GRAND NATIONAL
Result
(4:15) 6 Don't Push It (A P McCoy, 10-1 joint-fav 4 Black Apalachi (Denis O'Regan, 14-1 ); 23 State of Play (Paul Moloney, 16-1 22 Big Fella Thanks (B J Geraghty, 10-1 joint-fav 40 ran. 22 Big Fella Thanks (B J Geraghty, 10-1 joint-fav
Distances: 5 lengths; 20 lengths; 20 lengths
Winning trainer: Jonjo O'Neill.
Tote: £15.70; £3.90; £3.90; £5.20; £3.90; Exacta: £544.50; Swinger: £90.40; Swinger: £130.50; Swinger: £99.60; CSF: £130.60; Tricast: £2,324.26
JOHN SMITH'S GRAND NATIONAL - WHERE THEY FINISHED
1st DON'T PUSH IT (10-1 joint-favourite)
2nd Black Apalachi (14-1)
3rd State of Play (16-1)
4th Big Fella Thanks (10-1 joint-favourite)
5th Hello Bud
6th Snowy Morning
7th Character Building
8th Cloudy Lane
9th Tricky Trickster
10th Joe Lively
11th Cerium
12th Comply Or Die
13th Piraya
14th Preists Leap
Fence 1 Eric's Charm (fell)
Fence 2 Pablo Du Charmil (fell)
Fence 4 My Will (fell)
Fence 5 Made In Taipan (fell)
Fence 8 Can't Buy Time (unseated)
Fence 14 Irish Raptor (fell), Royal Rosa (unseated)
Fence 15 Arbor Supreme (unseated)
Fence 19 Madison Du Berlais (fell), Beat The Boys (pulled up), The Package (unseated)
Fence 20 Vic Venturi (brought down), Nozic (unseated), Backstage (unseated)
Fence 21 Flintoff (pulled up)
Fence 22 Ballyfitz (fell), Maljimar (fell)
Fence 23 Ellerslie George (unseated)
Fence 24 Dream Alliance (pulled up)
Fence 26 Mon Mome (fell)
Fence 27 Palypso De Creek (fell)
Fence 28 Ballyholland (pulled up)
Fence 29 Niche Market (pulled up), Conna Castle (pulled up), Ollie Magern (pulled up)
King Johns Castle refused to start
Grand National
Tony McCoy's unquenchable thirst for victory in the John Smith's Grand National was finally met as the Jonjo O'Neill-trained and JP McManus-owned Don't Push It triumphed amid emotional scenes at Aintree.
Big-race wins are commonplace to the 14-times champion jockey, who is no stranger to rewriting the record books and became the first to partner 3,000 winners a little over a year ago.
But the world famous National over the daunting Liverpool fences had proved his Achilles heel with a trio of third-place finishes the most he had achieved.
The 35-year-old deeply craved the recognition that comes hand in hand with a National win and that finally arrived as a huge late gamble on 10-1 joint-favourite Don't Push It came good.
Crossing the Melling Road on the second occasion, McManus' green and gold hooped colours could be spotted bombing along on the outside of Black Apalachi, Hello Bud and market rival Big Fella Thanks.
Don't Push It was challenging for the lead jumping the second-last and gradually reeled in Black Apalachi rounding the Elbow to pull five lengths clear.
The Grand National is the ultimate test of horse and jockey. The race comprises two full circuits of a unique 2¼ mile (3,600 metres) course, where challengers will face 30 of the most testing fences in the world of jump racing.
Each of the 16 fences on the course are jumped twice, with the exception of The Chair and the Water Jump, which are jumped on the first circuit only.
The Start
There is a hazard to overcome even before the race starts - the build up, parade and re-girthing prior to the off lasts for around 25 minutes, over double the time it takes for any other race.
With 40 starters, riders naturally want a good sight of the first fence and after the long build-up their nerves are stretched to breaking point, which means the stewards' pre-race warning to go steady is often totally ignored.
The Fences
1 & 17 Thorn fence, 4ft 7in high, 2ft 9in wide – The first often claims many victims as horses tend to travel to it far too keenly.
2 & 18 Almost the same height as the first but much wider at 3ft 6in.
3 & 19 Westhead: This is the first big test with a 6ft ditch on the approach guarding a 5ft high fence.
4 & 20 Plain fence, 4ft 10in high and 3ft wide.
5 & 21 Spruce dressed fence, 5ft high and 3ft 6in wide.
6 & 22 Becher's Brook: Although the fence looks innocuous from the take-off side, the steep drop on the landing side, together with a left-hand turn on landing, combine to make this the most thrilling and famous fence in the horse racing world. The fence actually measures 6 ft 9 in on the landing side, a drop of 2 ft from take off. Horses are not expecting the ground the disappear under them on landing, riders need to sit back in the saddle and use their body weight to act as ballast to keep the horses stable.
Becher's Brook earned its name when a top jockey, Captain Martin Becher, took shelter in the brook after being unseated. "Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky" he reflected.
