In which 1944 film does Elizabeth Taylor play a girl who dreams of riding her horse at Aintree?

National Velvet thrust the young Elizabeth Taylor to stardom.

Which trainer won the 2024 Grand National, the first with its field capped at 34, with I Am Maximus?

Willie Mullins won the first race after the field was cut from 40 to reduce fallers, and I Am Maximus won again in 2026.

Which horse won the 2012 Grand National, becoming only the third grey winner?

Neptune Collonges caught Sunnyhillboy on the run-in in one of the closest finishes ever, giving Paul Nicholls his first National.

Which horse won back-to-back Grand Nationals in 2018 and 2019, the first to do so since Red Rum?

Tiger Roll's bid for an unprecedented third straight win ended when the 2020 race was cancelled because of Covid-19.

Which trainer, 31 years after his first win, saddled Amberleigh House to victory in 2004?

It equalled the record of four National winners held by George Dockeray and Fred Rimell.

Which famous Flat jockey's father trained Ayala to win the 1963 Grand National?

Lester Piggott's father Keith sent out 66/1 shot Ayala, and the win helped make him that season's champion jumps trainer.

Kirkland, the 1905 winner, was the first Grand National winner trained in which country?

Kirkland, trained in Wales, was ridden by Tich Mason, who had been paid not to ride for two weeks beforehand to avoid injury.

Ambush II, the 1900 winner, was owned by which future king?

Edward VII was not yet king when Ambush II won; running as the King's horse in 1903, he was right in contention when he fell at the last.

Which 1994 winner was owned by the comedian Freddie Starr?

Miinnehoma won with his owner nowhere near Aintree: Freddie Starr was kept away from the course that day by television commitments.

Different Class, the favourite for the 1968 race, was owned by which Hollywood actor?

Gregory Peck's Different Class started favourite but could only finish third, while Red Alligator, a 100/7 shot, won.

Which horse became the first Scottish-trained Grand National winner, in 1979?

Rubstic went back to Aintree to defend his title the following year, but this time he fell.

Which sponsor's 2014 deal saw the Grand National run for a record purse of £1 million?

Crabbie's took over from John Smith's, but after three Grand Nationals the ginger beer brand chose not to renew its sponsorship.