05.04.11 - THE GRAND NATIONAL

DECLARED RUNNERS FOR AINTREE'S TWO FEATURE RACES ON THURSDAY

TICKETS, GREAT OPENING DAY, AMATEUR RIDERS, BETTING LATEST, AGE, COLOUR, BREEDING, CHARITY RACE RUNNERS & ALDER HEY

For further information, please contact Emma Owen, Aintree's Marketing and PR Manager
 

TICKETS & BADGES

 SATURDAY, APRIL 9 - JOHN SMITH’S GRAND NATIONAL DAY - Only 100 Steeplechase Enclosure Tickets @ £19 left - these can be purchased by telephone 0844 579 3001 or at the sales booth on Grand National Avenue, Aintree Racecourse - otherwise SOLD OUT & NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE ON THE DAY

 FRIDAY, APRIL 8 - LADIES’ DAY - Tattersalls Enclosure tickets available @ £32. Please telephone 0844 579 3001 or go to the sales booth on Grand National Avenue, Aintree Racecourse

 THURSDAY, APRIL 7 - LIVERPOOL DAY - Tattersalls Enclosure tickets available @ £21, while seats are on sale from £24 & other areas can be purchased. Please telephone 0844 579 3001 or go to the sales booth on Grand National Avenue, Aintree Racecourse.

 There is a limited number of hospitality packages still available from £99 per person on Thursday - please contact Karan White on 0151 522 2911 to discuss your requirements.

 DECLARED RUNNERS FOR AINTREE’S TWO FEATURE RACES ON THURSDAY, APRIL 7 - LIVERPOOL DAY

 There is tremendous racing on the opening day, Liverpool Day, Thursday, April 7, with the first race, the £100,00 Grade One BGC Partners Liverpool Hurdle, having attracted a superb field of 11.

Big Buck’s, the champion staying hurdler trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh, goes for his third successive victory in the extended three-mile race. He has been made the 8/15 favourite by Aintree’s official betting partner totesport.

 Grands Crus (7/2), the David Pipe-trained runner-up to Big Buck’s in the  Ladbrokes World Hurdle at last month’s Cheltenham Festival, reopposes on Thursday, while Carlito Brigante (10/1), successful at that festival in the Grade Three Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, steps up in class.

 The £150,000 totesport Bowl has attracted the recent totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Denman who will be ridden by Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey Ruby Walsh for the first time since November, 2009.

 Denman has been installed as the 10/11 favourite for the totesport Bowl with the sponsors after a small but select field of six was declared for the feature on Liverpool Day.

 The Gold Cup runner-up is the only horse from that race to be declared for the three mile, one furlong event after Nicky Henderson decided to rough off Long Run for the season following his victory at Cheltenham.

 However, Henderson is responsible for the second favourite in the shape of 5/1 shot Punchestowns, who will be looking for back-to-back victories following his victory at Kempton last time out, and the consistent mare Carole’s Legacy (7/1).

 “Denman ran an absolute blinder in the Gold Cup and his supporters will be hoping that his return to Aintree can provide a happier ending than when he fell in the totesport Bowl two years ago,” said totesport spokesman George Primarolo.

 2pm £100,000 BGC PARTNERS LIVERPOOL HURDLE (GRADE ONE) 3m 110yds

1)   1-1111 Big Buck's (FR)     8-11-07 Paul Nicholls    Ruby Walsh

2)    -1021 Carlito Brigante (IRE)  5-11-07z Gordon Elliott (IRE)  Davy Russell

3)     -1112 Grands Crus (FR)  6-11-07z David Pipe  Tom Scudamore

4)    FF400 Gwanako (FR)   8-11-07 Paul Nicholls    Daryl Jacob

5)    -2144  Karabak (FR)   8-11-07b  Alan King    Tony McCoy

6)     21-40 Khyber Kim   9-11-07  Nigel Twiston-Davies   Paddy Brennan

7)     40214 Knockara Beau (IRE) 8-11-07 George Charlton  Jan Faltejsek

8)     1P040 Markington  8-11-07b       Peter Bowen   Tom O’Brien

9)     532-0 Possol (FR)  8-11-07 Henry Daly   Richard Johnson

10)     /1P-8 Sentry Duty (FR) 9-11-07 Nicky Henderson  Barry Geraghty

11)    55442 Won In The Dark (IRE) 7-11-07 Sabrina Harty (IRE)     Andrew Lynch

 b = BLINKERS

z = TONGUE STRAP

BGC Partners Liverpool Hurdle - totesport bet: 8/15 Big Buck’s, 7/2 Grands Crus, 10 Carlito Brigante, 16 Khyber Kim, 18 Karabak, 20 Sentry Duty, 33 Knockara Beau, 50 Possol, 66 Won In The Dark, 100 Gwanako, 200 Markington.

A fifth the odds 1-2-3

3:05pm £150,000 TOTESPORT BOWL CSE (Grade 1) 3m 1f Mildmay Course

1)     6-3U3 Deep Purple   10-11-07 Evan Williams  Paul Moloney

2)     24-32 Denman (IRE)  11-11-07  Paul Nicholls   Ruby Walsh

3)     U915F Follow The Plan (IRE) 8-11-07  Oliver McKieman (IRE) Tom Doyle

4)     -1443 Nacarat (FR)  10-11-07z  Tom George   Paddy Brennan

5)     5-231 Punchestowns (FR) 8-11-07 Nicky Henderson  Barry Geraghty

6)     -1222 Carole's Legacy   7-11-00 Nicky Henderson  Tony McCoy

z = TONGUE STRAP

 totesport Bowl - sponsors bet: 10/11 Denman, 5 Punchestowns, 11/2 Nacarat, 7 Carole’s Legacy, 8 Deep Purple, 25 Follow The Plan.

a quarter the odds

 AMATEURS IN THE JOHN SMITH’S GRAND NATIONAL

 This year is likely to see six amateurs line up in the John Smith’s Grand National, the highest number of amateur riders to take part since 1990.

 The six contenders are:

 Mr Robbie McNamara on Majestic Concorde

Mr Patrick Mullins on Dooneys Gate

Mr Ryan Mahon on The Tother One

Mr Sam Waley-Cohen on Oscar Time

Miss Nina Carberry on Character Building

Ms Katie Walsh on Our Monty

 Six amateurs also rode in the 1990 renewal including Marcus Armytage, the last amateur to win, who took the spoils on Mr Frisk.

 LATEST JOHN SMITH’S GRAND NATIONAL BETTING FROM TOTESPORT

 Totesport reports the money continues to come for Silver By Nature who is now a 12/1 shot (from 16/1) after the racecourse reported three millimetres of rain overnight. There has also been support for Bluesea Cracker who is now into 20/1 (from 25/1). The Midnight Club has been eased slightly at the head of the market and is now 9/1 (from 8/1).

 John Smith’s Grand National - totesport bet: 9 (from 8) The Midnight Club, 11 Backstage, What A Friend, 12 (from 16) Silver By Nature, Oscar Time, 14 Ballabriggs, Big Fella Thanks, Don’t Push It, 16 Arbor Supreme, Niche Market, 20 (from 25) Bluesea Cracker, Quinz, 25 Becauseicouldntsee, Character Building, Junior, Majestic Concorde, State Of Play, West End Rocker, 33 Calgary Bay, Chief Dan George, Comply Or Die, Giles Cross, Hello Bud, I’moncloudnine, In Compliance, Merigo, Northern Alliance, Or Noir De Somoza, Our Monty, Skippers Brig, Vic Venturi, 40 Ballyfitz, Killyglen, Surface To Air, The Tother One, Tidal Bay, 50 bar.

A quarter the odds 1-2-3-4

 John Smith’s Grand National:  Who Will Start Favourite? - totesport bet: 2 The Midnight Club, 4 What A Friend, 11/2 Backstage, Don’t Push It, 7 Ballabriggs, Oscar Time, 14 (from 20) Silver By Nature, 16 Big Fella Thanks, 20 Bluesea Cracker, Niche Market, 25 Becauseicouldntsee.

Win Only – Others On Request. Dead-heat rules apply for joint or co-favourites.

 NINE IS THE NUMBER

 In the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree, nine-year-olds have outstandingly the best record with 45 of that age-group having prevailed in the 163 previous runnings at Aintree.

 In the past 20 races, nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds have won six times apiece. During that same timescale, four 11-year-olds have won, two eight-year-olds and two 12-year-olds.

 In terms of winners-to-runners, an analysis of the past 20 runnings shows that nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds have not only the best record, but have performed better than their proportional representation.

 There have been 761 runners in the past 20 Grand Nationals (1990-2010), broken down as follows:

 Age Runners %runners Winners %winners Places(1-4) %Places

14      3    0.4  0    0    0    0

13    25    3.3  0    0    0    0

12    69    9  2  10    4    5

11  147  19.3  4  20  16  20

10  184  24.2  6  30  17  21.3

9  193  25.4  6  30  27  33.7

 8  100  13.1  2    0  16  20

 7    31    4.1  0    0    0    0

 6      9    1.2  0    0    0    0

 It can be seen that both nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds have a better win record than their representation would suggest; 11-year-olds and 12-year-olds about the same; and eight-year-olds and other age groups worse.

 Nine-year-olds have had not only the best numerical representation in the frame (1st-4th) but also easily the best  proportional representation.

 AGE STATISTICS SINCE 1839

 13-year-olds: 2 (most recent Sergeant Murphy 1923)

12-year-olds: 10 (most recent Amberleigh House 2004)

11-year-olds: 16 (most recent Red Marauder 2001)

10-year-olds: 21 (most recent Don’t Push It 2010)

Nine-year-olds: 45 (most recent Mon Mome 2009)

Eight-year-olds: 21 (most recent Bindaree 2002)

Seven-year-olds: 22 (most recent Bogskar 1940)

No horse younger than seven or older than 13 running this year

COLOUR

 In the past 20 years, there have been 15 bay or brown winners, and five chestnuts. During that time 62 bays have finished in the first four, 13 chestnuts and five greys.

 Of the 761 runners during that period, 559 (73.6% of the total) have been bay or brown, 165 (21.6%) chestnut and 37 (4.6%) grey.

 Thus, bays have won as often as might be expected but have been placed more often. The reverse is true for chestnuts. Though no grey has won since 1961, their place record is good for their representation.

 WHO’S THE DADDY

 In the 2011 John Smith’s Grand National, the late stallion Old Vic, who died in February at the age of 25, will bid to join a club so exclusive it has only five current members.

That is the number of horses who have sired the winners of more than two of the 163 Grand Nationals run so far.

 Heading the roll of honour on four is My Prince, with Gregalach (1929), Reynoldstown (1935-

36) and Royal Mail (1937). Ascetic is responsible for three individual winners - Cloister (1893), Drumcree (1903) and Ascetic's Silver - as are Cottage, with Workman (1939), Lovely Cottage (1946) and Sheila's Cottage (1948), and Vulgan, with Team Spirit (1964), Foinavon (1967) and Gay Trip (1970). And Quorum has triple winner Red Rum (1973-74 and 1977) to his credit.

 Old Vic's first hero of the great Aintree race was Comply Or Die in 2008, followed by Don't Push It 12 months ago. On that occasion, he also sired the runner-up Black Apalachi, becoming the first to achieve the feat since Gay Trip beat Vulture, both sired by Vulgan. This time Old Vic's team is likely to comprise his two previous winners, plus Vic Venturi and In Compliance.

 When Old Vic won his only sires' title in 2008, he bucked a trend, being the first champion whose laurels included the Aintree winner since Menelek, with Rag Trade, in 1976.

 The John Smith’s Grand National, with a purse of £950,000, may yet have a bearing on this season’s leading jump stallion title. Old Vic is currently out of the top 10 but earnings of less than £450,000 covers the first five on the leaderboard, namely King's Theatre, Presenting, Oscar, Beneficial and Flemensfirth.

 King's Theatre's only National entry is King Fontaine. Presenting has Ballabriggs, Niche Market and Killyglen; Oscar should be represented by Oscar Time and Dooneys Gate; Beneficial by Becauseicouldntsee; and Flemensfirth by the current favourite The Midnight Club and Tidal Bay.

JOHN SMITH'S AINTREE LEGENDS CHARITY RACE

 (in aid of the Bob Champion Cancer Trust)

The 30-year anniversary of Aldaniti's emotional victory will see a special one-off race, run in aid of the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, which was founded in 1983 and has so far raised £12 million - that's approximately £400,000 for every fence of the National that Bob and Aldaniti jumped! 

Please support Saturday's race by donating generously - details of how to donate to the Charity at www.bobchampion.org.uk

 The horses will be led out for the race by Bob Champion (Aldaniti colours - kindly supplied by Nick Embiricos) and Jonjo O'Neill (Don't Push It colours - kindly supplied by J P McManus).

For 4-year-olds and upwards who have run at least three times under the recognised Rules of Racing. All horses to be rated 0-135 for hurdlers/chasers, 0-100 for Flat horses.

1st Race, Saturday, April 9 - 1pm

One mile, five furlongs  - to be started by flag

Horse: Erin Dancer (IRE)

Trainer: Ferdy Murphy

Owner: J and A Millar

Colours: Pink with a black disc

Graham Thorner (Well To Do 1972)

Horse: Sky Calling

Trainer: Martin Keighley

Owner: Nicholson Racing Syndicates A

Colours: Blue / Grey quarters / white sleeves

Charlie Fenwick (Ben Nevis 1980)

Horse: Shinnecock Bay

Trainer: Oliver Sherwood

Owner: R Waters

Colours: Blue with green stars

Horse: Fair Gale

Trainer: Philip Hobbs

Owner: Patrick Wilmott

Colours: Red / grey cap

Hywel Davies (Last Suspect 1985)

Horse: Art Man

Trainer: James Frost

Owner: Mrs D Hunt

Colours: Black / coloured sleeves

Jimmy Frost (Little Polveir, 1989)

Horse: TBC

Trainer: Nicky Henderson

Owner: TBC

Colours: TBC

Marcus Armytage (Mr Frisk 1990)

Horse: South O'The Border

Trainer: Nigel Twiston-Davies

Owner: Bryan Mathieson

Colours: Red / black marks on shoulders and grey marks on sleeves

Carl Llewellyn (Party Politics 1992, Earth Summit 1998)

Horse: Fortuni

Trainer: Rose Dobbin

Owner: Mr and Mrs Duncan Davidson

Colours: Pink with a black diamond

Tony Dobbin (Lord Gyllene 1997)

Horse: Dream Catcher (SWE)

Trainer: JonJo O'Neill

Owner: Ms Mary Miles

Colours: Red / green

Jim Culloty (Bindaree, 2002)

Horse: Ormello (FR)

Trainer: Lucinda Russell

Owner: The Ormello Way

Colours: Light blue with dark blue stripes

Peter Scudamore (8-time Champion Jockey)

Horse: Plenty Pocket (FR)

Trainer: Paul Nicholls

Owner: Timeform Betfair Racing Club &Clive Smith

Colours: Pink (Timeform Racing Club's colours)

Charlie Swan (10-time Irish Champion Jockey)

Bob Champion said: “The 1981 Grand National was a remarkable day, not just for me, but all of those around the world who gained hope from my victory in their personal battles against cancer. 30 years on and with the money this race raises, I want to continue to reduce the odds against cancer. I would also like to publicly thank Aintree and John Smith’s in advance as without their enthusiasm and support, this exciting race would not be possible.”

Website:  www.bobchampion.org.uk

Facebook: Bob Champion

For further information, interview requests or photos :

Bob Champion Cancer Trust: Lucy Wilkinson or Liz Ampairee

Lucy - Tel: 0207 924 3553 / 07973 133685 / lucy@bobchampion.org.uk

Liz - Tel: 0773 333 1945 / liz@lizampairee.com

John Smiths: Tom Earl, Head of PR, IMG Consulting

Tel: 07973150036 / 0208 2335966 / tom.earl@imgworld.com

 JOCKEYS SHOW SUPPORT FOR ALDER HEY

Jockeys taking part in the year’s John Smith’s Grand National meeting will be making their annual visit to Alder Hey’s cancer unit before racing on the Friday to meet some of the patients and parents who benefit from their fantastic support.

The visit is led by Imagine Patrons, 15-time champion rider, Tony (A P) McCoy and  Mick Fitzgerald who has now retired as a jockey.

McCoy said: “This will be the 10th year we’ve undertaken a visit to Alder Hey before racing on Friday and each time I never fail to be moved by the bravery of these children and their families. It really puts things into perspective and the lads always make an effort to attend.”

The jockeys will also be taking part in a singing challenge to raise money for the Appeal after racing on Thursday, which has been supported by John Smith’s and Tote.

The hospital’s Imagine Appeal charity has been named as the official charity partner for the three-day meeting for the sixth year in succession.

PHOTO/INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES

Friday, April 8 - 9.45am at Alder Hey Cancer Unit

Top jockeys riding in this year’s John Smith’s Grand National visit the children on Alder Hey’s cancer ward.

Notes:

Alder Hey, Europe’s busiest children’s hospital, provides family-focused care for around 250,000 young patients every year and is responsible for the health of more children than any other hospital in the UK.

Imagine patrons Tony (A P) McCoy and Mick Fitzgerald have raised over £100,000 for the charity through various events.

Imagine was the first charity in the UK to register its own racing silks. They were designed by a patient and ran on a single race lease in 2005 and on Shotgun Willy in the John Smith’s Grand National 2006

Imagine branding will be worn by the jockeys on the first televised race on Thursday, Liverpool Day

Top hotels and restaurants in Liverpool are supporting Alder Hey Imagine Appeal by adding £1 to their bills over the three-day festival. This initiative is being launched by an exclusive event at Salthouse Tapas on Wednesday, April 6 when two teams of celebrities will cook for diners in a cooking challenge.

 For more information about Alder Hey Imagine Appeal please contact Christine Done, Fundraising Manager, Alder Hey Imagine Appeal. Tel: 0151 252 5395 Mob: 07803937580  E-mail: chris@imagineappeal.com Website: www.imagineappeal.com