Saturday The one and only National!

[erins isle]

Members, on saturday the greatest steeple chase on earth takes place. 4.10) British time. For the ones who can receive BBC it already starts on thursday for a three day festival. There is a marvellous website www.thenational.co.uk where you can read and view everything about the national! My hope is just like last year Amberleigh House (so sorry I am not a punter) but I got great respect of the children, since we pick two horses each every year just for fun. I wish all those who have a look maybe live or looking at the TV a great time!
I hope you all watching have a great time!

[wilf]

As a child the Grand National was the race to watch that stopped traffic in Great Britain just as the Derby is in America and the Melbourne Cup in Australia. The winners were household names for years to come but even though that time has faded it is still a great spectacle. Of course the greatest performance in defeat was by the mighty Australian chaser "CRISP" who ran so far so fast that even the hardest critics only had words of praise. He was beaten in the last few strides by the greatest Grand National horse of all time , the mighty Red Rum, while conceding about 20 pounds or more in weight, it was truly remarkable. Here is some trivia for all to read. There are two successful trainers in North America today who are sons of jockeys that rode the Grand National winner. Eoin Harty who trains the bluebloods of the Maktoum family of Dubai, his father Eddie rode Highland Wedding to victory in about 1968. Eddie Freeman , a stakes winning trainer in Ontario based at Fort Erie is the son of Arthur Freeman who won on Mr What in the early sixties. Yes do yourself a favour and watch the race if you can.

[Mahubah]

Is this the race to watch? Well, rumor has it that the Queen isn't planning to hang around the festivities of Charles and Camilla's wedding if she has any chance at all to slip out and at least watch the race on TV. Do any of the royals have a horse in the running, by the way?

[wilf]

Well Mahubah as far as racing goes The Queen always ran her stock on the flat and her mother only raced over hurdles or steeplechases. Since the Q M died a few years ago I have no idea what the protocol is nowadays. Of course one of the most astounding events of the Nationals history concerned the Queen Mothers horse Devon Loch in the late 50s who, while well on his way to victory about 200 metres from the finish inexplicably took a jump into thin air , almost doing the splits, giving up enough momentum to ensure a tough defeat.

[madelyn]

I loved the story of Red Rum, read it when I was a kid over and over... and enjoyed all the mysteries by Dick Francis. It was quite a surprise to see pics of him riding the Queen Mum's horses in that horse racing book that Sam posted about awhile back that was on sale cheap at Books a Million (I rushed over and got one)...

Anyhow, the Grand National has always had some fascinating stories surrounding it, the horses, the riders, etc., some fictional, some true. I hope to watch it if it is on TVG.

[WarHorse]

...Devon Loch in the late 50s who, while well on his way to victory about 200 metres from the finish inexplicably took a jump into thin air ...

And if I remember correctly, Dick Francis was the jockey.

[Mahubah]

You could well be right. He did ride for the Queen Mother before becoming a noted mystery writer.

Anyway, I didn't know if some other member of the royal family had taken up the Queen Mother's interest in 'chasing or if the Queen had made some additions to her own stable in that direction.

[Lucy]

You could well be right. He did ride for the Queen Mother before becoming a noted mystery writer.

It was definitely him. His autobiography 'The Sport Of Queens' is an excellent read, if not as thrilling as his mysteries.