Silver Birch (born 10 April 1997) is an Irish-trained

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. He was owned through the first part of his career by Paul Barber and Des Nichols, then from 2006 by Brian WalshGrand National's Silver lining
BBC Sport, 15 April 2007 from

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

and stud owner. Ridden by Robbie Power and trained by 29-year-old Gordon Elliott, Silver Birch was the winner of the 2007 John Smith's

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near to Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three da ...

, run on Saturday 14 April 2007. He was Walsh and Elliott's first runner in the race.

Racing career

Silver Birch had previously won the Becher Chase at Aintree and the Welsh National in 2004 trained by Paul Nicholls, ridden by Ruby Walsh, for owners Des Nichols and Paul Barber who had seen him as a potential Grand National horse from his early hurdling days. He had been an early favourite in the betting coming into the

2005 Grand National The 2005 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 158th official annual running of the Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on ...

under the champion trainer ( Paul Nicholls), but a leg injury ruled him out from the race. He competed in the 2006 race but was hampered and fell at the Chair, the largest fence on the course. His starting price that day, in dramatic contrast to the enthusiasm he'd engendered the previous year, had been 40-1. He was subsequently sold at Doncaster Sales. In 2007 Silver Birch came second in the cross-country race at the Cheltenham Festival. Gordon Elliott had originally wanted Jason Maguire to ride him but he picked Idle Talk instead. That allowed Robbie Power to take the ride. Silver Birch won the 2007 Grand National by 3/4 of a length from McKelvey. Silver Birch also participated in 2009 Grand National, once again under Robbie Power, but fell at Becher's Brook on the second circuit. He then competed in cross-country chases for another season before being retired in 2010.

References

1997 racehorse births Thoroughbred family 10-d Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in Ireland National Hunt racehorses Grand National winners Welsh Grand National winners {{racehorse-stub