The Irish jockey has gone 14 years without winning the National but, at 39, has a good chance of a third victory on SaturdayRuby Walsh, the successful rider in two Grand Nationals, has somehow managed to go 14 years without winning another one but he can enjoy a late-career highlight by landing today’s big race aboard Rathvinden (5.15). Walsh has sometimes managed to miss the National by getting injured in an earlier race but there is no chance of such a mishap this time, as the 9-1 shot is his only mount of the day.Trained by Willie Mullins, Rathvinden looked all over a National contender when cruising through the four-miler at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. It was particularly impressive that...
Great British Racing showcase the athleticism of modern-day jockeys in the build up to Saturday’s big raceFor the first 30 seconds of a 40-second workout this week, the Equiciser was almost fun. Poised, sort of, in the stirrups of a wooden horse while pushing at its head in a vague approximation of a rhythm, it was possible to wonder for a moment if the physical demands on a jockey are really as formidable as they always like to claim.For the last 10 seconds, it was torture, for this make-believe jockey at least. As it started to dawn on the muscles in my thighs that it really was the intention to stay balanced in the stirrups for a few moments longer,...
Superpower trainers and owners are dominating the world’s most famous race but it could be a mistake to put limits on the numbers they can runGordon Elliott looks like having 13 runners in Saturday’s Grand National, smashing the record for a single trainer in the race, which was the 10 run by Martin Pipe in 2001. Michael O’Leary’s maroon and white silks will be carried by seven runners, or possibly nine if Don Poli and Outlander fail to sell at auction on Thursday evening.All of this has revived talk on social media about whether trainers and owners should be allowed to run as many as they please, and I think we can expect more of such talk in the build-up...
Respected publisher says it’s time to let stewards be more severe in dealing with extreme cases of improper whip useIf a world-class jockey can win the richest race on the planet in such a manner that disgusts an influential number of racing’s core supporters, is it time to crack down on the misuse of the whip by introducing much tougher bans for riders or even disqualifying victorious horses?Timeform, the widely respected racehorse ratings organisation, thinks so and has made a strong case for allowing officials to sanction such measures in the ‘Racehorses’ annual surveying the 2018 Flat season, out this week. Related: Grand National to feature two female jockeys with Blackmore set to join Kelly Lingfield 2.00 Swiss Pride 2.30...
While all of BetBright’s 35,000 customers have now been dealt with fairly, a very worrying precedent remainsThe biggest betting race of the year, the Grand National, will be run at Aintree on Saturday. In addition to the millions of pounds staked in the hours before the race, punters sitting on an untold number of ante-post bets, some placed even before the weights were published in February, will also learn their fate.Every one of those ante-post bets was placed in complete confidence that if the horse in question actually made it to the start on 6 April, the punter would get a run for their money. It is the same for every race with an ante-post market – including the Derby,...