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Officially it’s just the Grand National but to avoid confusion everyone calls it the Maryland Grand National. The “American Grand National” in Far Hills was first ran in 1897 and the one in Maryland in 1900 but the Maryland race is longer at 3m2f and ran over real (timber) fences so it’s more deserving of the name IMO.
This Saturday’s program https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GrandNational-Program-23.pdf
Or on Equibase https://www.equibase.com/static/entry/GN042223USA-EQB.html
Fun fact: Royal Ruse (#7)’s owner Charles Fenwick Jr is the Charles Fenwick who rode the great timber champ Ben Nevis to victory in the 1980 Grand National at Aintree.Some of these guys along with several horses in the allowance races on the card will be running the following Saturday in the Maryland Hunt Cup. The Maryland Grand National and Maryland Hunt Cup as well as last weekend’s My Lady’s Manor are similar races in terms of being restricted to amateurs, raced over “fair hunting country” rather than a flat racecourse, across timber fences that reflect what they would see in a hunt field. The fences in the MGN are on average a little lower than the MHC but still respectably sized.
As far as analysis goes – this is just for fun because there’s no wagering on these timber races – my pick would be Master Seville, he’s 2-for-2 this season including an allowance win at the Manor last week. Timber racing is in a permanent early-20th century time bubble so racing off short rest isn’t uncommon.
As with every NSA event, the Maryland Grand National card will be livestreamed free at https://nationalsteeplechase.com/
Great stuff Miss Woodford.
I see the big race has 7 runners (expect this to be mirrored on this side of the Atlantic soon). Is that about average for these events? Is there a maximum field size?
So first to actually answer your question, 7 is typical for the Maryland Grand National and has been throughout the race’s history. The Maryland Hunt Cup field tends to be a little bigger, 8 to 12 horses is the norm there. There’s no official maximum as far as I know. The Maryland timber races get smaller fields because of the sheer challenge of the courses and the fact that they are restricted to amateurs.
There is however an overall shortage of timber horses. It’s a problem that’s been building over the past couple decades. As the number of race dates has decreased the number of lower-level jumps races, and maiden races in particular, has gone below the critical mass needed to support the schedule of stakes races. Only one horse can win a race, so you need a bunch of maidens and allowances etc. to “graduate” horses. This problem is somewhat lessened with the hurdlers because they have races in the summer at the flat tracks and because trainers are importing more “made” Irish horses but they are feeling a shortage too. The NSA has been working with meet organizers to get more maiden, 4yo and novice races so it should slowly get better.
You will also notice if you compare these timber races vs those running in the hurdle races at Middleburg that there are more former NH runners in the hurdle races and more American-bred (or Irish-bred but started in the US) in the timber. That’s because it is a challenge to retrain steeplechasers who see fences the size of our timber fences and are used to being able to brush right through them. I would go as far to say that this has gotten harder as the nature of UK steeplechase fences has changed and the racing over there favoring faster horses that jump sloppier. The timber courses in Maryland haven’t changed in 100 years. They can be taught to respect the fences and have more stamina trained into them but it takes more time. Hence you see a horse like Vintage Vinnie winning his first Maryland Hunt Cup as a 12yo, 4 years after his last UK start.
MARLINGFORD SAYS
Great stuff Miss Woodford.
I see the big race has 7 runners (expect this to be mirrored on this side of the Atlantic soon). Is that about average for these events? Is there a maximum field size?
The fewest in our Grand National has been 10. (1883)
I might be wrong here, Miss Woodford, but I thought the American version was over hurdles and National in name only.
The best things in life are free.
But you can give them to the birds and bees.As I said in the first post there are two races in the US officially named the “Grand National”, because 19th century horsemen couldn’t agree on which race would get that prestigious title. One is a 2m5f hurdle race held in October in New Jersey and one is a 3m2f timber race in April in Maryland. The more famous hurdle race gets called the American Grand National while the timber race is merely the Maryland Grand National.
The hurdle Grand National was once a real steeplechase over more formidable fences but for complicated reasons all the steeplechases over brush in the US were transferred to moveable hurdles in the 1970s.
Thanks for the reply Miss Woodford. It’s really interesting to find out more about what goes on over in the States
Red Rum 77, I did not realise the National had previously experienced a field as low as 10.
From looking in one of the books I have, apparently the decline in numbers was partly due to concerns that the fences had become too small, and that the race had become simply an extended gallop. Also there had been safety concerns about crowds getting onto the course during the race.
Some things haven’t changed much…
Monbeg Stream won over Renegade River. The ground for this race was firm to hard – shockingly the world did not end due to them running on it – and then an absolute deluge of a thunderstorm hit shortly after. The race times tell the tale. Previous course record for 3m2f was 5:58 https://nationalsteeplechase.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/GrandNational-Results-23.pdf
I see Druid’s Altar pulled up in the 3m hurdle. Hopefully OK just didn’t stay the 3 miles. He was a decent juvenile hurdler for Joseph O’Brien then won a few chases.
It appears that Druid’s Altar just went off course, that’s always a risk over timber when the course is marked off with flags and traffic cones.
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