Grand National Sees Historic Win for Female Jockey

The Grand National is a national hunt horse race held annually at Aintree in Liverpool, England, with bets pouring in from every corner of the globe. This one-time event sees 40 runners and their jockeys head to the course in search of a win and epic riches, only last year, the event was hit with restrictions due to the ongoing global pandemic. In 2020, the Grand National went ahead digitally and as much of a success as it was, you can’t beat watching the real thing.

For more than 182 years this prestigious and world-renowned event has been ‘running’ and every single winning jockey (up until this year) had been male, but Rachael Blackmore rode home Minella Times to not only win the Grand National but to be the first female jockey to do so and her reaction was priceless: “This is just unbelievable, just unbelievable!” The results were as follows:

• 1^st: Minella Times at 11:1
• 2^nd: Balko Des Flos at 100:1
• 3^rd: Any Second Now at 15-2
• 4^th: Burrows Saint at 9:1
• 5^th: Farclas at 16:1.

Some bookmakers, such as William Hill, were paying the first six places. The runner who finished in the sixth position was Blaklion.

First Past the Post

Amazing as it sounds, all of the first five horses were trained in Ireland, that too must be some record, but the event wasn’t all celebrations and joy, it was hit by sadness too as The Long Mile horse was killed on the racetrack and another jockey Bryony Frost was admitted to hospital. The race winner is owned by JP McManus, who also owned The Long Mile, but on the 23^rd fence, the horse was pulled up by jockey Luke Dempsey.

More reaction from Blackmore came after the race: “That is what you need in a race like this, you need so much luck to get around with no one else interfering first of all. You need so much to go right, and things went right for me today. I feel so incredibly lucky. It is unbelievable I’m just so thrilled.”

How much do the winners get from this annual racehorse event? Despite The Grand National being the richest Jumps race in Britain, it may not be as much as you think with just £375K being split between the winner, the trainer and the jockey, so £125K a piece. In 2019, pre-pandemic, the prize fund was £1million with the first 10 receiving a pay-out. The breakdown was as follows:

• 1st – £561,300
• 2nd – £211,100
• 3rd – £105,500
• 4th – £52,700
• 5th – £26,500
• 6th – £13,200
• 7th – £6,800
• 8th – £3,600
• 9th – £2,000
• 10th – £1,000

We can only assume the decline in the prize pot for 2021 is due to the ongoing difficulties each industry is facing.