Reviewing the 2022 Grand National
The most famous horse race in the world is the Grand National. The Grand National is a race that is broadcast all over the world and sees tens of millions of pounds bet on it.
History of the Grand National
It is an equine challenge like no other. To begin with there are forty runners in the race, which makes it one of the busiest races in the entire racing calendar. Next, the horses need to complete two laps of the famous Aintree circuit, jumping a total of thirty fences. The Grand National fences have long been regarded as some of the most fearsome on the planet. Many of the fences have developed a fearsome reputation with fences such as The Chair, Beechers Brook, the Canal Turn and Valentines all becoming iconic landmarks on the Aintree track.
If a horse can bravely navigate their way past the other runners and riders and jump the fences they then need to be able to last the four and a half-mile distance of the race. It therefore isn’t surprising that the winning horses of the most famous race in the world find themselves etched into the record books of the sport.
Buildup to 2022 Grand National
Ahead of the 2022 race Betway ambassadors Katie Walsh and Ross O’Sullivan sat down with friends and family to relive their most memorable moments from the National.
Walsh, the first female jockey to finish in the top 3 of the Grand National, sat down with her sister Jennifer and former amateur jockey Lisa O’Neill, while O’Sullivan was accompanied by his father-in-law Ted Walsh (winner of the 2000 race) and former jockey Niall Madden.
The groups watched some of the best moments of the Grand National courtesy of Betway including Katie’s third-placed finish in 2012, Ted’s 2000 win with Papillon, and several more.
It turns out to be an excellent way to build up to the race.
The 2022 Race
The Grand National is always an open contest and despite the different odds, any horse in the race can win. The 2022 race was no different. Leading the market before the off were Minella Times who won the race in 2021 and Delta Work.
A Grand National rarely ends with all the horses completing and the 2022 race was full of the traditional thrills and spills.
The first dramatic moment of the race came at the ninth fence when favourite Minella Times was an unfortunate faller. The fairytale horse of the race was the beautiful grey horse, Snow Leopardess. Snow Leopardess, a mare had captured the imagination of the public as she had only returned to the track this year after giving birth to a foal. It wasn’t to be as Snow Leopardess struggled to keep the early gallop and was retired from the race at the 17th fence.
As the race approached its dramatic conclusion a clear cluster of eight horses had separated themselves from the rest of the field.
Moving best of all were the two horses who would battle it out at the finish – Any Second Now and Noble Yeats. Jumping the last together the two quickly moved away from the rest of the field.
It looked like Any Second Now had the race in his grasp but Noble Yeats kept on battling to find a way past and claim the win for trainer Emmet Mullins. Remarkably it was Mullins first runner in the race, and for winning jockey Sam Waley Cohen his last race before retirement.
It is a national that will be remembered for years to come.
