The Midlands Grand National is a Listed

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

race in Great Britain. It is a handicap

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

and is run at

Uttoxeter Racecourse Uttoxeter Racecourse is a National Hunt racecourse in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. Course Uttoxeter is a left-handed oval shaped course of 1 mile 2½ furlongs in circumference. The back ‘straight’ has a dog-leg to the right and i ...

in March, over a distance of about 4 miles and 2

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hors ...

s (4 miles, 2 furlongs and 8 yards, or ). During the race there are 24 fences to be jumped.

History

The first race was run on 3 May 1969. The race was initially run over 4m2f and was increased up to 4m4f in 1977. During this period it would have been, assuming accurate measurements, by 24 yards or approximately the length of a cricket pitch, the longest race in the NH calendar. In 1991 the distance was dropped to 4m, before being upped to 4m2f in 1993. It has been run at its present distance of about 4m 1½f since 2004. The 1977 winner Watafella finished third in the race but was promoted to first place after the first and second, No Scotch and Evander were disqualified after it was realised they failed to meet the conditions of the race, along with three other runners. The race was not covered on television in its early years but was shown by Channel 4 during the 1980s and up until 1998. The BBC took over coverage between 1998 and 2005 before the race returned to Channel 4, who continued to show it until their coverage of British racing ended in 2016. It is now broadcast on

ITV Racing ''ITV Racing'' is a programme produced by ITV Sport for races shown on ITV or ITV4 in the United Kingdom. The programme is referred to as ''Racing on STV'' in Northern and Central Scotland on STV. In its previous incarnation, the show was an ...

Records

Most successful horse: * no horse has won the race more than once Leading jockey (2 wins): * Ken White – ''Happy Spring (1969), Rip’s Lyric (1973)'' * Derek Morris – ''Midnight Madness (1987), Mister Ed (1993)'' * Brendan Powell – ''Another Excuse (1996), Young Kenny (1999)'' *

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 ...

– ''Lucky Lane (1995), The Bunny Boiler (2002)'' Leading trainer (4 wins): *

David Pipe David Ronald Pipe (born 5 November 1983) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or full-back. Club career Born in Caerphilly, Wales, Pipe began his career in the youth system at Coventry City. He made his senior ...

– ''Minella Four Star (2011), Master Overseer (2012), Big Occasion (2013), Goulanes (2014)'' * Widest winning margin – Another Excuse (1996) – distance * Narrowest winning margin – Fighting Chance (1974), Knock Hill (1988) –

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

* Most runners – 22, in 1978, 1979 and 1981 * Fewest runners – 6, in 2000

Winners

External links

* Race Recordings 1991–200

References

Midlands National – BBC

Midlands Grand National – 2006 Media Information

WalesOnline – Leading bloodstock agent dies from cancer
*

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

: ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , , ** , , , , , , , , , ** {{Racing Post, 750557, 2020, 03, 14, 84 National Hunt races in Great Britain National Hunt chases Recurring sporting events established in 1969 1969 establishments in England

History

Records

Winners

See also

External links

References