Big Races

Foaled on March 29, 1917, Man o’War was arguably the greatest American racehorse in history and set a standard by which future generations of thoroughbreds would be measured. ‘Big Red’, as he was known, suffered the one and only defeat in his otherwise indomitable 21-race career when beaten a neck by the aptly-named Upset in the Sandford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on August 13, 1919.

Of course, the term ‘Triple Crown’ would not be coined, officially, for another decade, but its component races – namely the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes – had co-existed since 1875 and the first horse to win all three was Sir Barton in 1919. As a three-year-old, Man o’War won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course by 1½ lengths from the aforementioned Upset, who had finished second in the Kentucky Derby, and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park by 20 lengths from his sole rival, Donnacona.

The venue for the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, is officially in the

Southeastern United States, but was nonetheless considered part of the hated ‘West’ by the owner of Man o’War, Samuel Doyle Riddle, who avoided entering his horses in the ‘Run for the Roses’. Geographical bias aside, Riddle also considered the Kentucky Derby, run over a mile and a quarter on the first Saturday in May, too far, too soon for three-year-olds so early in the campaign. In any event, Man o’War was not even entered in the Kentucky Derby, so could not win the American Triple Crown.

In the final race of his career, Man o’War faced Sir Barton, by now a four-year-old, in a match race for the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup, over a mile and a quarter at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario on October 12, 1920. In receipt of 6lb, weight-for-age, Man o’War was sent off at 1/20 and justified such prohibitive odds, winning easily by 7 lengths.

Run over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket in early May and open to three-year-colts and fillies, the 2,000 Guineas Stakes is, of course, the first of five British ‘Classic’ races. The race was inaugurated by the Jockey Club, under the stewardship of Sir Charles Bunbury, on April 18, 1809 and, notwithstanding sponsorship, the title still reflects the original prize money.

In the pre-decimal currency system, a.k.a. ‘£sd’ or ‘pounds, shillings and pence’, a pound consisted of 240 pence, or 20 shillings, with 12 pence to the shilling. In Britain, the term ‘guinea’ dates back to the second half of the sixteenth century, when it was used to describe a coin, worth 21 shillings, which was originally made from gold from the Republic of Guinea in West Africa. The coin was taken out of circulation in the late nineteenth century, but ‘guinea’ is still used in certain contexts, such as when quoting professional fees or prices, to describe the sum of 21 shillings, or £1.05 in modern terms.

According to the Bank of England inflation calculator – which, for the year 1809, relies on data collected from the Retail Price Index (RPI) – the original prize fund for the 2,000 Guineas, i.e. £2,100, would we worth nearly £140,000 in modern terms. For the record, the winner of the inaugural contest was Wizard, ridden by William ‘Bill’ Clift, who also rode the winner of the first 1,000 Guineas, Charlotte, for the same connections, five years later.

Fast forward the best part of two-and-a-bit centuries and the total prize fund for the 2023 renewal of the 2,000 Guineas was in the region of £500,000, of which the winner, Chaldean, carried off the lion’s share, of £283,550. Granted that that sum, alone, is more than double the modern equivalent of the original total prize money, it would be fair to say that, from connections’ point of view, the 2,000 Guineas has fared very well indeed, in terms of inflation.

The Grand National is arguably the most famous horse race in the world and, according to the BBC, attracts a global television audience of approximately 600 million. In the last decade or so, the Jockey Club, which owns Aintree Racecourse, has invested heavily in safety changes but, based on its own research and a number of independent studies, has announced further measures to be implemented before the next running of the Grand National on April 13, 2024.

The previous safety limit of 40 horses, introduced in 1984, will be reduced to 34, with a view to reducing the risk of falling. Likewise, in a effort to reduce the speed at which horses approach the first fence, the obstacle will be moved 60 yards closer to the start. In 2013, the start was moved 90 yards closer to the first fence, thereby reducing the overall race distance. Nevertheless, according to the Jockey Club, the average speed of horses approaching the first fence has increased, rather than decreased, over the past decade, prompting further action. A standing start will also be implemented, as it will for all races over the Grand National fences. Other infrastructure changes include reducing the height of the eleventh fence, an open ditch, from 5′ to 4’10” and levelling off the landing side to further reduce the height of the drop.

As far as the horses are concerned, participants in the Grand National will need to have achieved an official handicap rating of 130, rather than the previous 125, and those prone to jumping errors will be closely scrutinised by the so-called Grand National Review Panel to determine their suitability. The formal parade, in which horses were led by handlers, will also be dispensed with and horses will simply canter in front of the grandstands on their way to the start.

In the early years of the twenty-first century, it would be fair to say that something of a ‘hoodoo’ existed for Grand National winners, in terms of ever winning another race. In fact, after Bindaree, who won at Aintree in April 2002 and eventually followed up, ten starts later, in the Welsh National at Chepstow in December 2003, the next Grand National-winning horse to win again was Pineau De Re. A 5-length winner at Aintree in April 2014, as an 11-year-old, the Dr. Richard Newland-trained gelding popped up again, in a Pertemps Series Qualifier over hurdles at Carlisle in December 2015, before failing to complete the course on three of his last four starts.

In between Bindaree and Pineau De Re, though, a total of 13 Grand National winners failed to win again, collectively accumulating a total of 102 losing starts. Of course, Pineau De Re did manage to win again, as did the ultimately ill-fated Many Clouds, who shouldered 11st 9lb to victory at Aintree in 2015. In fact, the latter recorded three more wins, including what would have been a famous, rather than infamous, defeat of King George VI Chase winner Thistlecrack in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham two years later, but for the fact that he tragically collapsed and died afterwards, having suffered a severe pulmonary haemorrhage.

Next up came Rule The World, trained in Co. Tipperary by Michael ‘Mouse’ Morris, who, in 2016, while still a maiden – albeit a high-class maiden – over regulation fences, belied his ‘novice’ status by winning the race often described as the ‘ultimate test for horse and rider’. A largely unconsidered 33/1 chance at Aintree, the 9-year-old survived a blunder at the penultimate open ditch, led inside the final half-a-furlong or so, and stayed on well to win by 6 lengths. In so doing, Rule The World became the first novice to win the Grand National since Mr. What in 1958. He raced just once more, finishing down the field in the Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown, less than three weeks later, before retirement.

The 2017 Grand National winner, One For Arthur, saddled by Lucinda Russell – and, therefore, just the second Scottish-trained winner, after Rubstic in 1979 – was another who failed to add to his winning tally. He did, however, finish a creditable, if somewhat remote, sixth behind Tiger Roll on his return to Aintree in 2019.

Ah, Tiger Roll. The winner of the Triumph Hurdle in 2014 and the National Hunt Chase in 2017, the diminutive Authorized gelding warmed up for his first attempt at the Grand National, in 2018, with yet another Cheltenham Festival win, in the Cross Country Chase. All out to win by a head on that occasion, despite holding a 6-length lead at the famous ‘Elbow’, halfway up the run-in, he nonetheless won the National again, off a 9lb higher mark, in 2019, justifying favouritism in the process. Denied the chance of an unprecedented hat-trick (in consecutive years, that is) by the Covid-19 pandemic, Tiger Roll never attempted the National again, but did add to his Festival tally with a facile, 18-length victory in the Cross Country Chase, again, in 2021.

The 2021 National winner, Minella Times, was another to make history, insofar as his jockey, Rachael Blackmore, became the first female jockey to win the Aintree showpiece. Brought down at Valentine’s Brook on the first circuit in the 2022 renewal, the son of high-class jumps sire Oscar was being prepared for another crack at the National in 2023, but suffered a training setback and was retired forthwith, as a 10-year-old, having never won again.

The two most recent National winners, Noble Yeats in 2022 and Corach Rambler in 2023, remain in training. The former has already won three times since and, at the time of writing, is a single-figure price for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, while the latter has had just two, unsuccessful, starts since, and remains co-favourite for the 2024 Grand National.