2010 JOHN SMITH’S MIDLANDS GRAND NATIONAL DAY

It’s almost time for the highlight of the horse racing year in Staffordshire.

John Smith’s Midlands Grand National day – annually the most popular occasion at Uttoxeter Racecourse – is on Saturday 20 March.

It’s an event that grips followers of jump racing in the Midlands. The day is so exciting that it’s one that attracts many visitors who come to the races just once every year.

David MacDonald is looking forward to his fourth £80,000 Midlands Grand National as General Manager of Uttoxeter Racecourse.

“Preparations for this year’s big event are well on. There are always a lot of advance ticket sales for John Smith’s Midlands Grand National day, and the demand for hospitality is buoyant,” he said.

“It’s an occasion that is a fantastic day out for everyone, because it’s about more than just the horse racing. The racecourse is at its finest and there is a friendly family atmosphere with plenty to see and do.

“As well as the races themselves, spectators can watch the horses being prepared to race, pick out their fancy in the parade ring, watch the ‘best turned out’ horse being chosen and see the presentations to the winners after each race.”

Many people make a real day out of it, and the restaurants and hospitality marquees will be packed.

As the racecourse is doing brisk business with bookings, visitors are urged to buy their tickets before the day to avoid possible disappointment and queues.

The race comes at the end of a week of the Cheltenham Festival, so there is extra attention paid to it. Add to that the number of Irish people who finish off their week in Britain by coming on to Uttoxeter, and a marvellous occasion is in prospect.

Local hotels fill up, while the on-course caterers make their preparations many weeks in advance as they get ready to serve thousands of meals to visitors.

Until 2005, Midlands Grand Nationals had for some time been dominated by horses trained in Ireland and the North of England.

But, five years ago, that changed when former accountant Nick Williams sent Philson Run from his small training yard in Devon north to Uttoxeter to become the first southern trainer in ten years to win the big race.

Since Somerset’s Philip Hobbs won with Lucky Lane in 1995, horses trained in the North and in Ireland had been to the fore in the four-and-a-quarter mile race.

And that trend returned four years ago when GVA Ireland won the race for County Wicklow trainer Francis Flood. The horse was well backed by punters, and was sent off the 5-1 favourite by bookmakers.

A British-trained horse was back in the winner’s enclosure in 2007 when Baron Windrush triumphed for the Gloucestershire stables of Nigel Twiston-Davies.

In 2008, the training duo of Sue and Harvey Smith from Yorkshire sent out the winner – Himalayan Trail.

Last March, it was the turn of Russian Trigger, from the West Country training yard of Victor Dartnall, to claim the honours.

And so on to 2010. Let the drama unfold . . .

The Grandstand & Paddock Enclosure may very well sell out in advance. However, there will be tickets available on the day of the races for both the Premier Enclosure and the Centre Course Family Enclosure.

Advance purchase is recommended to avoid queues on the day.

The first race is currently scheduled for 2.05pm, with the finale at 5.25pm. The Midlands Grand National is at 3.10pm. Entrance gates will be open from 11am.

Admission is £27 (Premier Enclosure), £22 (Grandstand & Paddock) and £12 (Centre Course Family Enclosure). £2 discount for booking Premier and Grandstand & Paddock tickets online at www.uttoxeter-racecourse.co.uk. Children under 16 enter free when accompanied by an adult. Senior citizens get a £3 discount in Premier and Grandstand & Paddock on the day.

More information is available on the racecourse’s web site www.uttoxeter-racecourse.co.uk. Tickets can be purchased online, in person at the racecourse, or by telephoning the racecourse on 01889 562561.

HIGHLIGHTS OVER 41 YEARS

While the first Midlands Grand National in 1969 barely merited a mention in horse racing’s daily paper at the time – The Sporting Life – within a few years it was front page news.

1971: Popular and classy steeplechaser Grey Sombrero wins at 13-1.

1975: Rag Trade, owned by society hairdresser ‘Teasy Weasy’ Raymond, is victorious. A year later the horse won the Grand National.

1977: Watafella – trained by a young Jenny Pitman, finishes third, but is later awarded the race when it is discovered that the first two horses weren’t eligible to take part.

1986: The Thinker wins and, the following season, takes the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the year when it was run in the snow.

1990: Another Jenny Pitman-trained victor. Five years on, Willsford would also win the Scottish National.

1991: The date of the race is switched to March. Bonanza Boy, the last horse to win the Welsh National in successive years, romps away by 20 lengths.

1997: Seven Towers beats Lord Gyllene, owned by Uttoxeter Racecourse chairman Sir Stanley Clarke, into second place. Three weeks later at Aintree, Lord Gyllene is triumphant in the Grand National.

2002: The Bunny Boiler, named after the character played by actress Glenn Close in the film Fatal Attraction, is the winner and completes the Midlands Grand National’s series of ‘National’ winners by taking the Irish equivalent at Fairyhouse the following month.

2004: The race has to be abandoned with 15,000 spectators already inside the racecourse as fierce winds crash across Staffordshire.

MIDLANDS GRAND NATIONAL FACTS & FIGURES

* The race was first televised in 1971.

* No horse has ever won the race twice.

* The 1979 winner Jimmy Miff ran in the race a total of six times.

* The oldest winner – at 13 years – remains the inaugural hero Happy Spring.

* Philip Hobbs has won the race both as a jockey (1985) and as a trainer (1989 and 1995).

* Female trainers have won the race six times.

* Only six horses took part in 2000.

* Bonanza Boy was both the shortest priced winner (15-8) and the horse that carried the highest weight to victory (11st 10lb).

* Lowest weight carried was 9st 7lb by Grey Sombrero in 1971 – never to be beaten as the minimum is now 10st.

* The race has been cancelled three times – in 1983 (waterlogged), 2001 (foot and mouth disease), and 2004 (high winds).

* The race is now run – and has been on 23 occasions – over an extended four miles and one furlong. Twice it was run over four miles and 13 times over four and a half miles.

CHARLIE KEEPS ON TOP OF THE weather

After one of the coldest winters in memory, the weather forecast is much better in the run-up to the highlight of Uttoxeter Racecourse’s year – John Smith’s Midlands Grand National day on Saturday 20 March.

The man in charge of the actual racing surface is Clerk of the Course Charlie Moore, one of the best and most experienced clerks in the horse racing industry.

Using modern technology, he can monitor conditions remotely using the racecourse weather station. He can check wind speed, rainfall, and air and ground temperatures at any time.

The importance of the weather is that it affects the GOING which is hugely significant to racehorse owners, trainers, newspaper racing tipsters and punters placing their bets.

‘Heavy’, ’soft’, and ‘good’, going affects different horses in different ways. It’s often the crucial factor that influences if a horse wins or loses a race – and so it determines hundreds of thousands of pounds of bets.

In years gone by clerks of the course used a simple walking stick to decide the official ‘going’. Nowadays it’s more hi-tech at Uttoxeter Racecourse. Charlie Moore still uses his judgement, but his knowledge and experience are supplemented by utilising a special ‘going stick’, an electronic measuring device that records 70 different readings around the one and a quarter miles of the racetrack.

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