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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Grand National
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(short for the Grand National Steeplechase)
One of the greatest sporting events in the British calendar, and for many people the only occasion when they risk a bet. A steeplechase of 7.25km/4.5m over 30 fences (for 6-year-olds and upwards), its appeal lies in the challenge it makes to the courage and stamina of horses and jockeys alike; what starts each year much like a cavalry charge ends with only a few finishing (and sometimes dead horses among the fallen, a controversial issue). It takes place on a Saturday in April at Aintree, a course north of Liverpool which was opened for flat-racing in 1829.
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Steeplechasing was soon introduced (on the urging of Captain Becher, an enthusiast who fell from his horse into a brook in 1839, and whose name is now immortalized in the most dangerous of the jumps, Becher's Brook). The Grand National has been run at Aintree since about 1838, and has been known by that name since 1847.
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By far the most famous horse in the history of the race has been *Red Rum; a winner of outstanding courage was Bob Champion (b. 1949), who overcame cancer to win on Aldaniti in 1981; and one of the most dramatic moments was the sudden and still unexplained collapse of the Queen Mother's Devon Loch in 1956, when in the lead and only 50 yards from the winning post, with Dick *Francis in the saddle.
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