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How Many Female Jockeys Have Ridden in the Grand National?

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Photo: Scott Heppell/Reuters.

On April 9, 2022, the Aintree Grand National returns to racing in its full format. At Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside, England, the “National” has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television since 1960.  An estimated 500 to 600 million people watch the Grand National in over 140 countries. The race has also been broadcast on radio since 1927.

Looks like we may have a female jockey again: Rachael Blackmore, riding the #1 favorite, Minella Times, who made history winning the 2021 edition with Blackmore in the stirrups.  Minella Times will be running with his rating having risen to 161 – up 15lb from his mark of 146 last year. Grab this list of Grand National Runners and their jockeys for 2022.

In 2012, the first female jockey to finish in the top three was Katie Walsh on Seabass. Walsh and Nina Carberry both started six Grand Nationals, a joint record for a woman. In 2021, Rachael Blackmore, riding Minella Times, became the first female jockey to win the race. Will she do it again in 2022?

Blackmore’s Grand National win comes three weeks after she was the first woman to be leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival.

The 173rd running of the world’s most famous steeplechase provided a story for the ages as Blackmore won in the colours of owner J. P. McManus.

As Blackmore and Minella Times safely jumped the last, it became clear a piece of racing folklore was being created and the pair passed the winning line clear of their rivals.

Forty-four years after Charlotte Brew was the first woman to ride in the race on 200-1 outsider Barony Fort, who refused at the 27th fence, Blackmore had bettered Walsh’s third-placed finish with an historic victory.

Since 1977, female jockeys have been allowed in the Grand National horse race following the passing of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. A total of 19 female jockeys have entered the Grand National since then. Charlotte Brew on her horse, Barony Fort, was the first woman to compete in the race, in 1977. In 1982, Geraldine Rees became the first woman to complete the course. She rode Cheers to eighth place. That time, Brew returned with her horse Martinstown; this was the first Grand National with two female jockeys entering.

The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over an official distance of about 4 miles and 2½ furlongs (4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km)), with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps.  It is the most valuable jump race in Europe.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Horse Racing, Racing

US Horse Racing Top 4 Betting Events

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Interest in horse racing in the United States has never been higher, with increased media coverage helping to promote the sport to a much wider audience in recent years.

Nowhere is that point better highlighted than in the United Kingdom, where Sky Sports Racing broadcasts live action from the US on a daily basis. This has created a scenario where the top-class races in the US now attract significantly more international entries, thus boosting the quality of the action.

Read on as we take a look at the four standout events in the US racing calendar – the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup.

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses held over 10 furlongs at Churchill Downs in early May. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown alongside the Preakness and Belmont, and generally attracts a field of 20 runners.

Horses can qualify for the event by accumulating points in a series of 35 races dubbed the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’, which take place at tracks across the US, Europe, and Asia.

Often called the ‘Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports’, the Derby regularly attracts more than 150,000 spectators to Churchill annually.

Preakness Stakes

Run over a slightly shorter distance of one and 3/16 of a mile, the Preakness Stakes is staged at Pimlico Racecourse on the third Saturday in May each year.

Attendance at the Preakness Stakes usually beats all other stakes races including the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup, and the Kentucky Oaks. The only exception to this is the Kentucky Derby, which often attracts over 20,000 more spectators when it is staged earlier in the month.

Notable past winners of the Preakness include Secretariat, Affirmed, and American Pharoah, each of whom went on to complete the Triple Crown.

Belmont Stakes

Traditionally the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is run at Belmont Park on the first or second Saturday in June. Run over one and a half miles, the race is widely viewed as the event which determines the best middle-distance horse in the US, according to the horse racing betting guide.

The most famous winner of the race was Secretariat, whose winning time 2:24.00 remains a track and world record for the distance on dirt.

Justify’s stunning victory under jockey Mike Smith in the 150th running of the race in 2018 saw him become the 13th Triple Crown champion.

The Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup World Championships is a series of Grade I thoroughbred races staged annually at different tracks in the US or Canada. It was initially a single-day event, before expanding into a second day in 2007 due to the enormous global interest in the meeting.

The Breeders’ Cup kicks off with Future Stars Friday, which comprises five top-class juvenile races featuring racing’s brightest rising stars. Championship Saturday is one of the richest days in racing, culminating with the hugely prestigious $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Horse Racing, Racing

Horseracing Series 2021

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2021 has been another huge year for the horse racing industry worldwide. While many great events took place, the two main series in the United States were the Triple Crown in the spring and the Breeders’ Cup in the fall.

The Triple Crown

The Triple Crown began in May, making it one of the two most important months on the horse racing schedule. Online horse betting has reached a peak, including many options for betting on the go using horse betting apps such as these: https://horse-betting.pro/guides/best-horse-betting-apps/.

The Triple Crown series of races are traditionally run in May and early June of each year, although global events have resulted in schedule adjustments, such as in 1945 and 2020.

On the first Saturday of the month of May, and the first of the Triple Crown series, the legendary Kentucky Derby takes place at a distance of a mile and a quarter. With a purse of some $3 million and a huge worldwide following, the Derby is one of the top horse events on the planet.  Thunderous applause can be heard from afar during the Kentucky Derby at the gorgeous Churchill Downs (Kentucky).

It is dubbed “The Run for the Roses,” stemming from the blanket of roses draped over the winner, and in the United States it is also known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” because of its approximate duration. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes.

Three weeks after the Derby comes the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland with a distance of 9.5 furlongs (1+3⁄16 miles (1,900 m)) on dirt. It has been dubbed “The Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.”

The Preakness Stakes has also been termed “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” because a blanket of Maryland’s state flower is placed across the withers of the winning colt or filly. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, surpassed only by the Kentucky Derby.

An interesting history of the Preakness is that Pimlico officially opened October 25, 1870 with the colt Preakness winning the first running of the Dinner Party Stakes. Approximately 12,000 people attended, many taking special race trains arranged by the Northern Central Railway. Three years later the horse had the 1873 Preakness Stakes named in his honor.

The final leg in the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds, is the Belmont Stakes, known by the nicknames “The Test of the Champion”/”The Run for the Carnations”/”The Third Jewel of the Triple Crown.”  The Belmont Stakes takes place on the first Saturday in June in Elmont (an unincorporated hamlet), New York.

When run at 1+1⁄2 miles, the Belmont Stakes covers one full lap of Belmont Park, known as “The Championship Track,” because nearly every major American champion in racing history has competed on the racetrack. Despite the distance, the race tends to favor horses with tactical speed: relatively few winners close from far behind the early leaders.

The 2021 Belmont Stakes was the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 110th time the event took place at Belmont Park. It is the final race of the Triple Crown.

The Triple Crown has come to represent the pinnacle achievement in horseracing. In its history, only 13 horses have won all three races; two of them are still alive.

The Breeders Cup World Championships

Ending at one finish line is the of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races held on the first weekend of November.  These races are operated by Breeders’ Cup Limited, and in 2021, The Breeders’ Cup will return to another iconic racing venue: Del Mar, where the turf meets the surf Southern California style.

The event was created as a year-end championship for North American Thoroughbred racing, and also attracts top horses from other parts of the world, especially Europe.

With the current 2021 year having $31 million in purses and awards, every horse, jockey, trainer, and owner around the world has this two-day, 14-race, year-end culmination of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in their sights.

Many Breeders’ Cup winners will go on to win the Eclipse Award in their respective division. For example, of the eleven flat racehorse categories, seven of the Eclipse winners in 2015 had also won a Breeders’ Cup race, while three others were in the money.

The Breeders’ Cup Championship Saturday is one of the richest days in racing awarding over $22 million in purses and awards over 9 races, culminating in the defining event of the international racing season, the $6 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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*Featured/Spotlights, Horse Racing, Racing

The 2021 Grand National

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2011 Grand National. RacingKel.

0As a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England, The Grand National was first run in 1839. It is a handicap steeplechase over an official distance of about 4 miles and 2½ furlongs (4 miles 514 yards), with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps. The 2020 Grand National was cancelled for the first time since WW2 due to Covid-19.

The Grand National is the most valuable jump race in Europe. Get the best Grand National tips, take the best odds and ante post outlook for April 2021. With Grand National odds on offer all-year-round, the modern-day punter has the opportunity to try one’s luck on the world’s greatest steeplechase at all stages through the year.

Top Six Grand National 2021 Favourites are:

  1. Tiger Roll – Winner of the 2018 and 2019 Grand Nationals and became the first ‘back-to-back’ winner since Red Rum in the 1970s.
  2. Burrows Saint – Won the 2019 Irish Grand National so have a pedigree in these races. Still young so has time on his side.
  3. Any Second Now – Winner of the Kim Muir Chase at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival. A faller in the 2019 Irish National but was running well at the time.
  4. Presenting Percy – Joined trainer G. Elliott’s stable earlier this year, and soon after came back on top in style at Thurles in November 2020.
  5. Santini – A classy staying chaser that was a close runner-up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2020. Would probably have that race as a target again this season, but there has been some small talk of a National bid.
  6. Kimberlite Candy – Laid down some claims of Grand National success to come with a fine victory in the Classic Chase at Warwick. Ground conditions are likely going to be the dictating factor when deciding on an Aintree return.

Previously we have had Rule the World at huge odds of 50-1 in 2016, Pineau De Re at 33-1 in 2014, and Neptune Collonges at 40-1 in 2012.

Experience counts in the Grand National and 20 of the last 26 winners were aged either 9, 10, or 11. In that period there have also been four eight-year-old and two twelve-year-old winners.

The festival always starts with Grand Opening Day renamed to Liverpool’s NHS Day (renamed to honour the work of dedicated NHS staff) on Thursday, Aintree Ladies’ Day on Friday, then Saturday’s Grand National Day. The next Grand National three-day meeting will run between Thursday 8th April to Saturday 10th April 2021, with the Grand National always staged on the final day – in 2021 this will be on 10th April.

Liverpool’s NHS Day, formerly known as Grand Opening Day, traditionally features four Grade One contests, including the Betfred Bowl and Betway Aintree Hurdle.

One of the most glamorous days of the sporting calendar is Aintree Ladies’ Day which has become one of the most revered days of the season, not only for the action on the course but also for its finery and luxury.

Three Grade One races including the JLT Melling Chase and Mildmay Novices’ Chase are the highlight of the day, while the Topham Chase allows fans to see horses take on the Grand National fences over a shorter two-and-a-half miles.

Then comes Grand National Day on Saturday, which is the highlight of the festival.

Randox has agreed to a five-year extension to its current sponsorship of the Grand National meeting at Aintree. The new agreement will run from 2022-2026 and follow on from the initial five-year contract which runs until next year.

As well as being the headline sponsor of the festival, Randox will lend its name to the three races over the Grand National fences at the fixture – the Randox Foxhunters Chase, the Randox Topham Chase, and the big one itself, the Randox Grand National.

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