Revealed: The startling number of English

Release time：2024-05-08 12:15:24 Source：Culture Capsule news portal

The startling number of English-trained horses set to compete at this year's Grand National has officially been revealed. 

The £1million Randox Grand National is the biggest race of the British jumps season and one of the most-watched TV events in the British sporting calendar with 7.5million British viewers tuning into the 2023 race.

34 runners - six less than previous years due to safety concerns - will take to the field for the event at Aintree Racecourse in the hopes of securing glory on the day. 

And, ahead of the event, the number of English-trained horses has been revealed and it's safe to say that the statistics may shock some. 

According to Paddy Power, there are just six English-trained horses who will competing in the race on April 13th.

The number of English-trained horses set to compete at the Grand National has been revealed

Just eight UK-trained runners will take to the field, compared to 26 Irish-trained horses

A further two more, trained in Scotland and Wales, will bring the number of runners representing UK trainers up to 8 on the day. 

The English-trained horses include Nassalam, Eldorado Allen, Latenightpass, Galia Des Liteaux, Chambard and Kittys Light. 

While Corach Rambler - last year's winner - and Mac Tottie, respectively, are the Scottish and Welsh trained horses heading into the event. 

Comparatively, there will be 26 Irish-trained challengers crossing the Irish Sea to contest the race and, thus, massively outnumbering the British-trained runners.

The big change from last year is that the maximum number of runners has been reduced from 40 to 34, a move designed to improve safety by giving the contenders more space especially in the early stages, and the start time brought forward to 4pm.

For safety reasons, the maximum number of runners has been reduced from 40 to 34

The race itself spans 4 miles, two-and-a-half furlongs and 74 yards, making it the longest horse race in Britain even though it used to be around one and a half furlongs longer.

The decision to shorten the race slightly was done to move the start line away from the grandstands in order to help prevent false starts and make the first jump safer as jockeys and horses would reach it slower.

The run-in - the distance from the last fence to the finish line - is 494 yards, again the longest of it's type in Britain.

30 fences stand between the jockeys, horses and glory. 16 on the first circuit and 14 on the second with every fence jumped twice bar the 15th and 16th. 

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