Thank God, a clean race and a great winner!
Aurora Encore… trained by Harvey Smith’s wife Sue… at 66/1
Strange race… ALL 40 runners were up going into the Canal Turn the first time! And 33 runners still going when they went out into the 2nd circuit… Huge number of horses finished.
Think they may have made this race too easy,
Once again, my bets put the jinx on the two Galway horses 
But a gorgeous race!!
And drop dead gorgeous horses!!!
Who was the riderless horse that finished 2nd? Nobody on TV is mentioning.
Loved that the winner was still shaking his head and full of himself as his entourage were leading him in.
And yes, HRTV - please make it clearly known that you’ll still be showing the race, even if switching over to regularly scheduled programming just beforehand!
I don’t think it is too easy.
I read the instructions posted by GG and they said things like use the whole course instead of bunching up at the inside, which they did-at least on the straight. I know you know a lot more than I do about this, but I didn’t SEE any horse fall, and that is surely a good thing. IIRC last year, weren’t two put down?
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;6926570]
Aurora Encore… trained by Harvey Smith’s wife Sue… at 66/1
Strange race… ALL 40 runners were up going into the Canal Turn the first time! And 33 runners still going when they went out into the 2nd circuit… Huge number of horses finished.
Think they may have made this race too easy,[/QUOTE]
Seriously?? Because there weren’t enough falls and “huge number of horses finished” it was “too easy”??
The good news keeps coming, as Clare Balding brings us the news that all 40 runners have come back safe and sound after the race.
A number of horses fell or were pulled up during the race, but it’s great to hear that they’re all safe after today’s race.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/live-grand-national-2013-follow-1814743
[QUOTE=DLee;6926581]
Seriously?? Because there weren’t enough falls and “huge number of horses finished” it was “too easy”??[/QUOTE]
No, horses don’t have to fall, in fact most riderless horses result from unseated riders. What sets the National apart, and historically done so since the 1830s, is that it is difficult to jump around and rider and horse to stay together.
If every horse and rider combo made it around Badminton or Burghley, I imagine people would question how easy or diffcult the course was.
But thanks for the knee jerk reaction all the same.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;6926595]
No, horses don’t have to fall, in fact most riderless horses result from unseated riders. What sets the National apart, and historically done so since the 1830s, is that it is difficult to jump around and rider and horse to stay together.
If every horse and rider combo made it around Badminton or Burghley, I imagine people would question how easy or diffcult the course was.
But thanks for the knee jerk reaction all the same.[/QUOTE]
It sure wasn’t “knee jerk” but thanks for that assumption. I don’t believe that every horse and rider made it around, did they?
I’m aware of the art of xc design that results in rider falls and horse refusals and not deaths to separate the top combinations.
Not sure what your magic number is for amount of horses to finish a race to make it successfully difficult.
[QUOTE=DLee;6926608]
It sure wasn’t “knee jerk” but thanks for that assumption.[/QUOTE]
It was knee jerk… “OMG, you want all the horsies to get hurt”.
I don’t believe that every horse and rider made it around, did they?
They all made it to the Canal Turn, which is what I said.
I have watched every running of this race every year for the well over forty years. The sight of all 40 horses going into the Canal Turn is quite unusual, bizarre in fact.
Not sure what your magic number is for amount of horses to finish a race to make it successfully difficult.
Don’t be an ass.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;6926595]
If every horse and rider combo made it around Badminton or Burghley, I imagine people would question how easy or diffcult the course was.
.[/QUOTE]
This is your quote I was referring to about all of the horses and riders getting around.
The rest of your writing is not worth responding to.
I agree with Drvmb. You are being an ass DLee. Drvmb made an astute observation about the race and you jumped all over them. We don’t want horses or jockeys hurt or killed for our entertainment but the race has been tamed somewhat in recent years. That’s all.
With the media hype about the race being “barbaric”, “cruel” and “should be banned” the last few years, today’s race was a great spectacle for the sport. I am thrilled that is was a clean race with a great story about the winner (the jockey quit riding last year because he couldn’t afford to pursue it, then came back to have his first National ride and won!) And a 66-1 outsider winning makes it a totally unpredictable race, I love it.
Dang, I missed it. I wonder if HRTV will show it again.
[QUOTE=Lcsd114;6926686]
I agree with Drvmb. You are being an ass DLee. Drvmb made an astute observation about the race and you jumped all over them. We don’t want horses or jockeys hurt or killed for our entertainment but the race has been tamed somewhat in recent years. That’s all.
With the media hype about the race being “barbaric”, “cruel” and “should be banned” the last few years, today’s race was a great spectacle for the sport. I am thrilled that is was a clean race with a great story about the winner (the jockey quit riding last year because he couldn’t afford to pursue it, then came back to have his first National ride and won!) And a 66-1 outsider winning makes it a totally unpredictable race, I love it.[/QUOTE]
Completely disagree.
Better than losing 2 horses per race as happened the last couple of years.
[QUOTE=Sannois;6926738]
Dang, I missed it. I wonder if HRTV will show it again.[/QUOTE]
What a race - it is anybody’s race until Aurora’s Encore played his cards - with a romp to the post. 11 years old at that!
Every time they are on the home stretch I think of Dick Francis on the Queen Mum’s horse going splat just when he held the lead. My heart was pumping.
Quite the family Harvey Smith’s wife being the trainer of the 66-1 outsider.
It takes watching a few times to see all the action - how the fences that have been softened for this year were shredded and then a little gang of helpers dashes out on to the course to throw the branches back up onto the jump before the second time round.
Just thinking of the jockey’s stamina/balance/courage to jump those fences and stay on for that length of time with those short stirrups, makes me tired.
With the loose horses in the mix, I was also worried one would suddenly make a refusal just in front of the oncomers, or swerve in front of one.
[QUOTE=grayarabpony;6926869]
Completely disagree.
Better than losing 2 horses per race as happened the last couple of years.[/QUOTE]
What exactly do you disagree with? The race has been tamed and there was a lot of hype about the race. I agree that losing horses is bad.
What do you think? The first para of your post.
Ryan Mania has just been airlifted to hospital after a nasty fall at Hexham. Screens were up and the medics tended to him for a long time.
Hoping for the best for him.
Talking about the highs and lows of the game… less than 24 hours after riding the winner of the National.
