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The Grand National 2010 is the premier racing event and the most impressive steeple chase race in the UK racing calender. Every spring over 30 jockey’s line-up to tackle the legendary Aintree race course. The race course is four and half miles long, made up of 30 massive fences, the National is prehaps the toughest test of horse stamina in Great Britain.

A lot of the Nationals appeal lies in the challenging conditions of the race. With such a hard race course the chances of a fav doing well are remote! This just makes it more fun for those who watch from the stands. Over the last seventy years only 11 favourites have managed won the National. Recently the fences have been reduced in size to protect the runners and jockeys from getting injured but, despite this, it is still one of the most open races in the UK.

Sea The Stars Finishes On High

Following Sea The Stars’ captivating victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, it has been questioned whether he is the greatest Flat racehorse ever to have existed. The horse bred from Cape Cross and mare Urban Sea has provided horseracing with one of the greatest horses to ever grace the turf. So it has come as a bit of a shock to hear that he is going to be retired. Some, although well able to admit his brilliance refuse to believe that he is one of the three greatest racehorses of all time. Joe Mercer, a former champion jockey who rode Brigadier Gerard in the early 1970s, is one voice of skepticism. He fears that we are in danger of being swept up in the momentary hype, but he remembers horses such as Galileo who won the King George in 2001. Back then everyone thought that Galileo was the best horse that had ever been seen – and as Mercer affirms: you can’t have a best horse you’ve ever seen every other year! He points out that the horse he rode, Brigadier Gerard won thirteen Group Ones, whereas Sea The Stars has only won six.

Others though have been less hesitant to vilify Sea The Stars. Pat Eddery who rode Dancing Brave to victory in the Prix de l’Arc in 1986 has said that Sea The Stars is ‘up there with the best’, and laughed at the suggestion that he might resent the current champion being regarded by many as a better horse than the one he rode.