2023 Grand National

The 2023 Grand National (officially known as the Randox 2023 Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 175th annual running of the Grand National horse race. It took place on Saturday 15 April 2023, at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The event was sponsored by Randox Health with Natasha Jonas acting as ambassador.

The race was won by Corach Rambler who was trained by Lucinda Russell in Scotland and ridden by Irish jockey Derek Fox, who had both previously won the Grand National in 2017 with One For Arthur.

The race start was delayed by 14 minutes, following protests by campaign group Animal Rising, the first such disruptions since the cancellation of the 1993 Grand National due to a series of false starts and the 1997 Grand National due to the IRA bomb threat. Merseyside Police made 118 arrests, for both "criminal damage and public nuisance offences".

Entries and weights

The initial entry of 85 horses was published on 7 February 2023. Only 31 of the horses entered were trained in Great Britain, compared to 54 in the initial entry for the 2022 race. Of the Irish-trained runners, 21 were trained by Gordon Elliott, who was seeking a fourth Grand National victory as a trainer. Bookmakers made 2022 winner Noble Yeats 10-1 favourite at the time of the entries.

Weight for the race were announced on 21 February 2023. Three horses were given the top weight of 11 stones and 12 pounds; Any Second Now (the 2022 runner-up), Conflated and Hewick. Galvin and Noble Yeats were just behind on 11 stone 11, and Noble Yeats remained the betting favourite at a best price of 11-1. Publication of the weights opened up the possibility that the final field would be dominated by Irish-trained runners, with 41 of the top 60 in the weights trained in Ireland.

Nine horses were withdrawn at the acceptance stage on 7 March. Amongst the withdrawals were the 2021 winner Minella Times, who had been retired, and the fourth-placed horse from 2021 Burrows Saint. Iwilldoit was withdrawn having failed to meet the requirements of running in six steeplechases before 19 February. The withdrawals left 73 possible runners remaining with the next acceptance stage due on 28 March.

A further sixteen horses were withdrawn at the 28 March acceptance stage to leave 57 possible runners. The fifth-placed horse from 2021, Farclas, was amongst the withdrawals and other notable scratchings included Becher Chase winner Ashtown Lad and the 2022 Irish Grand National winner Lord Lariat. The betting at this stage was headed by 6-1 chance Corach Rambler, who had won the Ultima Handicap Chase for a second consecutive year, followed by Noble Yeats at 8-1. Only Any Second Now remained from the three top-weighted horses as Conflated and Hewick were withdrawn.

Final confirmations were made on 10 April and seven more horses were withdrawn, leaving 50 possible runners. Corach Rambler reimained as the general 6-1 betting favourite with Noble Yeats at 8-1 and Delta Work at 10-1.

Race card

The 40 runners were finalised on Thursday 13 April. There were no withdrawals at Thursday's declaration stage. In a change from previous years, no reserves were declared. Escaria Ten, who finished ninth in the 2022 race, was declared a non-runner on the day.

Finishing order

Source

Non-finishers

Broadcasting and media

As the Grand National is accorded the status of an event of national interest in the United Kingdom and is listed on the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events, it must be shown on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK. The race was broadcast live on TV by ITV for the sixth time, and the final year in its current three year deal with the British Horseracing Authority.

The ITV coverage was presented by Ed Chamberlin and Adele Mulrennan. Analysis was provided by former jockeys Sir Anthony McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald, Tom Scudamore, Harry Cobden and Ruby Walsh. Reports were provided by Alice Plunkett, Luke Harvey, Rishi Persad and Matt Chapman, and betting updates were provided by Brian Gleeson. Oli Bell and Chris Hughes covered viewers' comments on social media, while Mark Heyes and Charlotte Hawkins were chatting to the crowd on Ladies Day. The commentary team was Mark Johnson, Stewart Machin and Richard Hoiles, who called the finish for the sixth time. Following the race, Bell and Walsh guided viewers on a fence-by-fence re-run of the race.

Equine fatalities

Hill Sixteen fell and was mortally injured at the first fence, killing him almost instantly. The trainer of Hill Sixteen, Sandy Thomson, claimed that the horse became "hyper" because of the protests, which led to him not taking off at the first fence. Thomson was adamant that the actions of the protesters were behind his horse falling for the first time in his career. Hill Sixteen had previously ridden 27 races on 15 different tracks, and had previously jumped the Grand National fences at Aintree while competing twice in the Becher Chase .

Earlier at the Aintree meeting Envoye Special had been euthanised, following an injury after a fall in the Foxhunters' Open Hunters' Chase and Dark Raven had been euthanised after a fall at the Turners Mersey Novice Hurdle.

Protests

Animal rights campaign group Animal Rising had threatened to disrupt the race and were protesting from early on the day of the race. 118 people were arrested over protests that delayed the start of race by 14 minutes. Merseyside Police held nine people who had been able to enter the track and later said arrests had been made for both "criminal damage and public nuisance offences", including arrests made before the race and connected to a protest that had blocked the M57.

This was the third Grand National to be disrupted in post-war history since the 1993 Grand National which led to a series of false starts and the 1997 Grand National was postponed to Monday because of an IRA bomb threat.

References

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