Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Grandeur and Lore Surrounding the Grand National

By Vanessa Cruz

The Grand National dates back to 1839 which was won by a horse named Lottery. This race is a long standing tradition that comes along every year. Each horse is the best of their breed. They have been well trained for years to be in the Grand National. The Horse must be at least 6 years old to run the race.

The horses have been well trained for years to be entered into this race. The age for a horse to run in this race is 6 years and over. It is one of the most difficult races to run for both horse and jockey. There have been 62 horses that have lost their lives and one jockey who lost his life during the running of this race since 1939. There are 16 fences and two other jumps that the horse must jump.

The race is done in a two set series so all but two of the jumps must be made twice. There are drop fences in which the horse will land on lower ground than they started on, and also fences where they will land higher on the ground then where they jumped from. The horse has no way to know this about these jumps until they are air borne. This is to test the abilities of the horses.

Another test of the horse's abilities is about halfway through the race course; there is difficult fence jump with a 90 degree turn at the end of the jump. This is also to test how well the jockey and horse work together to keep in tune with the track. At the final lap of the 4.5 mile course is a long run in to the finish. The horses are usually tired by this point and you can start to see the strain on them as they run toward the finish line.

The track is very intense for the horses and their riders. They both must be in top form for this race. Endurance is also a must as it is a long race at 4.5 miles with rigorous jumps and race track curves. You can often see the strain on the horses as they race to the finish, which is always exciting, and not always predictable.

There are great stories and tales about the Grand National that include some great winning horses like Red Rum who won 3 times in 1973, 1974, and 1977, he came in 2nd in 1995 and 1996. There have been many records set at this racetrack in Liverpool like the oldest winning horse at age 15, the youngest winning jockey at age 17, and fastest winning time at 8m 47.8s, Mr. Frisk in 1990. There are many great stats and stories about this race and track.

The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt horse race in the world. There is a lot of money to be won by the horse owners and jockeys as well as by the crowd. You can even bet online these days with your favorite pick to win.

As with most horse races there is a big purse to win here, one of the largest. This is a big race for the horse, jockey, and the owner. The spectators also can make some money by making a few well made bets on their favorite horses. - 20896

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