What is a ‘Pattern’ race?

A ‘Pattern’ race is a horse race that is assigned Group One, Group Two or Group Three status, on the Flat, or Grade One, Grade Two or Grade Three status, in National Hunt racing. In both cases, these races represent the highest tiers, in terms of quality, prestige and value, but are ranked by two different bodies, with the power to upgrade or downgrade races from one season to the next.

On the Flat, ‘Group’ status, which is only awarded to non-handicap races of sufficient calibre, is assigned by the European Pattern Committee. The European Pattern Race system, which regulates so-called ‘black type’ races in France and Germany as well as in Britain and Ireland, was introduced in 1971. At that time, Pattern races were structured, in order of importance, as major international races, minor international races and major domestic races.

In National Hunt racing, the Jump Pattern Committee performs a similar function to the European Pattern Committee, but operates under the auspices of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and, as such, covers Britain alone. The National Hunt Pattern actually pre-dates the European Pattern Race system by two years, but was revised by the forerunner of the BHA, the Jockey Club, in 1989, to create the basis of the current system. The National Hunt Pattern includes several high-profile handicap races, not least the Grand National.

What is a maiden race?

What is a maiden race? A maiden race is a race for, well, maidens or, in other words, a race in which none of the participants has won a race in its selected discipline. The key phrase here is ‘in its selected discipline’, because a horse that has won a race in one discipline may still be eligible to run in maiden races in another. A horse that has won on the Flat, including under National Hunt Rules, for example, remains eligible for maiden races over hurdles, or fences for that matter, until such a time as it wins a race over one type of obstacle or the other.

Maiden races are run under both codes of horse racing – that is, Flat and National Hunt – and, by their very nature, are typically contested by young, inexperienced horses at the start of their careers. Of course, it is possible that moderate horses run many times before winning a race and some never do, so they could remain eligible to run in maiden races for most, or all, of their careers. That said, eligibility is often based on age and/or sex, so not all maidens are qualified to run in all maiden races.

How many horses have died in the Grand National?

The Grand National was officially inaugurated in 1839 and, in 173 runnings since, a total of 84 horses have lost their lives during the world famous steeplechase, either by being killed outright or by being humanely euthanised after sustaining injury during the race. In 2021, for example, The Long Mile broke a hind leg after jumping Becher’s Brook on the second circuit and was subsequently euthanised, as was Up For Review, who was brought down at the first fence in the previous renewal of the Grand National in 2019.

Down the years, Becher’s Brook, which is jumped as the sixth and twenty-second fence during the Grand National, has proved the deadliest of the sixteen fences on the National Course, with 14 fatalities. However, in recent years, the Jockey Club, which owns Aintree Racecourse, has invested millions of pounds into improving the physical structure and composition of the fences, approach and landing areas, etc, in the name of safety. Thus, while 13 horses have been killed in the Grand National since the turn of the twenty-first century, most of the fatalities occured up to, and including, 2012. That year, According To Pete, who was brought down at Becher’s Brook second time around, and Synchronised, who survived a fall at Becher’s Brook first time around, but broke a leg when running loose, were both euthanised.

How many jockeys have been killed in the Grand National?

Tragically, the 1862 renewal of the Grand National was marred by the one and only human fatality in the history of the celebrated steeplechase. On that fateful day, debutant Joseph Wynne, whose father Denis, or ‘Denny’, had won the National on Mathew 15 years earlier, lined up on 33/1 chance O’Connell. Having raced in mid-division for much of the first circuit, O’Connell was involved in a melee at the fence immediately before the water jump, which would become ‘The Chair’ but was, at the time, a gorsed hurdle.

At that obstacle, Playman took off too soon and fell heavily, causing Willoughby to make a bad mistake, as a result of which he became unbalanced and was cannoned into, from behind, by O’Connell. Both horses came to grief, but while Willoughby rose without incident, O’Connell fell on top of the already unsconscious Wynne as he attempted to do so, crushing his jockey’s chest. Wynne was still alive when carried to the nearby Sefton Arms Inn, but died that evening with regaining cosnciousness. Aside from his physical injuries, pulmonary tuberculosis was also identified as contributing to his death.

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