Hello everyone,
I'm sorry for the lack of postings, but I thought I should write a little about Englands most famous horse race. Aintree is a racecourse that is only used two or three times a year, it is kept as hallowed ground for the big event on the second saturday in April every year: The Grand National.
It is run over a course of huge obstacles, 4miles4furlongs, and only the bravest horses and toughest jockeys can win it. Over 600 million people worldwide will watch this race, me included.
There are fences with special names too, the biggest fence is The Chair: It has a ditch the size of a small track (a mini can drive through it) and the height is 5ft with a width of nearly the same! It is the third fence and so obviously causes havoc to unsuspecting horses (some of which come back the following year and refuse to run...they know what's aheard!) I think it got its name because a judge used to sit on a chair at that fence.
Then there is Valentines which has another big ditch and height. The most famous fence of all is Becher's Brook. This fence is named after a man called Becher who ended up in the brook that ran through the landing side of the fence. This is another fence that catches horses by surprise, it looks like a normal aintree fence, but once a horse is in the air, they are suddenly aware of a mighty drop the other side...it must be 8feet. In addition to that it is on a bend.
Then there is the Canal Turn: named as the Canal runs alongside part of the track at that point, so this fence is placed so horses have to turn 90 degrees in the air otherwise they would end up in the canal.
If you look closely, I think there may be old fashioned painted barges moored at that point! I actually cannot remember, as I'm usually watching the horses, and many times a horse can be running beautifully only to meet this fence at the wrong angle and it jumps wide...race over...
Foinavon's Fence... This is the fence where there was a huge pile up in the 1960's, nearly all the horses stopped and refused to jump...jockeys were remounting but one horse managed to keep going and that was Foinavon.
For me the most famous and greatest racehorse I know of is Red Rum. He was truly a champion of champions. He was not particularly exceptional anywhere else....but he made Aintree his own. He was trained on the sandy beach nearby at Southport as he had sore legs, and he won this race carrying 12 stone twice and in total won the race three times and second twice. He is buried at the winning post. He for me is the greatest racehorse I've ever had the privilege to watch in my lifetime. His trainer Ginger McCain was famous because of this horse (he was a little known trainer) and he was such a lovely funny man when he was interviewed. Watch a youtube link on Red Rum receiving Sports Personality of the Year at the BBC...Its wonderful and shows a horse is just as smart or smarter than us humans.
Anyway until I figure out if I can reload paintings I'm just writing for now. Enjoy the race today its coming up very soon. It certainly gets your heart racing just watching it on the TV. I always remember a jockey saying after he'd won it...its better than sex! There was a lot of teasing that went on afterwards.
I hope all the horses come back safe, and for anyone interested I have no idea who can win this. I'd be amazed if Synchronised can win it with Tony McCoy as it was only three weeks since the Gold Cup at Cheltenham. I like tried and tested horses or jockeys over these fences with low weights and stamina, like Rare Bob, Arbor Supreme, Giles Cross or Always Right. I keep looking at a horse called Vic Venturi too, but it is 12 now, good jockey and loves Aintree...who knows, but there are 16 irish horses, so its either the luck of the irish or just a horse who can outsmart the rest. MonMome is in the race and he won it at 100-1 a few years ago! He's certainly no fool, he's been plodding away this season nicely too. Pick a number sort of race and cross your fingers!
Enjoy!
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