What happens in the event of dead-heat?

In horse racing, a dead-heat occurs when two or more horses cross the finishing line at exactly the same time, such that, even after reference to photographic evidence, the raceday judge cannot separate them. Nowadays, the judge can rely on two highly sensitive, high resolution digital cameras, in a photofinish booth high in the grandstand, to determine the outcome of close finishes. Nevertheless, while advances in technology allow an accurate result to be announced within a matter of seconds, dead-heats do still occur, albeit less often than was once the case.

As far as prize money is concerned, in the event of dead-heat, the first, second and, possibly third, prize money is added together and divided equally between, or among, the connections of the horses involved. As far as bookmakers are concerned, industry standard dead-heat rules dictate that winning bets on a horse involved in dead-heat are settled at full odds – regardless of whether you took an ante post, early or board price, or starting price – but to half, or a third, of your original stake, depending on the number of horses involved in the dead-heat. Thus, a £10 win bet on a horse that dead-heats, with one other, at odds of 4/1 returns £25. Note that this is not the same as half the odds to the full stake which, in this case, would return £30.

How long is the run-in on the Grand National Course?

The Grand National Course consists of sixteen fences, fourteen of which are jumped twice, making thirty obstacles in all. However, even after four miles and thirty fences, the Grand National is still far from over, because runners and riders still face the physically and psychologically exhausting run-in. At 494 yards, or over a quarter-of-a-mile, long, the run-in on the Grand National Course is already the longest in Britain and made more challenging still by a a right-handed dog-leg – the infamous ‘Elbow’ – at halfway.

Indeed, it was at that point that jockey Richard Pitman made the ‘schoolboy mistake’ of reaching for his whip, causing his mount, Crisp, to veer left, thereby losing two or three lengths – or, in other words, further than the threequarters-of-a-length he was beaten by the eventual winner, Red Rum – in the 1973 Grand National. Of course, Crisp wasn’t the first, or the last, horse to suffer a reversal of fortune on the run-in in the Grand National. In 1954, Devon Loch, owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, inexplicably collapsed yards from the winning post, with the race at his mercy, handing victory to his nearest pursuer, ESB.

Before Tiger Roll and Red Rum, which was the last horse to win the Grand National two years running?

For many owners, trainers and jockeys, winning the Grand National, just once, remains an elusive dream. However, several horses have won the world-famous steeplechase two – and, in the case of Red Rum, three – years running. Of course, the most recent of them was Tiger Roll who, in 2020, was denied the opportunity to attempt an unprecedented hat-trick when the National was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before Red Rum, though, we need to look back to the interwar years, 1936, for the last horse to record back-to-back victories in the National. That horse was Reynoldstown, owned and trained by Major Noel Furlong and ridden, in 1935, by his son Frank and, in 1936, by Fulke Walwyn.

The 1935 renewal was notable for the presence of Golden Miller who, in 1934, had become the first – and, so far, only – horse in history to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season; sent off 2/1 favourite, Golden Miller parted company with jockey Gerry Wilson at the fence after Valentine’s Brook on the first circuit. Reynoldstown, carrying11st 4lb, jumped well and although challenged for the lead by Thomond over the final two fences, ran on strongly to bear Blue Prince by 3 lengths. In so doing, he set a new course record, 9:20.20, which would not be beaten until 1973.

Despite being sidelined with injury, Reynoldstown returned for the 1936 Grand National and, under 12st 2lb, disputed the lead with Davy Jones from Becher’s Brook on the second circuit. However, he nearly unseated Fulke Walwyn when colliding with Davy Jones at the fifth-last fence and made a bad mistake of his own at the third-last. He rallied gamely to dispute the lead again at the final fence, at which point Davy Jones’ reins came unbuckled and he ran out, leaving Reynoldstown to come home unchallenged.

How steep is the ‘Cheltenham hill’?

Cheltenham Racecourse, in Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire, is home to the four-day Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March and, undoubtedly, the highlight of the British National Hunt season. During the Festival, most of the racing takes place on the Old Course, on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and the New Course, on the Thursday and Friday. Both courses are left-handed, undulating and feature a stiff, uphill finish, known colloquially as the ‘Cheltenham hill’.

On the New Course, in particular, where the emphasis is on stamina, rather than speed, conversation invariably turns to the severity of the ‘hill’, which has taken on mythical proportions and garnered a fearsome, if not entirely warranted, reputation. The stiffness of the finish is, no doubt, exacerbated by the pronounced downhill run to the home turn, but the ‘hill’ is not, as some commentators suggest, the ‘north face of the Eiger’. In fact, over the last three furlongs, the ground rises just 10 metres, or 33 feet, with a percentage slope of just 1.67%. Indeed, the angle between the horizontal plane and the surface of the ‘Cheltenham hill’ is less than 1º so, while it has been the scene of many iconic finishes, it is nowhere near as steep as folklore suggests.

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