Saturday, 6 April 2013

Channel 4 takes up the Grand National reins

CHANNEL FOUR will broadcast the Grand National for the first time in its history amid a sibling rivalry with Ruby and Katie Walsh both on the back of well-fancied horses.

Ruby - who has twice won the National already with Papillon in 2000 and Hedgehunter in 2005 - rides On His Own (10/1), while Katie will aim to become the first female jockey to win the race on favourite Seabass (7/1), who she rode to third last year.

Even if neither of the Walshes win, their father Ted could yet still be celebrating himself if Colbert Station (14/1) comes home first. The nine-year-old gelding will be ridden by none other than Tony McCoy, the 17-time champion jockey, though he has won the National just once, in 2010.

Stiff competition is expected to come from 2011 winner Ballabriggs (16/1) - trained by Donald McCain, son of Aintree legend Ginger - while 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander (16/1) has also been well-backed.

Meanwhile, Chicago Grey (12/1) looks likeliest of the four greys in the field to make it two-in-a-row after Neptune Collonges' stunning win last year broke a 51-year-old curse.

However, the other greys - Quel Espirit (50/1), Swing Bill (80/1), and Tarquinis (80/1) - are well down in the betting, and will do well to finish the gruelling four-mile quest.

Then again, the National is a race where anything can happen, as proven by Foinavon, a 100/1 shot in 1967 whose win earned him a fence name, and the recently-retired, Mon Mome, who started at the same price in 2009.

Whoever wins, though, Aintree officials and the British Horseracing Authority will be desperate for a clean race after the last two years, both of which have seen two horses die and, consequently, fences bypassed.

For the record, Ornais and Dooneys Gate died in 2011, while favourite Synchronised and According to Pete both died in 2012.

The death of Dooneys Gate at Beecher's Brook - an obstacle infamous for its 6ft 9in drop - led to modifications being made but both of the fatalities in 2012 came there again. This has led to further alterations being made.

Outwardly the 16 National fences look the same as last year, with no major alterations to their size and shape but, hidden from view is a new plastic centre replacing the wooden stakes which traditionally supported the structure of the fences.

The intention is to make them more flexible and less likely to cause dangerous falls when hit by horses.

Additionally, the start line has been moved further away from the grandstand in attempt to keep the horses and jockeys calmer while the jockeys themselves have been warned about curbing their speed.

Earlier this week, Katie Walsh defended the horses in the National, stating that they were "so well looked after; better than some children, to be honest".

She added: "Anyone who gets up on Christmas Day and mucks out loves animals. Sure, it's a dangerous sport. But every night, all over the world, a lot of horses are left out in fields starving.

"I don't read the criticism because it's not worth it. At the end of the day, it would be a lot worse if it had been two jockeys who lost their lives. I think everyone should remember that."

However, it was rather black irony that the only fatality at the National meet-up this week was an 11-year-old horse, Battlefront... ridden by Ms Walsh.

And, if anything, one of the biggest problems with the race has not been rectified. The size of the field, at 40 horses, is still far too big, and several of them will lack to stamina to last the course.

After all, would the race be any less of a spectacle if there were only 30 runners, as suggested by international charity, World Horse Welfare?

Surely, it would not and - while there would still be unfortunate accidents and incidents - the percentage of finishing horses would surely be much higher. It is now eight years since more than half the runners actually completed the course.

Regardless of that, the Grand National remains a British institution, even if it is a slightly troubled one, in search of a main sponsor after John Smith's declined to renew their eight-year association.

The move to Channel 4 is also expected to result in a decline in a viewership - not that the BBC1 is exactly competing this afternoon.

In place of their usual Grand National coverage are repeats of Bargain Hunt, Homes Under The Hammer and Escape to the Country - licence fee payers money well-spent...

Nevertheless, there is no reason why the world's greatest steeplechase being on Channel 4 should make it any less watchable.

Simon Holt is an experienced lead commentator and C4 Racing have provided exemplary coverage of the Cheltenham Festival since 1995.

Indeed, from 2013, the channel has become the exclusive home of free-to-air televised racing following a deal last March. This includes the Epsom Derby and the Royal Ascot meeting which are both in June.

Back to the present, and let's hope for a clean, controversy-free race with victory for either Seabass, or Imperial Commander, or Balthazar King (20/1), or Oscar Time (50/1) - just to make me some money...

The race is scheduled to start at 4.15pm. A full list of the runners and riders is below:

Card no | Form | NAME | Breeding | Age - Weight | Trainer / Jockey
1) 51U/1P/-2 IMPERIAL COMMANDER (IRE) 12-11-10 Nigel Twiston-Davies/Sam Twiston-Davies

2) P/33F0-0 WHAT A FRIEND 10-11-09 Paul Nicholls/Sam Thomas

3) 3PF-4PP WEIRD AL (IRE) 10-11-08 Donald McCain/Timmy Murphy

4) 1113-04 QUEL ESPRIT (FRA) 9-11-07 Willie Mullins IRE/Paul Townend

5) 40/-U312 BIG FELLA THANKS 11-11-06 Tom George/Denis O'Regan

6) 1113-23 SEABASS (IRE) 10-11-06 Ted Walsh IRE/Katie Walsh

7) 0-1U355 ROBERTO GOLDBACK (IRE) 11-11-06 Nicky Henderson/Barry Geraghty

8) P012-5P SUNNYHILLBOY (IRE) 10-11-04 Jonjo O'Neill/Richie McLernon

9) 1/46-P03 BALLABRIGGS (IRE) 12-11-04 Donald McCain/Jason Maguire

10) 11-0620 TEAFORTHREE (IRE) 9-11-03 Rebecca Curtis/Nick Scholfield

11) 3-11201 ACROSS THE BAY (IRE) 9-11-02 Donald McCain/Henry Brooke

12) 1P3-02P JOIN TOGETHER (IRE) 8-11-02 Paul Nicholls/Daryl Jacob

13) 413-5211 COLBERT STATION (IRE) 9-11-01 Ted Walsh IRE/AP McCoy

14) 2P1536 FORPADYDEPLASTERER (IRE) 11-11-00 Thomas Cooper IRE/Andrew McNamara

15) P1/B1F-1 ON HIS OWN (IRE) 9-11-00 Willie Mullins IRE/Ruby Walsh

16) 0-35233 JONCOL (IRE) 10-10-13 Paul Nolan IRE/Robbie Power

17) P0F1-12 BALTHAZAR KING (IRE) 9-10-12 Philip Hobbs/Richard Johnson

18) 1334-22 CAPPA BLEU (IRE) 11-10-11 Evan Williams/Paul Moloney

19) 2/4-4U60 OSCAR TIME (IRE) 12-10-11 Martin Lynch IRE/Sam Waley-Cohen

20) 44001-00 ALWAYS WAINING (IRE) 12-10-10 Peter Bowen/Tom O'Brien

21) 15U-606 TATENEN (FRA) 9-10-10 Richard Rowe/Andrew Thornton

22) 423F-01 TREACLE (IRE) 12-10-09 Tom Taaffe IRE/Noel Fehily

23) 011611 LOST GLORY (NZ) 8-10-08 Jonjo O'Neill/Mark Wals

24) P-P1440 SWING BILL (FRA) 12-10-08 David Pipe/Conor O'Farrell

25) U01-F430 SAINT ARE (FRA) 7-10-08 Tim Vaughan/Dougie Costello

26) B-0U631 CHICAGO GREY (IRE) 10-10-07 Gordon Elliott IRE/Paul Carberry

27) 010F-605 QUISCOVER FONTAINE (FRA) 9-10-07 Willie Mullins IRE/David Casey

28) 3B0-643 RARE BOB (IRE) 11-10-06 Dessie Hughes IRE/Bryan Cooper

29) 04-311P4 THE RAINBOW HUNTER 9-10-06 Kim Bailey/Aidan Coleman

30) F-63PP5 BECAUSEICOULDNTSEE (IRE) 10-10-06 Noel Glynn IRE/Martin Ferris

31) 12P-P00 HARRY THE VIKING 8-10-06 Paul Nicholls/Ryan Mahon

32) 2360264 MR MOONSHINE (IRE) 9-10-05 Sue Smith/Peter Buchanan

33) 1133FP MUMBLES HEAD (IRE) 12-10-04 Peter Bowen/Jamie Moore

34) 3F6042 NINETIETH MINUTE (IRE) 10-10-03 Tom Taaffe IRE/Niall Madden

35) 0P45F5 AURORAS ENCORE (IRE) 11-10-03 Sue Smith/Ryan Mania

36) P11420 TARQUINIUS (FRA) 10-10-02 Gordon Elliott/K Renwick IRE

37) 614U40 ANY CURRENCY (IRE) 10-10-00 Martin Keighley/Ian Popham

38) 2P-265P MAJOR MALARKEY (IRE) 10-9-13 Nigel Twiston-Davies/Tom Scudamore

39) 621B-001 SOLL 8-9-12 Jo Hughes/Mark Grant

40) 023P25 VIKING BLOND (FRA) 8-9-11 Nigel Twiston-Davies/Adam Wedge

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