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Yeats/CAS, while I, of course, agree with both of you, we all know that the 1970s’ Cheltenham fences are gone forever. Actually, the one change I thought might have been mentioned is to return the festival to three days. Mind you, that prospect has probably gone forever too!
Thanks CAS for that update. Despite all my gushing about 1984, I haven’t been back since! Good to hear that the circuit hasn’t vanished without trace. Hope we can say the same about (what remains of) the National course in 30 years’ time.
Marlingford, thank you for your kind words. I am sorry you didn’t get to see the ‘proper fences’ up close. They really were quite something. I wonder what the course builders of 1984 would think of today’s portable Becher’s? Incidentally, in those days, vestiges of the old flat track and also the motor racing circuit were still clearly visible. Altogether, just a great experience.
Astral, while I share your wish for an end to the tinkering, I can see only further changes ahead. Following all those brutal unseatings, The Chair must be in line for another ‘trim’ very soon and I doubt whether the other open ditches will avoid further easing.
Having written all that, I accept the race is now what it is and that it will endure, maybe even flourish, for some time yet. I feel rather sorry for those who would not mourn its loss and who see it as little more than another betting opportunity. Perhaps had they walked the course on a sunny Spring day in 1984, they might think differently.
Many thanks Marling. I admit, I do get a bit uppity about the race and how it has changed, but good to hear that we are both inveterate Nationalites!
A little context… I remember walking around the course, for the first time, in late March 1984, just a week or so before the National meeting (it wasn’t a’festival’ then!). I had travelled over to Liverpool for a Civil Service interview, having never been outside N Ireland before. I got the interview over with (I was successful, btw!), then got travel advice from brilliant Liverpool transport staff, jumped on an Ormskirk bus and headed to my Field of Dreams. In those happy times there was NO security, so I walked unhindered right through to the course itself. First reaction…’Wow, there’s The Chair’. The fences were all dressed and ready for action, apart from fences 29 and 30. I walked right round to the National start and then down to Becher’s itself. Ground staff were busy trimming the fences’ spruce dressing (they seemed to take so much trouble and the fences were built to last in those days), but not so busy that they couldn’t take time for a chat. Most were locals and were just as besotted with the place as I was. What a happy day.
Marlingford, I am not at all suggesting the race be scrapped, simply renamed. It ain’t The Grand National any more and we should take that on board. ‘The Paddy Power BetwithITV Grand Merseyside Handicap” (‘Chase’ optional) is my recommendation
Astral, that’s an interesting comment you made about the fences post the 1980 renewal (heavy ground that year didn’t help). I must say that I didn’t notice much change in them until 1986, when the last two fences were clearly softer than before, a development I actually had no problem with as there used to be carnage when they were fences one and two in the Topham/Foxhunters.
I have watched the race and shared Esp’s excitement and anticipation for 50 years, so I’ll be ignoring suggestions of ‘don’t watch’. Maybe that advice should have been delivered more robustly to the race’s opponents over the previous few decades?
34 (?) runners crossing Melling Road will never cease being a spectacle and finding the winner will continue to divert for a few days but the old National has, indeed, gone for ever. The current incarnation has all the drama of the Pertemps Hurdle Final, a race it is growing to resemble more and more. But a spectacle, of sorts.
Ghost, I remember Jeff Powell penning an article in the Mail on Sunday the day after the 1990 National (the first ‘modified’ one). I seem to recall the banner being ‘The Bland National’? I could be wrong, but you’re spot on of course.
Esp, I thought it was just me who went through the ‘minor bout of depression’ on the Sunday! Lovely post.
It is even more naive, at best, to expect the latest wave of changes to the National to be the last. I would not be at all surprised to see The Chair further tampered with (all those unseatings!), then the open ditches, then The Canal Turn. Rinse and repeat. As for the continuing existence of NH racing, if its guardians persist in taking the knee in the face of opposition, it doesn’t deserve to survive.
I’d rather have no Grand National at all. I’d rename it. Let the damned thing limp on under the present name until 2027, the 50th anniversary of Rummy’s third win, then have it rebranded as ‘The (insert dismal bookmaking firm here) Great Merseyside Handicap Chase’, unless of course Randox wants to continue its association. ITV, assuming it too wishes to remain involved, could then gush about ‘evolving’, while the old Grand National would then have passed into history with at least a vestige of dignity intact. As a bonus, the name change might be a challenge to the antis…no Grand National to protest against!
Yes, I’d prefer the ‘old Becher’s’. However, mentioning fatalities may be your kick, it certainly isn’t mine.
You’re very generous Yeats. 0 out of 10 from me, simply because the race called ‘The Grand National’ no longer exists. CAS, in an earlier post, suggested renaming a certain fence. How about ‘TOFKAB’ (‘The Obstacle Formerly Known As Becher’s’)?
I agree, Yeats, about the coverage of the race. It was pretty dreadful. As for not noticing Becher’s well, it looked just as insignificant as it has been for the last seven years.
Yes Patriot, though it would be reinstatements rather than additions. I thought Nottingham had a fine NH track and when Windsor stood in for Ascot a few years ago, it worked very well. I am sure, however, that those courses would justify their decision robustly and I’d be amazed were they to ‘come to their senses’!
Stilvi, I think they just made ’em tougher in those days! The Whitbread was routinely run on ground which would be considered unacceptably firm nowadays, yet the fields were generally top notch. Of course, there are more options in the Spring now (Aintree ‘festival’, Punchestown, etc) but any resemblance between the Whitbread Gold Cup and The Betfair Blimp Haveabetonusmate Handicap is purely coincidental.
