This year’s Grand National looked and felt like a better race, in every way

For the first time in a while – since April 2018, in fact – Grand National day at Aintree on Saturday was, for this spectator at least, an almost entirely positive experience. It was a race with all the drama and spectacle that got many of us hooked on racing in the first place, but no fallers, no serious injuries and a winner, I Am Maximus, whose breathtaking turn of foot on the run-in will live long in the memory.

The contrast to the frenetic scenes over the first circuit last year could scarcely have been more complete. Three of the four fallers 12 months ago came as 39 horses surged over the first two fences at high speed, and the knock-on effects were significant. Five more runners were badly hampered by a faller, and two unseated their riders as a result, while in all, eight horses were seriously impeded at some stage, either by a faller or a loose horse.

The Racing Post’s analysis of this year’s race, however, in which 32 runners eventually faced the starter after two withdrawals, uses the phrase “badly hampered” only once, when Limerick Lace ran into trouble at the Canal Turn. And despite the cut in the field size, a whole host of runners were still in with some sort of chance as they crossed the Melling Road with two to jump. What more could the once-a-year punters want or hope to see?

The extent to which the 15-minute delay to last year’s race added to a sense of adrenalin-fuelled mayhem is debatable, though it probably played at least some part. But this year’s National looked and felt like a better race, in every way, from start to finish.

With the obvious exception of the owners and trainers of entries that just missed out on a run, no one can realistically claim to have noticed the smaller field. Most of the main contenders, with Corach Rambler being the obvious exception, ran the best possible race that they could, and gave their backers a real run for their money. Most unusually for a Grand National, there were no obvious hard luck stories.

Many racing fans can trace their love of the Grand National back to childhood, and it can feel like a very deep and personal relationship as a result. So it was probably inevitable that there would be those looking to argue after Saturday’s race that the National has been “ruined”, and is no longer the spectacle or the test that they used to enjoy.

But two circuits of Aintree will always be a test, and risk can never be entirely eliminated from the Grand National, or any other race. Sooner or later, another horse will join the list of those that have suffered fatal injuries in the sport’s most high-profile event. The organisers know that as well as anyone, but the aim of the latest changes to the course and race conditions is to reduce the chance that horses will be tested to destruction.

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As Paul Townend, the winning jockey aboard I Am Maximus, pointed out, the fences still need to be jumped. The difference these days is that the standard penalty for a mistake is that a horse loses some ground, not its legs and possibly its life. “The fences still take respect,” Townend said. “We made a few mistakes and lost position as a result of that, so they still slow you down.”

But I Am Maximus was still close enough to use his outstanding acceleration at the end of a four-and-a-quarter mile race and claim a win that he thoroughly deserved. As an advertisement for the excitement and spectacle of jump racing for several million once-a-year viewers, it is hard to think of anything that would have improved Saturday’s experience.

The Grand National is often described as racing’s “shop window”, an event that draws new fans into the sport, but a worthwhile advertisement needs to have at least some basis in reality. If the latest changes to Aintree’s showpiece event mean that our most popular race is now at least a little bit more like the other 9,999 in Britain each year, that too is probably no bad thing.

Resistance to change is a perfectly normal reaction among fans who cherish the uniqueness of the National, but the race’s ability to adapt to changing attitudes over the course of nearly 200 years has been one of the secrets of its survival. Anyone who feels that a race with no fallers and a dozen horses still looking like possible winners two out is not a “proper” Grand National, or that blood and guts are an essential part of the mix, may well need to find a fresh sport to follow. If so, cage fighting is keen to say hello.

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