The 2025 Grand National

I actually couldn't and still can't believe it really. The biggest betting race of the year and they aren't paying BOG. I wouldn't mind it was a win only bet that he did as well. I won't ever use Paddy Power for anything again.

 

Barney, very interesting stats. I’ve said for a long time that first time entrants for the race are the ones to back.
Another stat for your record is that Fulke Walwyn’s Team Spirit was the last horse to win at his fifth attempt in 1964.
Maybe he was probably the only horse ever to do it , but I can’t verify that.

 

The condition of CELEBRE D'ALLEN deteriorated overnight and he could not be saved.
Very sad indeed.
The cynic in me feels very suspicious.

 

What a lovely horse he was

 

Terrible news. That indeed is very, very sad.

 

The jockey Michael Nolan was suspended by the stewards for 10 days.

RP copy...

The ride given to Celebre D’Allen was sanctioned by stewards, who banned jockey Micheal Nolan for ten days as he “continued in the race when the horse appeared to have no more to give and was clearly losing ground after the second-last fence”.

I feel there are so many bad jockeys in this country, but this for me is something that I hope the Hobbs yard endorses and cuts ties with him. If I was an owner in his yard he wouldn't exercise them let alone race ride them. This could be a pivotal moment in his career and he needs to speak out and quickly.

 

Problem is, generally, a horse doesn't know when to give up; they will just keep giving their all. Whereas any jockey fit to ride horses will know when the horse can't give any more and should pull it up as soon as he senses that. Clearly he isn't fit to ride horses and a mere 10 day ban is a bad joke

 

The other problem is, Ron, it relates to a given situation at the time. Celebre D’Allen had no chance of winning, but what would the stewards have said if the horse was leading?
Take the 1973 Grand National….
Never was a horse staggering and knackered more than Crisp when he lost to Red Rum.
Should Pitman have pulled him up on that long run in when he had a chance of lasting out and winning?
Everyone raved about Crisp’s amazing effort but what would have happened if he’d collapsed?
Nobody criticised Pitman for going hell for leather under top weight for four and a half miles but, in my opinion, he rode an awful race.
Personally, I think Pitman was just as guilty as Nolan in disregarding the horse but, where the stewards are concerned, there’s hypocrisy relating to a given situation and an animal which serves their purpose and man’s sporting pleasure.

 

Even Pitman said he should never have hit the horse and Stewarding then and the race itself was massively different. It wasn't under such scrutiny and if Red Rum hadn't had beaten Crisp it might have been looked at differently.

 

Fair comment.

 

Must admit I didn't see it at all that way. I think Pitman said he shouldn't have hit Crisp because it probably lost him the race, but it's not as if he laid into Crisp. I doubt he gave him more than 2 or 3 taps. He certainly wouldn't haven't been banned under today's tighter whip rules. Winter certainly thought Crisp should have won and that Pitman should have ridden him out. When he did hit him, after the last, Crisp ran off his line away from the whip and had to be pulled back to get round the elbow.
Personally I think the performance of Crisp is the perfect illustration of why the race is so different. He was such a great jumper that he made ground at every fence. Today it's no use being a great jumper as it's not needed and all you have to do is stay. The front two on Saturday probably wouldn't have got round in Crisp's time.

 

Bustino, I don’t know about Crisp being “ridden out.”
He was going up and down after the elbow without forward momentum.
If Pitman had ridden him like Taafe rode another two and a half miler, Gay Trip, three years earlier, then he’d have hacked up.
And yes, the race is so different and has lost its traditional aura.
Some will like the better quality horses entering nowadays and others, like me, would rather the clock turned back.

 

Yes agree.

 

Interesting views on the Crisp race. It annoys me a bit when Red Rum gets so much credit and hailed as one of the greats (which is of course is fully deserved) but poor (relatively forgotten) Crisp was clearly the much better horse in the Grand National. At level weights Red Rum wouldn't have got anywhere near Crisp

 

The story goes that Winter never talked about the defeat until about a year later. He was driving Pitman to a meeting when he suddenly pulled into a layby and stopped the car. He then is supposed to have said 'you know why you lost the National don't you?' Pitman replied 'yes'. Winter, said 'good', started up the car and another word was never spoken on the matter.
Winter was a very intense but well mannered man, it must have nearly killed him to feel yet hide his disappointment..

 

I remember that story