Year

1998 Grand National Result

Admin October 25, 2025 No Comments

1998 Grand National – Full Finishing Results

Date: 4 April 1998
Course: Aintree Racecourse
Going: Soft
Distance: 4 miles 4 furlongs 856 yards
Runners: 37
Finishers: 6
Winning Time: 10 minutes 51.5 seconds

Race Summary

• Winner: Earth Summit (trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, ridden by Carl Llewellyn)
• Winning Margin: 11 lengths over Suny Bay
• Favourite: Earth Summit (7/1) – won
• Prize for 1st Place: £189,180
• Notable: Earth Summit became the first horse ever to win the Scottish, Welsh, and Aintree Grand Nationals.

The 1998 Grand National, run on heavy going on April 4, 1988, featured 37 runners, of which just six completed the course and three – Pashto, Do Rightly and Griffins Bar – were fatally injured early on the first circuit. An attritional renewal was won by the 7/1 favourite Earth Summit, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by Carl Llewellyn, who was completing a notable career treble insofar as he had already won the Scottish Grand National at Ayr in 1994 and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow the previous December.

Llewellyn, who was deputising for the injured Tom Jenks, always had the 10-year-old in a handy position and, having taken the lead five fences from home, asked his mount for maximum effort approaching the final fence. The further they went, the further they went away from the topweight Suny Bay, ridden by Graham Bradley – who was, in his defence, conceding 23lb to the winner – and eventually passed the post 11 lengths to the good. Suny Bay plugged on to finish second, a distance ahead of the third horse home, Samlee, with St. Mellion Fairway close behind in fourth place. Reflecting on his good fortune, Llewellyn said afterwards, “I’m a bit of a jammy git;Tom Jenks should have ridden him.”

Not altogether surprisingly, granted the underfoot conditions, the winning time, of 10 minutes and 51.5 seconds, was the slowest since 1883, when just 10 horses came under starters’ orders on similarly heavy going. However, they say time only matters if you’re doing it, and Twiston-Davies later said of Earth Summit, “He was a very good horse, who has certainly done us proud. He won the three different Nationals, which no other horse has done and hopefully he’ll keep us in the record books for some time.”

1999 Grand National Result

Admin October 25, 2025 No Comments

1999 Grand National – Full Finishing Results

Date: 10 April 1999
Course: Aintree Racecourse
Going: Good to Soft
Distance: 4 miles 4 furlongs 856 yards
Runners: 32
Finishers: 10
Winning Time: 9 minutes 14.1 seconds

Race Summary

• Winner: Bobbyjo (trained by Tommy Carberry, ridden by Paul Carberry)
• Winning Margin: 10 lengths over Blue Charm
• Favourite: Eudipe (7/1) – finished 5th
• Prize for 1st Place: £211,600
• Notable: First Irish-trained winner since L’Escargot in 1975. Bobbyjo later finished 11th in the 2000 Grand National.

The 1999 Grand National had the distinction of being the last without any facility for reserves to participate and, for the sixth time in as many years, was under-subscribed, with just 32 horses facing the starter, rather than the maximum permissible 40. Those 32 runners included the first four home in the 1998 Grand National, Earth Summit, Suny Bay, Samlee and St. Mellion Fairway, but, on significantly faster going, officially described as ‘good’, none of that quartet was involved in the finish.

Favourite at the ‘off’ was Fiddling The Facts, trained by Nicky Henderson, who fell at Becher’s Brook on the second circuit. Joint second-favourite Double Thriller, trained by Paul Nicholls, also fell, at the first fence and, in the absence of two of the three market leaders, victory went to the 10/1 co-third favourite, Bobbyjo, trained by Tommy Carberry, in Co. Meath, and ridden by his son Paul.

After being slightly outpaced at the second-last fence, Bobbyjo was switched to the outside to make his challenge at the final fence and was driven clear on the run-in to win by 10 lengths. Paul Carberry made winning the National sound straightforward, saying, “I got a good start and was handy the whole way. I was able to get a breather into him whenever I wanted. He jumped very well and I sat as long as I could.

Bobbyjo completed the Grand National Course in a time of nine minutes and 14.1 seconds. Blue Charm, trained by Sue Bradburne and ridden by Lorcan Wyer, could find no extra in the closing stages and finished second, just a neck ahead of the other 7/1 joint-second favourite, Call It A Day, trained by David Nicholson and ridden by Richard Dunwoody. Another of the 10/1 co-third favourites, Addington Boy, trained by Ferdy Murphy and ridden by Adrian Maguire, finished fourth, a further seven lengths away.

2000 Grand National Results

Admin August 28, 2025 No Comments

Grand National 2000 Results

The 2000 Grand National was run, on good going, on April 8, 2000 and featured the then-maximum of 40 runners, of which 17 completed the course. The race was one by the Papillon, owned by Betty Moran, trained by Ted Walsh, in Co. Kildare, and ridden by his son, Ruby. The nine-year-old provided a first Grand National winner for owner, trainer and jockey.

Papillon had remained winless in eight starts since winning over fences at Naas in February 1999. In fact, he had troubled the judge just once, when third, over hurdles, at Leopardstown in his preparatory race for Aintree. Nevertheless, on the day of the Grand National, the weight of public money forced his price from 33/1 to 10/1 joint-second favourite. The recent Mildmay of Flete Challenge Cup winner, Dark Stranger, traiined by Martin Pipe, headed the market at 9/1, but favourite backers soon knew their fate when the nine-year-old blundered and unseated Tony McCoy at the third fence.

Papillon, for his part, was always prominent and having taken the lead at the fourth-last fence, was driven out to beat 25/1 chance Mely Moss, trained by Charles Egerton and ridden by Norman Williamson, by 1¼ lengths. Another 25/1 chance, Niki Dee, trained by Peter Beaumont and ridden by Robbie Supple, stayed on at one pace from the final fence to finish third, 12 lengths behind the first two. Euphoric winning trainer Ted Walsh said afterwards, “It’s a great day to be alive. I’ve had so many wonderful days in racing and this is one of the great ones.”

2001 Grand National Result

Admin August 28, 2025 No Comments

Grand National 2001 results

The 2001 Grand National took place, on heavy going, on April 7, 2001 and proved to be the most memorable renewal for many a year, before or since. Run during an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease, which had already caused the cancellation of the Cheltenham Festival, the race featured a maximum 40 runners, of which just four completed the course, two of them having been remounted.

The race was won by Red Marauder, owned and officially trained by Norman Mason, although his assistant, Richard Guest, who also rode the 11-year-old at Aintree, actually did the training. A 33/1 chance at the ‘off’, Red Marauder made numerous mistakes but, having taken the lead from the weakening Smarty – the only other runner to complete the course without incident – at the second-last fence, was driven well clear in the closing stages to win by a distance. Smarty, in turn, finished a further distance clear of the remounted pair Blowing Wind and Papillon, who refused and unseated rider at the first open ditch on the second circuit and essentially complete the course in their own time.

At a rain-sodden Aintree, a succession of earlier casualties was followed by a pile-up at the Canal Turn on the first circuit – caused by the riderless Paddy’s Return, who had unseated rider at the third fence – such that, heading out onto the second circuit, just eight horses were still standing. The late Alistair Down subsequently described the decision to go ahead with the Grand National as “gutless, witless and utterly reckless.”