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The race has long been my favourite race of the year but frankly this years race left me cold and I feel is no longer special.
I have to concur with John Francome who said that the race no longer poses the sort of challenge that once made it such a unique spectacle.
He said that "The whole point of the National is that it should be exciting, but it doesn’t look that way to me any more. No disrespect to the winner Auroras Encore but he is not the best jumper in the world and he would not have won it 5 years ago".
"It used to be a jumping test, but no longer. It is a joke and horses like Grittar wouldn’t succeed now because they wouldn’t be quick enough".
Bechers Brook is just another fence now and not much point singling it out anymore.
It will be interesting to see if Aintree can get a sponsor to come up with a million pounds for what is now just another chase although I think there is a fair chance they might.
Is the race still worthy of special handicapping anymore? I don’t think so.I reckon not only will Ginger be turning in his grave but Red Rum also.
I agree with you Yeats the race this year seemed to lack excitement. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to see a National with carnage at one of the fences and fatalaties, but this year there was almost an obsession in many quarters about how incident free the race was.
I think it was a case that the winner was overlooked somewhat in the coverage of how many finished the race and how few fallers there were.
Does the race now justify 500K to the winner? I would suggest that in 20 years time the name of Auroras Encore will be remembered by very few non-racing people, and even some that do follow the sport.
I completely agree. I went up again this year and was bitterly disappointed when I stood next to Beecher’s Brook. No longer any drop. These fences are too easy to jump and although it’s not nice to see horses hurt themselves, 50million people watch the race because there are so many fallers and the race is such a challenge. Now the horses can hit a fence and stay up. The worst mistake of the whole race was made by Away We Go at the first ditch where he actually smashed into the fence and would have gone arse over tit in last year’s race but somehow survived and managed to help set a fast pace which changed the race. Racing should fight back. These fences are too easy and now it’s no longer a jumping test but rather just a test of extreme stamina. If it carries on this way one year there will be no fallers, the race will lose its identity and nobody outside of Britain and Ireland will watch. Heck only two horses actually fell during this year’s renewal.
Absolute rubbish!
Auroras Encore made a few minor errors, he jumped well enough. Many in the past have jumped worse and won. Am sure I am not the only punter to go through the National every year paying particular attention to jumping ability. It is unbelievably convenient for people to concentrate on one horse when assessing the new fences Yeats/Peters/Charles. Two horses in particular stood out in the field as excellent lepers, Cappa Bleu and Teaforthree. Where did they finish? 2nd and 3rd. Ironic that a last fence blunder cost the latter any chance of winning. Oscar Time finished 2nd over what you seem to think a totally different course in 2011, 4th this year.
Ex-jockey thinks the Grand Nationl fences are too easy shocker.
I am sure John Francome can remember when he rode in the race ex-jockeys were saying exactly the same thing. 
"Things were a lot ‘arder you when oi were a laaad".Why do you want to see fallers? Horses are still greatly favoured/rewarded for jumping well. I’d rather see poor jumpers go through the top of fences, both slowing them down and taking energy away for the latter stages – rather than hit a fence hard and end up on the floor/injured/dead. Commentators words "made a mistake but got away with it" is seldom true.
This year you could see ground staff replacing "birch" to the top of the fences once they’d passed on the first circuit. Fine by me.
An occasional "hole" in a fence decimated by horse’s bad mistake is (imo) preferable to a far greater risk of seeing that horse with a broken leg/dead.
Value Is EverythingThe worst mistake of the whole race was made by Away We Go at the first ditch where he actually smashed into the fence and would have gone [expletive] over tit in last year’s race but somehow survived and managed to help set a fast pace which changed the race.
Were you watching the right race
AWAY WE GO ran in the Bet 365 Gold Cup at Sandown in the weekend just gone, not the Grand National at beginning of this month.
I got that feeling it lacked the excitement it usually has, although when it was re-ran on the Monday after the bomb scare in 1997, it too was kind of flat. However since then the as been some exciting nationals.
Maybe it’s was just because Neptune Collonges and Sunnyhillboy National was just such a thriller, that this one seemed dull in comparison.
I’m sure the fences will be tweaked a bit as time goes on the 91 and 92 nationals were pretty dull too ,there were plenty of mistakes being made that in another year would result in a faller.
This years race did look a bit like a Haydock fixed brush qualifier but i still thought it was an enjoyable watch.
I personally don’t want to see another horse dive bombing to the floor at Bechers but i think the cores of the fences should at least be the height of a park fence and as stiff then dressed.Get used to it. Your choices are a more emasculated race like this or no Grand National at all.
The race is under severe attack from many sides not least the BBC, who now they have lost the coverage can give free reign to their natural dislike for any sport that features animals. The dismay in their voices when they realised that no horses were killed or injured in this year’s renewal should serve as a reminder to all in racing exactly what their agenda for the race is.
Personally, I thought the National was excellent; it looked and felt ‘right’ for the modern era. Those thinking that a horse doesn’t have to jump well to win must have missed Aurora’s Encore’s spectacular leap at the last!
Mike
Oh and the RSPCA’s Chief Executive and resident nutjob Gavin Grant was equally upset by the lack of injuries. Although he was concerned that some of the horses ‘looked tired’ after the race (that’ll be the fences and running and that sort of stuff Gav).
Mike
Please define "exciting" in this context. What is it exactly that makes the Grand National exciting to you?
Watching horses fall or lose their riders isn’t exciting to me. I really don’t think it’s that exciting to the public, either.
Please define "exciting" in this context. What is it exactly that makes the Grand National exciting to you?
Watching horses fall or lose their riders isn’t exciting to me. I really don’t think it’s that exciting to the public, either.
Dear Ms Ivory Tower, We have listened to your comments and have created a new product with less fallers, and fewer jockeys departing from their mounts. This innovative sport will operate under the title:-
"Flat Racing", at least until we can come up with a more suitable term.
ps Have you considered Virtual Jump Racing? It is a wonderful sanatised sport, where no horse ever falls, no jockey is ever unseated and no punter can ever die from over stimulation.
Yours sincerely, Prozac Bookmakers Ltd
Thanks for the good crack. Time for me to move on. Be lucky.
Grand National only in name now I’m afraid, the race has been watered down far too much and the fences made too soft.
It should be a thorough test of jumping ability but moderate jumpers were just going through either holes or spruce in the fences, it was neither enjoyable or exciting for me.
It must surely be an open invitation to dodgy jumpers to run in the race if they qualify. I know I would run one in it if I had one. May as well run for £500k as £10k if you’re no more likely to fall.
It isn’t the race it was which is sad. However times move on, we’re living in a different era, and there is much more focus on the race and pressure groups are probably much more powerful than they would have been 50 odd years ago when the race was first televised.
The end of an era but it’s been coming for years. No longer when the commentator says "and they’ve all cleared the first!" do you feel the slightest frisson of excitement, because that’s the predictable outcome. Eventually even the commentators will stop pretending to express surprise at the fact that practically every horse is making it around, the public will drift away and the race will be dead for good.
The fences are a joke now They were small when I last went there about seven years ago; I remember thinking that can’t be the Chair & wondering if it was something to do with seeing it live instead of a camera angle. Just compare the images on BBC sport site with those of the fences in the 1980s, more so with the 1950s & there is no comparison, it’s a completely different race.
The fences are much bigger & more solid on Cheltenham’s Cross Country Course now. that seems very unpopular on this forum, but the fences are a test & fatalities have been few since it’s inception. Couldn’t Aintree have looked at the construction of some of those fences as they appear to work well.
I thought it was a non-race this year, very boring & it was the first time I didn’t watch the replay, some might have been the way it was presented & very very poor filming.
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