The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

GRAND NATIONAL 3

2022

1 Jockey’s silks

2 This is the number on the

horse’s saddlecloth

3 Six-figure form guide

Key F: fell; P: pulled up;

U: unseated rider; B: brought

down; S: slipped up;

R: refused; D: disqualified;

0: unplaced; Dash is the

cut-off from previous season

4 Horse name

5 Days since latest outing;

sometimes followed by an ‘F’,

which means that race was

on the Flat

6 Conditions and equipment

information

Key W: horse has had wind

surgery. Horse is wearing

B: blinkers; T: tongue strap;

V: visor; P: cheekpieces;

H: hood; E: eyeshield. Horse

has won previously: C: at this

course; D: at this distance;

CD: course and distance. BF:

beaten favourite last time

out. Going on which horse

has won (F: firm, good to

firm, hard; G: good; S: soft,

good to soft, heavy)

9 111-12 EPATANTE 80 (BF,CD) 150

N Henderson (John P McManus) 7-11-3 B J Geraghty

1

How to read a racecard

2 3

8 9 10 11

4 5 6 7

7 Timekeeper’s speed

rating — how fast the horse

has run in the past

8 Trainer

9 Owner

10 Age of horse and the

weight it is going to be

carrying — in this case the

horse is six and will be

carrying 11st 3lb

11 Jockey plus allowance (in

brackets), which is given to

novice riders and

represents the weight in

pounds advantage that they

are given

rightly part of National’s past

Becher’s Brook

Named after Captain Martin Becher,

who fell into the brook behind the fence

from his mount, Conrad, in 1839

2

Just two horses completed the course in 1928

• the smallest number ever -
  when 100-1 shot Tipperary Tim was victorious.
  The most to have got round was 23 in 1984,
  when Hallo Dandy lifted the prize

Ditch behind

fence with a

10in drop

4ft 10in

Maximum

drop

5ft 8in

How to approach the Canal Turn

LIVERPOOL

Crosby

Widnes

M57

Aintree M62

One mile

Almost

90° turn

1 2 3 4 5 6

7

9

10

11

12

13

14

17 18 19 20 21 22

23

25

26

27

(^2928)
Becher’s
Brook
Valentine’s
Brook
Foinavon
8 24
5.15pm
Grand National start
TV coverage on ITV
from 4.30pm
flutter is the 2019 Ladbroke Trophy winner De Rasher
Counter, who made a pleasing comeback after a year
out and is owned by a small syndicate delighting in the
name of the Makin’ Bacon Partnership.
The feeling of public acceptability has been more
than matched by an infinitely deeper immersion in the
local community. Time was when racing put up with,
rather than revelled in, the location.
In the wrangles over ownership in the 1970s, it looked
as if the event would struggle to survive and into this
century there was still a sense of the tweed and trilby
brigade slumming it for the sake of the occasion.
To travel up on the train from Liverpool Central
yesterday was to see how that is very much no longer
the case. “This is our race,” said a scouser, as he poured
out with the crowd on the Ladies’ Day with all the
vitality for which the city is famous.
Significantly, the first race of the afternoon was titled
the “20 Years Together, Alder Hey and Aintree Hurdle”,
celebrating two decades of association between the
course and the renowned children’s hospital.
Yesterday, there was also “The Park Palace Ponies
Handicap” to support the inner-city charity that uses
an old Victorian music hall to give deprived kids the
chance of the interest and activity that ponies can give.
There was a time when I thought that the Grand
National was too steeped in the past, too aloof from its
location to have hold of its future. I don’t feel that any
more.
So, why not play your fancy and this year, few could
match the tale of Fortescue’s rider, Hugh Nugent.
His great, great grandfather of the same name would
have ridden the 1903 winner Drumcree, but for a
broken collar bone from which he recovered only to be
killed in a hurdle race later that year in Ostend.
Fortescue was a last-minute qualifier, but he won last
time out and victory would be the echoes of the past
landing the challenges of today — not a bad metaphor
for the National itself.
However, while I think Delta Work may outclass
them, my pin hopes for a lucky streak from De Rasher
Counter.
5.15 Randox Grand National Handicap Chase ITV
(Grade III: £500,000: 4m 2f) (40 runners)
1 221-FPMINELLA TIMES 62 (T,CD) H De Bromhead (Ire) 9-11-10 Rachael Blackmore^157
2 3-4661DELTA WORK 24 (T) G Elliott (Ire) 9-11-9 J W Kennedy 163
3 43-61PSCHOOL BOY HOURS 23 (BF) N Meade (Ire) 9-10-5 S W Flanagan 158
4 13-061ANY SECOND NOW 42 (B) T M Walsh (Ire) 10-11-8 M P Walsh 159
5 2-2122RUN WILD FRED 25 (B,BF) G Elliott (Ire) 8-11-7 D N Russell 160
6 P-15P0LOSTINTRANSLATION 25 (P,T,C) C Tizzard 10-11-6 H Cobden 160
7 2333PUBRAHMA BULL 24 (P) W P Mullins (Ire) 11-11-6 B Hayes 163
8 24-323BURROWS SAINT 42 (T,BF) W P Mullins (Ire) 9-11-5 P Townend 160
9 13-110MOUNT IDA 22 (P,T) G Elliott (Ire) 8-11-5 D O'Regan^156
10 31-010LONGHOUSE POET 46 (T,BF) M Brassil (Ire) 8-11-4 D J O'Keeffe^153
11 23-122FIDDLERONTHEROOF 49 (T,BF) C Tizzard 8-11-4 B J Powell v^165
12 3U-112TWO FOR GOLD 49 (P) K Bailey 9-11-3 D Bass^162
13 3P-420SANTINI 22 P Gundry 10-11-2 N Scholfield 158
14 602003 SAMCRO 23 (T) G Elliott (Ire) 10-11-1 S Bowen 147
15 23P-02ESCARIA TEN 42 (B) G Elliott (Ire) 8-11-1 A P Heskin 151
16 -31210GOOD BOY BOBBY 42 N Twiston-Davies 9-10-13 D Jacob 152
17 B143-PROMAIN DE SENAM 21 (T) D Pipe 10-10-5 P Armson 131
18 46P644COKO BEACH 42 (B) G Elliott (Ire) 7-10-13 S W Flanagan 152
19 4P/2-4DE RASHER COUNTER 56 E Lavelle 10-10-12 A Wedge 139
20 2/30-4KILDISART 35 (P,C) B Pauling 10-10-11 J Bowen^135
21 250-52DISCORAMA 59 (P,T) P Nolan (Ire) 9-10-11 B J Cooper 147
22 P5F312TOP VILLE BEN 49 (H) P Kirby 10-10-11 T Dowson 149
23 23-035ENJOY D'ALLEN 63 (B,T) Ciaran Murphy (Ire) 8-10-11 C J Orr 147
24 -30000ANIBALE FLY 28 (P,T) A J Martin (Ire) 12-10-11 L Dempsey 138
25 12-435DINGO DOLLAR 35 (P,T) A M Thomson 10-10-11 R Mania 150
26 1-46UPFREEWHEELIN DYLAN 90 (P,T) D A McLoughlin (Ire) 10-10-10 R Doyle 147
27 40-P00CLASS CONTI 27 (P,T) W P Mullins (Ire) 10-10-10 S Twiston-Davies 137
28 460P20NOBLE YEATS 25 (P) E Mullins (Ire) 7-10-10 Mr S Waley-Cohen^146
29 21-4PPMIGHTY THUNDER 63 (W,P,T) L Russell 9-10-10 D R Fox^132
30 P-46R3CLOTH CAP 35 (P,T) Jonjo O'Neill 10-10-10 T Scudamore^142
31 46-111SNOW LEOPARDESS 55 (C) C Longsdon 10-10-9 A Coleman 147
32 0-0PP2AGUSTA GOLD 23 (B,T,BF) W P Mullins (Ire) 9-10-9 D E Mullins 129
33 2U0P-1COMMODORE 120 V Williams 10-10-5 C Deutsch 146
34 P-22P2DEISE ABA 63 (P) P Hobbs 9-10-8 T J O'Brien 148
35 6-511PBLAKLION 49 (T,C) D Skelton 13-10-8 H Skelton 150
36 43/00PPOKER PARTY 24 (T) H De Bromhead (Ire) 10-10-8 R M Power 128
37 6-5016DEATH DUTY 25 G Elliott (Ire) 11-10-7 J Gainford 148
38 1-P420DOMAINE DE L'ISLE 42 (T) S Curran 9-10-7 H Bannister 140
39 0-F312ECLAIR SURF 42 E Lavelle 8-10-6 T Bellamy^164
40 -30231FORTESCUE 49 H Daly 8-10-6 H Nugent^149
13-2 Snow Leopardess, 7-1 Any Second Now, 8-1 Delta Work, Minella Times, 10-1 Eclair Surf, Enjoy D'Allen, 12-1 Escaria
Ten, Longhouse Poet, 14-1 Fiddlerontheroof, 16-1 Run Wild Fred, School Boy Hours, 20-1 Burrows Saint, Fortescue, 25-1
Cloth Cap, 33-1 others.