The 2007 Grand National (officially known as the
John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 160th official annual running of the world-famous
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
steeplechase which took place at
Aintree Racecourse near
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, England, on 14 April 2007 and attracted the maximum permitted field of forty competitors for a total prize money of £700,000 including £399,140 to the winner.
33–1 shot
Silver Birch
''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...
, ridden by
Robbie Power
Robbie "Puppy" Power is a retired National Hunt jockey. The son of Irish show-jumper Con Power, Robbie Power rode the 33-1 outsider Silver Birch to victory in the 2007 John Smith's Grand National at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday 14 April 200 ...
, edged out McKelvey to win the race by three-quarters of a length. Joint-favourite Point Barrow, at odds of 8–1, fell at the first fence. The meeting was attended by around 70,000 spectators at Aintree, and an estimated 16 million adults placed bets on the race.
Runners and betting
2005
Scottish Grand National
The Scottish Grand National is a Grade 3 National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Ayr, Scotland, over a distance of about 4 miles ( ...
winner Joe's Edge was the long-time ante-post favourite but public money on race day came for 2006
Irish Grand National
The Irish Grand National is a National Hunt steeplechase in Ireland which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Fairyhouse over a distance of about 3 miles and 5 furlongs (5,834 ...
winner Point Barrow after being tipped by several morning newspaper tipsters but the big plunge bets went on the heavyweight Monkerhostin who had recently run well in the
Cheltenham Gold Cup
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...
. Not surprisingly the two former winners in the race,
Hedgehunter
Hedgehunter (born 25 January 1996) is an Irish race horse, who won the 2005 Grand National steeplechase, ridden by Ruby Walsh and trained by Willie Mullins. He had fallen at the final fence the previous year when well placed. He then finished se ...
, under the 11 stone 12 lb top weight and
Numbersixvalverde
Numbersixvalverde (born 1996) is an Irish race horse who won both the 2005 Irish Grand National and 2006 Aintree Grand National steeplechase, beating Hedgehunter by six lengths with Niall Madden in the saddle.
Numbersixvalverde won his big r ...
were both heavily supported, along with Longshanks who had twice been placed in the Topham Trophy over one circuit of the course, and the 2006 Summer National winner
McKelvey.
The race
Cloudy Bays broke the tape when the runners were sent off for the first time, resulting in a false start. The long delay in getting the runners set again had many on their toes and they set off at a very fast pace second time. By then Cloudy Bays had little interest in taking part and was left by thirty lengths at the start.
Joint-favourite Point Barrow caused a huge groan from the stands and for millions watching on television by falling at the first fence, ending debutant rider Philip Carberry's National within a minute of it starting. Another debut rider, Wayne Hutchinson was left hanging on to his mount Tikram until finally being unseated as the horse went to jump the second fence.
The Outlier was the first to emerge as the leader and was tracked by Bewley's Berry, Naunton Brook and Ballycassidy as the field successfully negotiated the fences down to the sixth,
Becher's Brook
Becher's Brook ( ) is a fence jumped during the Grand National, a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. It is jumped twice during the race, as the and fence, as well as on four other occasions ...
.
At the famous brook, Dominic Elsworth found himself falling off his mount Le Duc when he shouted to nearby rival Mick Fiztgerald on board Kelami for help. Fitzgerald pushed Elsworth only for the rider to remain unbalanced and fall off the other side instead. At the same fence Jack High crumpled on landing and fell, while Davy Russell was also thrown from Livingstone Bramble, requiring a trip to hospital for precautionary X-rays on his back.
As the field continued towards the seventh fence (
Foinavon
Foinavon (1958–1971) was an Irish racehorse. He won the Grand National in 1967 at odds of 100/1 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. The fence was officially named afte ...
) Zabenz was pulled up, a stirrup leather having broken. Monkerhostin's rider Richard Johnson was also having to contend with a broken stirrup leather but his horse was not enjoying the experience and dug his heels in at Foinavon and refused.
Naunton Brook was now in the lead as the field took the 90-degree
Canal Turn
The Canal Turn is a fence on Aintree Racecourse's National Course and thus is jumped during the Grand National steeplechase which is held annually at the racecourse, located near Liverpool, England. Named for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal which pas ...
with Bewley's Berry, Ballycassidy and The Outlier next. Only Tom Doyle was caught out by the sharp turn and was ejected from Knowhere out the side, while right behind them Kandjar D'allier was baulked by two loose horses and crashed into the fence, almost bringing down Homer Wells in the process.
Of the thirty-one remaining only Royal Auclair failed to negotiate the four fences along the canal side that took the field back onto the race course for the first time, falling at the first of those, Valentine's brook, badly hampering Eurotrek.
Naunton Brook and Ballycassidy continued to set the pace as the runners came in front of the stands and made their way towards
The Chair. Gallant Approach survived a bad mistake here which put him out of contention, while Cloudy Bays refused when tailed off. Dun Doire was also tailed off at this stage as the field of twenty-nine runners took the water jump and began the second circuit.
The front running Naunton Brook began to show signs of fatigue as Ballcycassidy and Bewley's Berry now took the field over the fences down to Becher's. The Outlier unshipped his rider at the 19th fence (open ditch) as well as Idle Talk, who was already beaten when he dropped a foreleg into the ditch and failed to take off. Billyvoddan was the first of the tailenders to pull up before taking the fence, and the last of the disappointing joint-favourites, Joe's Edge, did the same before the 20th when he was found to have gone lame. Both Homer Wells and Eurotrek had been struggling since they were hampered earlier in the race by fallers. Now with their chances gone they were both pulled up before Becher's Brook along with another tail ender, Celtic Son to leave twenty-two runners still racing.
Bewley's Berry was out in front and cantering when he was caught out by the steep drop at Becher's and fell, leaving Simon and Libertine in front while Graphic Approach was losing touch when he fell, while Naunton Brook was pulled up after jumping the brook.
By the second jump of the Canal Turn, Bothar Na, Sonevafushi and Kelami were losing touch. Puntal, Clan Royal, Gallant Approach and Dun Doire were beaten and tailed off.
Ballycassidy was beginning to slow when he turned too sharply and threw his rider, while at the next fence (Valentine's) Simon came down when in second place. Slim Pickings moved into the lead at the next and by the third-last was at the head of a group of ten runners that still carried chances of winning.
The long run to the second-last flight spread the pack out with Slim Pickings taking the fence just ahead of Silver Birch. At the last, Silver Birch landed just in front and began to get away from Slim Pickings on the long run-in. At the elbow, Silver Birch began to labour and Slim Pickings fought back, with McKelvey finishing best. The finishing post came just in time for Silver Birch to win by three-quarters of a length, with McKelvey second by lengths. Slim Pickings finished third, fifteen lengths in front of fourth placed Philson Run.
Libertine was fifth, Numbersixvalverde sixth, Longshanks seventh, Puntal eighth and Hedgehunter ninth, a distance ahead of L'ami in tenth, Clan Royal in eleventh, and Gallant Approach the last of twelve to complete. Dun Doire pulled up three fences from home, Sonevafushi and Bothar Na bypassed the second-last, and Kelami and Thisthatandtother missed out the final flight.
Finishing order
Non-finishers
Aftermath
The winning rider-trainer-owner combination were among the youngest and least experienced in the history of the race with just one National between them, being a previous ride for 25-year-old jockey Robbie Power. Trainer Gordon Elliott was the youngest in the race and won with his first National entrant while owner Brian Walsh had bought the horse for 20,000 guineas the previous year as the first horse to carry his colours in the race. With a 33/1 winner and only one horse placed at a shorter price it was also a good day for the bookmakers who retained much of the £250 million gambled in the United Kingdom alone on the race, as none of the three joint-favourites completed the course.
Starter Peter Haines came in for criticism for his handling of the start after the runners had charged the tape at the first attempt. Many race commentators felt that Haines was then too picky in trying to get a good line for the restart as he ordered the runners to turn back from the start five times before finally letting them go at the sixth attempt.
McKelvey was also found to have suffered an injury late in the race which would rule him out for almost the entire next season. The injury almost certainly cost him victory.
Winning jockey Robbie Power received a four-day ban from the stewards who found that during the run-in he had used his whip too often and also struck Silver Birch too near the stifle. Third-placed Barry Garaghty was also given a three-day ban for overuse of the whip on Slim Pickings.
Davy Russell required hospital treatment after being thrown from Livingstone Bramble at Becher's Brook on the first circuit for precautionary X-rays on his shoulder and back.
2007 was one of the warmest Nationals on record with temperatures at race time hitting 22 degrees Celsius.
Media coverage
The race was broadcast live on the BBC for the 48th consecutive year, but the first to not be run under the ''
Grandstand'' banner as the final episodes would air earlier in the year on Saturday 27 January and Sunday
Grandstand airing the next day on 28 January 2007. The televising of the race included cameras inside the first fence and two cameras inside jockey's caps (Jamie Moore on Thisthatandtother and Tom Doyle on Knowhere). The programme was presented by
Sue Barker and
Clare Balding with summary from
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained withi ...
,
Richard Pitman
Richard Thomas Pitman (born 21 January 1943) is a retired British jump jockey who rode 427 winners in his career, including Lanzarote in the 1974 Champion Hurdle. He won the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park Racecourse twice, the Whitbread ...
and
Norman Williamson
Norman Williamson (born 16 January 1969) is a retired professional jockey in the Irish National Hunt. He was top jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in 1995 with 4 wins. These wins includes the Champion Hurdle on Alderbrook and the Cheltenham Gold ...
. The race commentary team was
Ian Bartlett, Tony O'Hehir,
Darren Owen and lead commentator
Jim McGrath who called the runners home for the tenth year.
Replay: 2007 Grand National in full
BBC Sport Player
Jockeys
With the retirement of Carl Llewellyn, Tony McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and Paul Carberry took over as the most experienced riders in the weighing room, each taking their twelfth ride in the National. Fitzgerald had previously won in 1996 and Carberry in 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
but McCoy became the eighth rider to have taken twelve rides without being winner or runner-up.
Eight riders made their Grand National debut, with Tom O'Brien finishing second, Daryl Jacob fourth and Sam Waley-Cohen fifth. Wayne Hutchinson and Philip Carberry's debuts both ended at the first fence, while Denis O'Regan, David Condon and Paul O'Neill also failed to complete the course.
References
;Notes
;Sources
*Official BBC coverage of the 2007 Grand National
{{Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
2007
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
21st century in Merseyside
Grand
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
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April 2007 sports events in the United Kingdom