Having put one giant tick next to the final thing on its to-do list last year, the sanitised version of the once incredible race has nothing left to exist for.
I had to remind myself this week of Minella Times’ name. If you’re unaware, that is the name of the horse ridden to victory at last year’s Grand National.
You’d be forgiven for not knowing or simply forgetting the name, because never in the history of the race had the winning horse played second fiddle to its rider, who, as you’ll certainly remember, was Rachael Blackmore, the first woman to win – sorry, ride the winner – of the Aintree showpiece.
Blackmore’s performance was first-class and she clearly is a top jockey, regardless of gender, which she backed up by winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup aboard A Plus Tard last month. As historic a moment it was, no one in racing was so shocked that she would be the one to break the duck.
And break the duck she did, 44 years after Charlotte Brew became the first woman to enter the race, the year of Red Rum’s third triumph which rather stole the show that year. Brew and her horse Barony Fort were about five fences behind when Rummy crossed the line “like a fresh horse in great style”, then refused at the fourth last. If ever a perfect metaphor existed to show the improvement of female jockeys over the decades, one need look no further than Brew and Blackmore’s respective results.
However, a quick comparison between 1977 and 2021 will also highlight how much the race has changed over the years, all in the apparent interests of safety.
The race first caved in to pressure in the late 80’s after equine fatalities at Becher’s Brook, one of which, Brown Trix, died after falling back into the brook and drowning. One could blame the fence, or, one could look at the footage from the 1989 race and watch amateur jockey David Pitcher riding the poor animal like a complete maniac, disaster was inevitable. This led to the brook being filled in for 1990’s running.
Modifications such as stricter entry requirements and widening the course – to allow runners to bypass fences in case of injury or fatality – have clearly been beneficial.
Others, often prompted by reactionary responses to damaging front-page stories the morning after the race, have not; Becher’s has gone full “SJW”, having the landing-side drop reduced and levelled out; other fences have been reduced in height and the wooden cores of the fences have been replaced by softer, plastic alternatives. All to make the race “safer”.
Has all this worked? No. 12 horses died between 1970-89, 17 horses died between 1990-09, and we’re up to 6 so far over this 20-year period. Easier fences mean horses can go faster… speed kills.
The only thing that has changed over my lifetime (I was born in 1990) is the spectacle itself. The often-proclaimed “greatest test of horse and rider” has been continually watered-down (to please those who don’t have any real understanding of the sport) to such an extent that a horse with no previous wins over fences can take the rosette, as proven in 2016 by Rule The World. Great test indeed.
Sceptics watched the back-to-back triumphs of the diminutive Tiger Roll in 2018 and 2019 and questioned whether the race is now nothing but a long-distance run, and how would the same horse have faired if he were running 25 years earlier. I don’t blame them.
I am taking nothing away from Blackmore’s achievement, after all, she beat all the male jockeys for whom the race is also easier than it once was. But now that the “can a woman ever win it?” question has been firmly put to bed, what exactly does the 183-year-old (or 186, depending on who you ask) race have left to achieve, when any achievements will only be sneered at by those comparing with what has gone before.
I won’t be holding out any hope of the race reverting to its pre-1990 state, just imagine the outcry! And with only further safety measures likely to come, perhaps it would be better if we packed up the spruce for the last time and all went home before this downward spiral gets any deeper?
All sport has the power to hit us with narrative after narrative and the National is no different. The stories of Red Rum, Aldaniti and Foinavon among many, many others have been well chronicled. Even this century, we’ve seen Red Marauder win in the bog, Ginger McCain’s triumph with Amberleigh House, AP McCoy’s long-awaited victory and, of course, Tiger Roll.
“That’ll be no different in future!” I hear you cry. Maybe, but with the race a shadow of its former self, is it really worth the pretence?
Anthony Tomas Sport 