galloped past to steal the prize

galloped past to steal the prize.RED RUMNo horse can match Red Rum’s Grand National record. Winner of the race in 1973 and 1974, he was second the next two years before his historic third victory in 1977. After his retirement on the eve of the National in 1978, he regularly led the parade of runners before the start. He died in 1995 and is buried by the winning post at Aintree.STARRComedian Freddie Starr missed seeing his colours carried to National victory by Miinnehoma in 1994 as superstition kept him away from the track.TELEVISIONMore than 400million people are expected to watch the great race on television worldwide. As well as the BBC coverage in the UK, the National will be shown live through much of Europe, with coverage also screened in the Middle East, Asia, South Africa and Latin America.USAEx-American chasers Jay Trump and Ben Nevis came across to Britain to land the National in 1965 and 1980 respectively.

Uncle Merlin might well have emulated them but for unseating Hywel Davies at Bechers second time round in 1990.VOLUPTUARY Voluptuary, bred by Queen Victoria, had never jumped a fence before winning the National in 1884. He ended his career clearing a water jump night after night in the Grand National scene of the play ‘Prodigal Daughter’.WEDDINGS Aintree racecourse is now licensed for wedding ceremonies. Couples can tie the knot in the Valentine suite of the Queen Mother stand before moving on to the Becher suite for a wedding breakfast, with the whole site available for memorable photographs.X-RATEDMick Fitzgerald was overcome by his victory on Rough Quest in 1996, quipping”I’ve never enjoyed 12 minutes as much before. Sex is an anti-climax after that!”YOUNGESTBruce Hobbs was the youngest jockey to win the National, scoring on Battleship in 1938 at the age of 17. Oldest successful rider was 48-year-old Dick Saunders on Grittar in 1982.

Tim Durant was the oldest jockey to complete the course, partnering Highlandie in 1968 at the age of 68.ZONGALEROWhen Zongalero finished a length-and-a-half second to Rubstic in the 1979 National he completed an unhappy hat-trick. He had also been runner-up in the Mackeson Gold Cup and Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup and ended the season without a win to his name.. The first new racecourses to open in Britain for 75 years could stage meetings in 2002, following approval by the British Horseracing Board yesterday for schemes at Fairlop Waters, in north-east London, and Pembrey, near Swansea. The first new racecourses to open in Britain for 75 years could stage meetings in 2002, following approval by the British Horseracing Board yesterday for schemes at Fairlop Waters, in north-east London, and Pembrey, near Swansea.
Pembrey, which will be only the second course in Wales, plans to stage a mixture of Flat and jumps racing on turf, in the traditional manner.

The proposed development at Fairlop Waters, however, would be a radical departure for British racing.The scheme envisages a floodlit, dirt track, with Flat racing on 31 Thursday evenings throughout the year. At present, evening racing in Britain takes place only between April and August. City workers, who could reach the course within 30 minutes on the Central Line underground system, will be a key target audience, while the course also hopes that every meeting will be televised.Wiggins Group plc, the property developers behind the plans, will invest £40m in construction of the new course, which would hold 20,000 spectators and include a panoramic, glass-fronted restaurant. They will offer £1m each year in prize money, and stage trial events for British horses with entries in major international dirt races, such as the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup in the United States and the Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.Two further proposals for the first new courses in Britain since Taunton in 1927 were denied BHB approval yesterday. A plan for a track at Lee-on-Solent, and another for a floodlit circuit adjoining Newcastle racecourse, were both refused an allocation of fixtures.The two successful schemes must still submit to the planning process, and the London City racecourse in particular may face stiff opposition from local residents.

The proposed site is on green belt land, and the final decision on its future will probably rest with the Department of the Environment.. Britain’s racecourse population, which has been in steady decline for more than 70 years, could increase for the first time since 1927 following an announcement by the British Horseracing Board yesterday that it will grant fixtures to two new tracks from 2002. Proposed developments at both Redbridge, in north-east London, and Pembrey, in South Wales, received the Board’s seal of approval, but two more, at Lee-on-Solent and Newcastle, did not. Britain’s racecourse population, which has been in steady decline for more than 70 years, could increase for the first time since 1927 following an announcement by the British Horseracing Board yesterday that it will grant fixtures to two new tracks from 2002. Proposed developments at both Redbridge, in north-east London, and Pembrey, in South Wales, received the Board’s seal of approval, but two more, at Lee-on-Solent and Newcastle, did not.
For all those concerned with the long-running campaign to build a new course at Pembrey, yesterday’s announcement was a reward for immense persistence. Their plans were turned down by the BHB in 1997, but the proposed track, which hopes to stage both Flat and National Hunt fixtures on turf, will be given 10 fixtures in 2002, and will be able to purchase further slots in the racing calendar from other courses. It would be only the second track in Wales, and the other, Chepstow, is 90 miles distant.”‘At long, long last it’s happened,” Jack Bennett, a leading figure in the Pembrey consortium, said yesterday ”The work starts now.