Grand National must compete with grand nuptials

LONDON — In its 166-year history, the Grand National steeplechase has faced tragedy, cheating, animal rights protests, farcical false starts and a bomb scare that forced evacuation of the course and postponement of the race.

Now the National has a royal wedding with which to contend.

The marriage of the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, to Camilla Parker Bowles was put back a day so it wouldn’t clash with Friday’s funeral of Pope John Paul II. That means the wedding will be held today, the same day as the world’s most famous steeplechase.

With the BBC committed to televising both the wedding and the National, the network persuaded race organizers to delay the start by 25 minutes so both events could be shown live.

A worldwide TV audience of 500 million is expected to watch the wedding, but that figure could be beaten by the National, which is the BBC’s most-watched sports event and usually attracts 600 million viewers.

The National, first run in 1839, has strong royal connections.

Queen Elizabeth II’s mother frequently attended the race in person. In 1956, Queen Mother Elizabeth watched as her horse, Devon Loch, took what appeared to be an insurmountable lead only to try to jump an imaginary fence and fall. ESB came from several lengths back to win.

In 1947, Caughoo beat 56 rivals at an Aintree course shrouded in thick fog. His jockey was later accused of going around the course only once instead of twice.

The race features a field of 40 taking on 30 tall fences in a grueling 4 1/2 -mile chase around Aintree. Since World War II, 33 horses have died in the race. Animal rights activists regularly stage demonstrations to try and disrupt it.

In wet, muddy conditions four years ago, two of the 40 starters managed to clear all the fences. Two more jockeys remounted and finished the race.

In 1967, a horse that already had unseated his rider ran in front of the rest of the field just before the 23rd fence and caused chaos, bringing down many horses. Foinavon, a 100-1 shot, managed to get around them all and was nearly unchallenged, becoming the biggest long-shot winner in race history.

The National descended into farce after a false start 11 years ago. Half the field didn’t hear the recall and went on to run the 4 1/2 miles. With his jockey in tears as he crossed the line, Esha Ness “won” the race that never was.

Eight years ago, an IRA bomb hoax caused Aintree to be evacuated and the race was held two days later.

This year one of the Grand National’s most successful trainers, Ginger McCain, made headlines by saying there was no way female jockey Carrie Ford could win.