Ever since its inception the Grand National has been providing us with drama, entertainment and legendary tales of heroic achievement. Its capacity to surprise and enchant has seen it become a landmark on the sporting landscape. On Saturday, people who ignore racing for 364 days a year come out of their horsey hibernation and will be studying the racecard like the most grizzled punter.
Yes, picking the winner relies on a dash of insight and a huge slice of luck, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. For 10 minutes, the masses will be transfixed on Aintree in the knowledge that virtually anything can happen. We’ll spend roughly eight of those minutes spent trying to identify our horse from the thundering melee, but finally a handful of runners will emerge to fight out the finish. Hopefully one of them will be the one you backed, but regardless of who wins it, there’s always something to talk about.
Here’s the Paddy Power blog team take on the major events in this extraordinary race’s extraordinary history.
Cant believe the Great A.P McCOy’s victory is not there after so many attempts and the biggest race he’d never won