It is generally accepted that the Grand National was inugurated, as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, in 1839 and, in 175 runnings since, just two horses have completed the course in less than nine minutes. The first of them was Mr. Frisk, trained by Kim Bailey and ridden by amateur Marcus Armytage, who, on April 7, 1990, held off a strong late challenge from Durham Edition, trained by Arthur Stephenson and ridden by Chris Grant, in the closing stages to win by three-quarters of a length in a record time of 8 minutes, 47.8 seconds.
The going at Aintree that day was officially described as ‘firm’ but, in 2012, following fatal injuries sustained by two horses, Synchronised and According To Pete, in separate incidents at Becher’s Brook, the racecourse executive and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) implemented a whole raft of safety modifications. Those changes including routinely watering the course, such that the going is never faster than ‘good to soft’, moving the start 90 yards to the first fence, the introduction of collapsible plastic, rather than solid wood, frames at the heart of the fences and levelling of the landing area at Becher’s Brook.
Notwithstanding the change to the position of the start, which effectively shortened the distance of the Grand National by half a furlong, or thereabouts, the revised water policy has had a significant effect on race times. Since 2013, only the ill-fated Many Clouds, who carried 11st 9lb to victory in 2015, in a time of 8 minutes, 56.8 seconds, has been the only horse to break the nine-minute barrier. Honourable mentions belong to the previous record holder, Red Rum (9 minutes, 1.9 seconds in 1973), Ballabriggs (9 minutes, 1.2 seconds in 2011) and Tiger Roll (9 minutes, 1.0 seconds in 2019), but Mr. Frisk set a record that may never be broken.