How Many Jumps Are There In The Grand National
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30 Jumps – 16 Fences. The Grand National is renowned for being one of the most difficult horse races in the world. The gruelling four and a half mile course has 30 jumps of varying difficultly for the brave jockeys and horses to navigate. Around 60% of the horses that start the race will not make it past the finishing post, and for the first horse over the last fence a 494 yard marathon run-in awaits. RTJ GOLF TRAIL AT GRAND NATIONAL. Grand National, by all reports, was the single greatest site for a golf complex Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Had ever seen.Built on 600-acre Lake Saugahatchee, 32 of the 54 holes drape along its filigreed shores. Both the Links course and the Lake course were in the top 10 of Golf Digest's list of 'America's Top 50 Affordable Courses' and all three courses at Grand. The biggest race day of the year in Wales, the £150,000 Coral Welsh Grand National, is taking place Behind Closed Doors (due to the coronavirus pandemic) on a new date of Saturday 9th January.There are on-going discussions with the Welsh Government about the return of spectators and any updates will be posted on the NEWS page of our website. By William Hill. Last Updated: 27th March 2020. Most jockeys would probably tell you that the 30 fences around two circuits of Aintree’s Grand National jumps course are all challenging if the horse they’re riding doesn’t take to the unique spruce-covered obstacles on Merseyside. Changes made in recent years to the structure of fences – plastic birch is now used for the frame posts instead of wood – and their.
The Grand National is an annual horse racing event that’s held at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. This year’s Grand National is scheduled to take place on 11th April, 2015. In celebration of this historic sporting event, The List Love is offering 10 Grand National facts you must read .
1. The First Grand National
1949 pic – Image via www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
The first Grand National was officially held in 1839. Horses jumped 30 fences during the course of the handicap steeplechase that was 4 miles 3 ½ furlongs over two circuits. The winning horse was called Lottery and came in at 5-1.
2. The Fastest Grand National Time
The horse with the fastest time at the annual horse racing event belongs to Mr Frisk, who completed the race in just 8 minutes, 47.8 seconds in 1990.
3. Female Grand National Jockeys
image via www.express.co.uk
The first female jockey to take part in the Grand National was Charlotte Brew, who rode 200-1 chance horse Barony Fort back in 1977. The horse, however, finished its journey at the 26th fence.
The most successful female jockey at the Grand National is Katie Walsh, who steered Seabass, a 8/1 horse, into third place at the 2012 Grand National.
4. Red Rum
You cannot write about the history of the Grand National and not mention Red Rum, who was, and still is, the most successful racehorse in the Grand National. The record-breaking horse won the racing event three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1977. He also finished in second place in both 1975 and 1976. Red Rum is therefore buried at the winning post.
5. Grand National Viewers
image via www.grandnational.org.uk
The Grand National is one of the most celebrated horse racing events in history, and so it is probably no surprise that 9 million people in the UK alone will watch the race. How many across the world? 600 million people. So, yeah, it’s pretty popular.
6. Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse welcomes 154,000 people over 3 days, with 77,000 people watching the event at the venue on the day of the Grand National. Race-goers have the option of over 80 bars, and they are believed to consume a quarter of a million pints of beer, 38,000 shots and 5,000 cocktails.
On top of that, they’ll enjoy 75,000 cups of tea and coffee, as well as 3,500 rumps of lamb.
7. The Oldest Grand National Winning Horse
image via www.theguardian.com
The oldest horse to win the Grand National was Peter Simple, who was just 15 years old when he run the race in 1853.
8. The Oldest and Youngest Winning Jockeys
The youngest jockey to lead a horse to glory is Bruce Hobbs, who run the race with Battleship in 1938. The oldest jockey to win the Grand National was Dick Saunders, who was 48 years old when he won with Grittar in 1982.
9. The Stone Wall Grand National Jump
image via www.sportslineproductions.co.uk
The first five Grand Nationals featured a 2 foot 6 inch stone wall that the horses had to jump. It was located where the water jump now stands. It was one of the most popular jumps at the time and provided a fantastic spectacle for viewers in the stands. However, it was soon shadowed by The Chair jump at 5 foot 2 inches, and preceded by a 6foot wide ditch.
10. The Most and Least Finishers
40 runners took part in the 1984 Grand National and 23 completed the race – which is the most finishers on record. In 1928, 42 runners joined the race but only two horses finished it, with Tipperary Tim beating Billy Barton by a distance.
Want to know more about other annual events? Please read 10 Amazing Facts About Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, G+ and Twitter for more interesting top 10 lists.
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The Grand National fences are arguably the most famous horse racing steeplechases in the world. Dating back to 1829, racing over fences at Aintree Racecourse has evolved over the years, proving to be one of the most challenging tests, over distance, for runners and riders.
HOW MANY FENCES ARE IN THE GRAND NATIONAL?In total there are 16 fences on the Grand National course, 14 of which are jumped twice along the four mile, two and half furlong distance, which is the longest Jump racing distance in the UK.
The fences used to be constructed from natural thorn hedges and were known as ‘thorn fences’. However, they are now created from Sitka or Norway spruce, which is brought down from the Lake District, and it is weaved into plastic birch structure which provides flexibility should a runner make a mistake at the jump. It takes the Aintree Groundstaff team three weeks to build the fences from 16 lorry-loads of spruce prior to the Grand National Festival.
There are many well-known fences at Aintree including Becher’s Brook, Canal Turn and Valentine’s, all of which provide different tests for the runners and rider. Each fence varies in height, with the lowest measuring at 4ft 6” and the highest, The Chair, at 5ft 2” which also has a 5ft wide ditch on the take-off side.
the fences explained- 1 & 17 4ft 6in high, 2ft 9in wide
The first fence marks the start of the Grand National race and is in fact one of the smallest on the course. It is parallel to the Embankment, the large slope to the right of the course which houses 13,000 racegoers, all eager to see the horses begin their trip over the fences. This is a ‘settling’ fence and helps the runners and riders find their stride at the beginning of the race.
- 2 & 18 4ft 7in high, 3ft 6in wide
- 3 & 19 – Open Ditch
- 5ft high, 10ft 6” (total length with ditch and fence)
This is the first of three open ditch fences on the course, this being on the take-off side and measuring 7ft wide.
At 5ft high, it is also known as ‘Westhead’ after the late Steve Westhead who was one of Aintree’s fence builders and worked at Aintree Racecourse in the 1970s.
- 4 & 20 4ft 10in high, 3ft wide
- 5 & 21 5ft high, 3ft 6in wide
The landing side was levelled in 2013.
- 6 & 22 - Becher’s Brook 4ft 10” high, 7ft 6” wide
The most famous fence in the Grand National race is named after Captain Martin Becher who landed in the ditch after being unseated by Conrad in the first official Grand National race in 1839.
This fence has been remodelled several times, with the drop on the landing side levelled in the 1990s and again after the 2011 Grand National race.
- 7 & 23 – Foinavon Fence 4ft 6in high, 3ft wide
How Many Jumps Are There In The Grand National Park
This otherwise ordinary fence became extraordinary in 1967, when Fionavon was the only horse to successfully jump the fence after multiple horses shied and caused chaos on the course, going from last place to win the race.
- 8 & 24 – Canal Turn 5ft high, 7ft wide
This fence gets its name from the nearby Leeds-Liverpool canal and is noted for the sharp, 90-degree, left-hand turn that the runners have to take as soon as they have jumped the fence.
- 9 & 25 – Valentine’s Brook 5ft high, 7ft wide
With a 5ft 6in brook on the landing side, this fence was originally known as Second Brook, but was renamed after a horse called Valentine was said to have jumped it hind legs first in 1840.
- 10 & 26 5ft high, 3ft wide
- 11 & 27 – Open Ditch fence 5ft high, 10ft spread
This is the fence where red-hot favourite, Golden Miller fell after refusing to jump in the 1935 Grand National race. He won in record time in the previous year, 1934, and became the first horse to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National race in the same season.
How Many Jumps Are There In The Grand National Race
- 12 & 28 5ft high, with a 5ft 6in ditch on the landing side
Also known as ‘Booth’ after the late John Booth, which was the foreman of Aintree’s maintenance team in the 1970s.
- 13 & 29 4ft 7in high, 3ft wide
This fence had its landing side smoothed out prior to 2013.
How Many Jumps Are There In The Grand National Golf
- 14 & 30 4ft 6in high
Although few horses fail here, it may lead them into a false sense of security before facing The Chair.
- 15 – The Chair
How Many Jumps In The Grand National 2019
The highest fence in the race at 5ft 2”, The Chair has a 5ft ditch before the fence and a raised landing side. Jumped only on the first circuit, it’s named after the chair the distance judge used to sit in to gauge the official distance between the winner and the runners behind. These horses were classed as ‘beaten by a distance’, with a ‘distance’ being more than forty lengths.
The original ‘chair’ is now located on a podium in the Red Rum Garden at Aintree Racecourse.
- 16 – Water Jump 2ft 6in high
How Many Jumps Are There In The Grand Nationals
The final fence on the first circuit is the lowest of the 16 fences. It has a wide stretch of water on the landing side and was first introduced in 1841, replacing a stone wall which was, at the time, 16ft wide!