Once again the folks at Aintree Racecourse outdid themselves with the 2019 Grand National festival. Thousands packed out the racecourse and basked in the sunshine as the 172nd renewal of the Grand National took place on April 6th 2019.
40 horses and jockeys lined-up in what was to be another great race. Tiger Roll went off as the race favourite on odds of 4/1 and he didn’t disappoint. He set out to make history and become the first horse to win back-to-back Grand Nationals since Red Rum.
Under the guidance of jockey Davy Russell he held back in the middle of the field for most of the race. Despite a small stumble at the 25th he soon recovered and went into the lead. He was still going well with two fences to jump and before kicking into gear in the final 100yds.
It was another epic win for the Tiger who won the race with ease. But, will he be back for the 2020 Grand National? Plans are not definite and although he looks set to return to Cheltenham, Aintree is not guaranteed.
For the rest of the 39 Grand National runners, it was a mixed bag of results. Unfortunately for all involved, and in particular the connections, Up For Review was fatally injured at the first fence. Trained by Willie Mullins, and ridden by jockey Danny Mullins, he was brought down and did not recover.
The first fence was also the undoing of Vintage Clouds. A firm favourite, the grey was prominent at the front but fell and was unharmed. As a result, he went to the Scottish National where he finished in 6th place.
From that point, it was a very clean race. It wasn’t until Fence 11 that the next horse went out of contention. That was Monbeg Notorious who was pulled up by jockey Sean Bowen.
With 37 still left in the race, all ran really well but by Fence 19 it proved too much for Blow By Blow who was pulled up. It was also at this stage that Jury Duty unseated Robbie Power, Rock The Kasbah was brought down and General Principle fell.
33 progressed and all cleared Fence 20 but by Fence 21 Minella Rocca had enough and was pulled up by Richie McLernon. By the time they got to the 25th fence, all 32 were still in contention before Step Back was pulled up. Fence 26 was the end of the race for Ballyoptic who fell and Pleasant Company parted ways with Paul Townend as he got unseated at Fence 27. Lake View Lad was also pulled up at the same stage.
As the race entered the final stages, eight more runners were pulled up at fences 28 and 29. They were Just A Par, Warriors Tale, Noble Endeavor, Ramses Des Teille, Mala Beach, Tea For Two, Joe Farrell, Go Conquer and Dounikos.
19 Runners finished the 2019 Grand National. The Finishing Order is below:
Position | Name | Age | Handicap (st–lb) |
SP | Jockey | Trainer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tiger Roll | 9 | 11-05 | 4/1 | Davy Russell | Gordon Elliott |
2 | Magic of Light | 8 | 10-11 | 66/1 | Paddy Kennedy | Jessica Harrington |
3 | Rathvinden | 11 | 11-00 | 8/1 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins |
4 | Walk In The Mill | 9 | 10-04 | 25/1 | James Best | Robert Walford |
5 | Anibale Fly | 9 | 11-10 | 10/1 | Mark Walsh | Tony Martin |
6 | One For Arthur | 10 | 11-00 | 20/1 | Derek Fox | Lucinda Russell |
7 | Regal Encore | 11 | 10-12 | 66/1 | Jonathan Burke | Anthony Honeyball |
8 | Singlefarmpayment | 9 | 10-06 | 50/1 | Paddy Brennan | Tom George |
9 | Outlander | 11 | 11-04 | 66/1 | James Bowen | Richard Spencer |
10 | Valseur Lido | 10 | 10-06 | 66/1 | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead |
11 | Livelovelaugh | 9 | 10-04 | 25/1 | David Mullins | Willie Mullins |
12 | A Toi Phil | 9 | 10-11 | 50/1 | Denis O’Regan | Gordon Elliott |
13 | Bless The Wings | 14 | 10-03 | 50/1 | Robert Dunne | Gordon Elliott |
14 | Ultragold | 11 | 10-07 | 50/1 | Tom O’Brien | Colin Tizzard |
15 | Vieux Lion Rouge | 10 | 10-06 | 66/1 | Tom Scudamore | David Pipe |
16 | Captain Redbeard | 10 | 10-03 | 66/1 | Sam Coltherd | Stuart Coltherd |
17 | Folsom Blue | 12 | 10-04 | 66/1 | Luke Dempsey | Gordon Elliott |
18 | Valtor | 10 | 11-06 | 66/1 | Daryl Jacob | Nicky Henderson |
19 | Don Poli | 10 | 11-03 | 66/1 | Patrick Mullins[a] | Philip Kirby |