The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

Every year the Grand National produces very different stories from jockeys and horses alike; uplifting scenes from a victor and heartbreak when a mere inch divides the loser from the winner at the end of nearly four-and-a-half miles and thirty challenging fences. In 1839 the first winner was aptly named Lottery. Back then, huge crowds rode to Aintree by horseback, in carriages, carts or on foot. Today the Grand National is probably the world's most famous horse race, with a global television audience of some 600 million in 140 countries.

This richly informed book focuses on the race's various record-breakers, rather than being a purely chronological history of this greatest of all steeplechases. Many records have stood the test of time: in 2019, Tiger Roll's second consecutive victory was the first time that the feat had been achieved since Red Rum in 1973-74. Anne Holland's authoritative history celebrates one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles.

'A well-organised and cheerily anecdotal volume' Spectator

1133020451
The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

Every year the Grand National produces very different stories from jockeys and horses alike; uplifting scenes from a victor and heartbreak when a mere inch divides the loser from the winner at the end of nearly four-and-a-half miles and thirty challenging fences. In 1839 the first winner was aptly named Lottery. Back then, huge crowds rode to Aintree by horseback, in carriages, carts or on foot. Today the Grand National is probably the world's most famous horse race, with a global television audience of some 600 million in 140 countries.

This richly informed book focuses on the race's various record-breakers, rather than being a purely chronological history of this greatest of all steeplechases. Many records have stood the test of time: in 2019, Tiger Roll's second consecutive victory was the first time that the feat had been achieved since Red Rum in 1973-74. Anne Holland's authoritative history celebrates one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles.

'A well-organised and cheerily anecdotal volume' Spectator

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The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

by Anne Holland
The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

The Grand National: A Celebration of the World's Most Famous Horse Race

by Anne Holland

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Overview

Every year the Grand National produces very different stories from jockeys and horses alike; uplifting scenes from a victor and heartbreak when a mere inch divides the loser from the winner at the end of nearly four-and-a-half miles and thirty challenging fences. In 1839 the first winner was aptly named Lottery. Back then, huge crowds rode to Aintree by horseback, in carriages, carts or on foot. Today the Grand National is probably the world's most famous horse race, with a global television audience of some 600 million in 140 countries.

This richly informed book focuses on the race's various record-breakers, rather than being a purely chronological history of this greatest of all steeplechases. Many records have stood the test of time: in 2019, Tiger Roll's second consecutive victory was the first time that the feat had been achieved since Red Rum in 1973-74. Anne Holland's authoritative history celebrates one of the world's greatest sporting spectacles.

'A well-organised and cheerily anecdotal volume' Spectator


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781474612005
Publisher: Orion
Publication date: 10/24/2019
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
File size: 34 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Anne Holland was a successful amateur rider who once rode at Aintree on Grand National day. She has written many books on horse-racing including Steeplechasing: A Celebration, The Grand National: The Irish At Aintree and All in the Blood.

Few racing writers are better equipped to pen this portrait of Best Mate than Anne Holland. Having owned, trained and ridden many winners in the amateur ranks, she understands intimately the heartbreaks, the hopes and the thrills found in this heroic sport.Anne Holland is author of numerous books on horseracing including Steeplechasing, A Celebration of 250 Years; Classic Horse Races; Grand National, The Official Celebration of 150 Years; Stride by Stride, The Illustrated Story of Horseracing; and Dawn Run, The Story of a Champion Racehorse and her Remarkable Owner.She lives blissfully in rural Ireland where she hunts as much as possible, enjoys going racing and breeds NH horses.
Anne Holland is an established authority on both flat-racing and steeplechasing, and author of many acclaimed and authorised books on the subject.

Table of Contents

Author's Note and Acknowledgements ix

Foreword Mick Fitzgerald xi

Chairman's Message Rose Paterson xii

1 Lottery; First winner, 1839 1

2 George Stevens: Rode most winners, 1856-70 10

3 The Lamb: First grey winner, 1868 and 1871 17

4 The Beasley Family: Four brothers, 1877-92 28

5 Cloister: Largest winning margin, 1893 35

6 Manifesto: Most runs, 1895-1904 41

7 Moifaa: New Zealand winner, 1904 48

8 Gregalch: Biggest field, 1929 53

9 Reynoldstown: Dual winner in the twentieth century, 1935 and 1936 58

10 Bruce Hobbs: Youngest winning rider, 1938 64

11 Devon Loch: Unluckiest loser, 1956 72

12 Foinavon: Luckiest winner, 1967 83

13 Crisp: Most gallant loser, 1973 91

14 Red Rum: Most wins, 1973, 1974 and 1977 98

15 Charlotte Brew: First woman to ride, 1977 106

16 Aldaniti and Bob Champion: Greatest fairy-tale win, 1981 114

17 Dick Saunders: Oldest winning rider, 1982 122

18 Jenny Pitman: First winning woman trainer with Corbiere, 1983 129

19 Canford Ginger: Most finishers, 1984 137

20 Mr Frisk: Course record, 1990 143

21 Richard Dunwoody: Most modern wins and places 151

22 Rough Quest: Surviving a Stewards' Enquiry, 1996 162

23 Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson, OBE: The great racing rivals 175

24 Lord Gyllene: the bomb scare National, 1997 191

25 Peter O'Sullevan and Peter Bromley: Legendary commentators 201

26 The Twenty-first-century Irish Resurgence 212

27 100-1 Winners 230

28 Leighton Aspell: Back-to-back wins, 2014 and 2015 239

29 One for Arthur, Two for Scotland: And some Welsh wizardry 255

30 Twenty-first-century Women on the Brink 272

31 The Grand National, 2019: Two in a Row for Tiger Roll 278

Sources 285

Bibliography 287

Index 291

Picture Credits 303

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