Grand National 2001 Race Guide

Onto the second fence, as the leaders Edmond, Beau and Esprite De Cotte jump it a few make mistakes in behind and we lose three more at this fence Tresor De Mai and Hanakham fall and surprisingly the very safe Addington Boy will not be bettering his 4th and 5th finishes in this race as he unseats his jockey.

Onto the third fence, the first open ditch . This fence does catch out horses every year and one of the leading group falls first and also there are two more casualties Hollybank Buck falls, Kaki Crazy falls and the fancied Paddy's Return unships Adrian Maguire. The leaders are starting to get into their stride now and it's all onto the next.

Merry People and Unsinkable Boxer join the three leaders before the next and they jump it well but there are more fallers at this fence.

Earthmover unseats his rider at the same fence as last year and the strongly fancied Inis Cara falls also.

The fifth fence looms and the leader jump it well but The Last Fling will not be improving on his 7th place last year as he unseats him rider.

The next fence is the most famous fence in the world the fence that gets it's name from the famous captain who fell at it on in the first race, Becher's Brook, the first horse to jump it is a loose horse, Paddy's Return but he is on the outside and causes no problems here, The first to jump it is Beau, his jockey Twice winner of the race Carl Llewellyn gives the horse every chance by going wide where the drop is a little less. The horse jumps but pecks a little on landing but is fine. Edmond and Esprit De Cotte jump the fence well and the leaders are away from the fence quickly. However there are more fallers here Exit Swinger falls, along with Strong Tel . Northern Starlight unseats his rider

The next fence is the smallest on the course and at last and this one does not usually cause any fallers but this year Merry People is unable to improve on last years run and is hampered and unseats his rider.

The next is another of the unique fences it is The Canal Turn where the track turn by 90 degrees after the fence last year we had lost 7 runners by the time this fence cam up this year we have lost 14 but we haven't seen anything yet as the leaders approach the fence on the outside the riderless Paddy's Return turns sideways away from the crowd and is now running along the fence towards the oncoming horses and riders. Beau Jumps the fence superbly Edmond jumps next followed very closely by the improving Blowing Wind. Paddy's return heads for the pack.

Paddy's Return unknowingly hits the oncoming field and horses fall, riders are unseated and horses refuse there is a complete mêlée.

It looks like the scene at Valentines all those years ago there is complete carnage with horses and riders going around to avoided the fallers.

A few riders are thrown off and one Warren Marsden is on the floor behind the fence and a village King falls over the fence and lands on him, the horse is winded and lays flat on Warren. village kings jockey sees that Warren is in trouble and wastes no time as you can see here in pulling Warren out from under the horse.

Thankfully a few seconds later the horse gets attention from Norman Williamson and also a steward and he gets up and is okay. The causalities here are. Lance Armstrong Refused along with Dark Stranger and Feels Like Gold and also Moral Support, the faller was Village King and General Wolfe, Mely Moss , You're Agoodun and Amberleigh House. Djeddah unseated his rider.

On to the next and we now have only 17 of the original 40 starters the horses run to the next. Beau is still out in front followed by Edmond third to jump it is Brave Highlander who's has made up ground but Mister One unseats his rider. At the next Edmond and Beau jump it together and they are about two lengths in front of the others. Finally at this the 10th fence we get the first where there are no fallers.

On to the next and Smarty is starting to show up with the first half a dozen . The leaders jump it well but Esprite De Cotte loses his rider spectacularly as the horse stops but the jockey is airborne and clears the fence on his own. Red marauder makes a bad mistake.

We're at the 12th fence and the field is getting strung out. Edmond takes up the lead again and goes a length clear of Beau Papillon is also starting to show in the leading few. All jump the fence.

The field looks depleted now and Edmond is in the lead Beau is second with Smarty third Blowing Wind Comes next followed by Papillon, Noble Lord, Unsinkable Boxer, Listen Timmy, Brave Highlander, and Red Marauder.

The horses cross the Melling road and go around the bend into the home straight. The next 13th fence is often though of as an unlucky fence maybe because you have a long run to it from the previous fence, The leaders jump it will but take a little of the top of the fence off but Noble Lord is unlucky at this one and falls

Onto the next this is the fence before the chair and all the horses jump the fence. We start to think that maybe the excitement is over and we can settle down to watch the remaining few race.

The horses start to move in from the rails for the next the biggest fence in the national the Chair,

This fence has a 4ft ditch in front of it before you get to the 4ft 8 inch fence . It is a very tricky as unlike the other fences the landing side is 6inches higher then the take off side.

Last year all horses jumped the fence without problems this year was going to very different. Beau in front now jumps the fence well and he is followed by Smarty.

Edmond runs into the ditch and has no chance of jumping it his chest hits the fence and Richard Johnson is thrown over and land hard, he then ducks back into the fence while Red marauder and Papillon jump the fence.

Richard did get out of the fence and walked over to other horses and riders who were out of the race.

Moondigua also does the same and gallops into the ditch he then is unable to take off and his jockey flies through the air over the fence. Supreme Charm jumped the fence but landed on top of the fence and although he scrambled through he gave his jockey no chance of staying onboard.

The next is the water jump this also is quite a safe fence and all jump it but Listen Timmy's jockey can see he has had enough and pulls him up and also No Retreat is also pulled up. Papillon makes a slight mistake.

The horses now run up to the finishing line and have complete the first round but have it all to do again. But we are down to only 7 runners as they go out to face the run to the Melling road they are Beau who is going very well Smarty going equally as well followed by Blowing wind who is running a cracker. Next comes red Marauder who has made many mistakes but is staying on. Next last years winner Papillon is going well unsinkable boxer is next and last but by no means least is the Aintree regular and last years forth the oldest horse in the race at 13 Brave Highlander. But we do hear that Lance Armstrong who came to grief at the Canal turn has remounted and is still continuing but he is a mile behind the others. The horses cross the Melling road and onto the next, which was the first. The horses are going at a sensible pace and all jump it okay.

Onto the next and again all horses jump the fence without problems but beau's rider seems to have lost one reign or both have gone to one side. Loose horses are again up with the leaders.

The next fence the 19th is the open ditch again. Carl Llewellyn Beau's rider switches him to the inside of the course and jumps the fence well but Smarty further out also gets a good jump but a loose horse cuts across Blowing wind as the horse takes evasive action he throws off his Jockey . They and the loose horse impede Papillon who also refuses and gets rid of his jockey. Brave Highlander also refuses here. ( Lance Armstrong eventually pulls up here). Beau's reigns are now over the horses face and are causing him and his rider problems. Onto the next Only 4 left in the race now Beau, Smarty, Red Marauder and Unsinkable Boxer. Beau out in front jumps the fence but twists a little on landing he unbalances his jockey who because he has not got the reigns in the right place unseats, Carl tried desperately to hold onto the reigns and gets carried along for a few yards.. Smarty and Red Marauder jump the fence but Unsinkable Boxer is pulled up. Carl Llewellyn however has not had enough and chases Beau down the track shouting for someone to catch his horse. We are now down to two in the race . At the next both the leaders jump the fence red Marauder takes a slight lead but goes through the top of the fence but smarty jumps well. The riderless Beau jumps the fence ending his chance of being caught and remounted. The two leaders are now at Becher's and both jump the fence well, there is a big cheer from the crowd as they do so.

The two go onto the Foinavon fence, as they do Tony McCoy and Ruby Walsh the riders of Blowing Wind and Papillon decide to remount their horses and try to carry on., but they are already 4 fences behind. Both the horses go and jump Foinavon well and the Canal turn crowd give a great cheer as both jump clear. The cheers get louder and louder at every fence.

The next is the canal turn again and again there is a loose horse at the head of the field. Again it is paddy Return he comes to the fence and again cuts back Red marauder misses the horse and jumps the fence but he makes a mistake and almost crawls over the fence, The loose horse runs between him and smarty but luckily smarty is cleaver enough to avoid him and jumps the fence really well and is only a length behind.

Both horses are now running well and the jockeys are being sensible and riding their horses at a sensible pace at the next which is Valentines both horses jump well Smarty is jumping the better but Red Marauder's cruising speed is faster between the fences.

At he next both jump well but again Smarty jumps the more fluently and gains half a length.

The horses are now 4 from home and Red Marauder get half a length in front but he seems to shorten up and makes a mistake at the fence his jockey leans back and the horse leaves his legs in the fence but he finds a foot hold and the jockey is balanced and they survive .Smarty pings the fence in the same way he has all the others and gets away the better and goes 3 lengths in front.

There is a long way to the next and in that time Red Marauder catches Smarty who has no more speed to offer in this ground only guts is keeping him going his jockey realises this and does not try to get more from the horse than he can give, he knows the horse is giving him everything he has left now but Red Marauder despite the mistakes still has the higher cruising speed and he passes Smarty and by the time they are at the second last he is 10 lengths ahead. At the second last again he makes a mistake he is tired but he won't give up he goes though the top of the fence and almost walks through it by he gets away from it Smarty is next at it he jumps the fence perfectly and they are approaching the last.

Red Marauder gets to the last and he steady's up at it and jumps the fence slowly but gets over without a mistake, the crowd give a louder cheer , He is tired in this strength sapping ground but he knows that the worlds greatest steeplechase is now up for grabs. Smarty jumps the fence looking very tiered but he also gets a great cheer from the crown the noise now is deafening.

The crowd are now cheering and willing on these brave two horses it doesn't matter what you bet or where it fell we all know that this is a historic race and that these two horses have run their heart out, they have overcome everything the course the trip and the weather has thrown at them and they are on the run in.

Many horses have been caught on the run in but this is not going to happen today as Red Marauder extends his lead to go past the winning line a distance in front of Smarty to win the 2001 Grand National .

Smarty the only other horse to get a clear round and he gets no less a cheer from the crowd.

Two brave horses and two brave jockeys see off the rest of the 38 runner to come home two fences in front of the other two finishers.

At the second last both Papillon and Blowing wind jump it well.

Blowing Wind then gets ahead of Papillon and clears the last Papillon is 10 length behind and also clears the last. Blowing wind gets a cheer as he passes the winning line in third place

Papillon gets a cheer as last years winner is the only other finisher in this historic race.