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The Grand National is an event many sports fans look forward to every April. It is a race that seems to appeal to a mass audience like no other in the sport of horse racing. Aintree Racecourse will be holding the 175th renewal of the steeplechase this year, and the popularity is not waving.
Here is a look at what makes the race so popular, and how it may have changed over the last few decades.
Race Attracts Higher Quality Horses Now
It is rare to see the highest-rated horses in jump racing feature in handicap races, as they must concede a lot of weight to their rivals. However, the lure of winning the Grand National is tempting more owners and trainers to run their best horses.
Noble Yeats and @swaleycohen win the 2022 Grand National! pic.twitter.com/Bm1y9qcV54
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) April 9, 2022
Noble Yeats was successful last April and he is likely to be one of the popular horse bets for the contest this year, as he bids to become only the third horse in the last 50 years to win in back-to-back years. Emmet Mullins’ runner is the 8/1 favourite for the 2023 contest where he will need to carry one of the highest weight allocations of 11st 11lb.
The defending champion will be joined in the field for the upcoming contest by Any Second Now, Conflated, Galvin and Hewick, some of the best chasers in the 3m division in jumps racing.
Huge Crowds Flock to Liverpool
One constant regarding the Grand National is how popular this meeting is with racegoers. Crowds flock to Liverpool from all over the world, not just on Grand National Day, but also on the two other days of the meeting, as they feature some prestigious races.
The atmosphere of the Grand National is one of the reasons many horse racing fans choose to make the trip every year. When the starter lets the horse go at the start of the race, the crowd at Aintree give off a huge cheer.
Aintree makes a big effort to welcome everybody, regardless of how closely you follow the sport. It is a great social event, with lots of other activities on the course aside from the racing on the track.
Modifications To Fences
Not long to go now!
Did you know that the core of Grand National fences are now made of ‘plastic birch’ 🤔
This is a layer of synthetic shrubbery around 1️⃣5️⃣ inches tall that sits on top of a much lower wooden fence, with loose spruce placed on top’. pic.twitter.com/6zMbXgLGJI
— Great British Racing (@GBRacing) April 9, 2022
To ensure the race is as safe as it possibly can be for all those involved, Aintree Racecourse has made a few modifications to its Grand National Course over the last decade. The fences are not as big as they used to be, which ensures they are easier to jump. They are now made of plastic birch which ensured they are softer than they used to be.
There is also now a maximum field of 40 runners that can feature. Given the interest from trainers and owners, this number is fulfilled in most years. There is also a reserve list, so if a horse does come out before the final declarations, the runner at the top of this list takes its place.
Despite those changes, the race still makes for thrilling viewing, as it is the most unique contest on the National Hunt calendar around the world.
The race on the 15th of April should once against attract a big television audience across many regions of the globe and expect to see the winner dominate many of the sports pages of newspapers the following day.
David Prior
David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.
