Round 1 – The trainers

  • 1. Lottery (1839) was the first of four Grand National winners for this Epsom trainer, who also rode the winners of both the Oaks and Derby there.
  • 2. Co Cork man who made history by winning the race in three successive years, with three different horses, before switching his focus to flat racing.
  • 3. Had her first runner in the Aintree showpiece with The Songwriter in 1977, but arguably more famous for her exploits six years later. Or that time she decked Jamie Osborne at Ayr.
  • 4. Winning riders Charlie Fenwick and Hywel Davies reported that their instructions were to “keep remounting”. Apocryphal or not, who was responsible for these unique orders?
  • 5. Saddled two winners of the race in a storied career. Namesake of the original ‘knight of the pigskin’ and shared a nickname with Bruce Springsteen. Some man for one man.

    • Round 2 – Women and the Grand National

  • 1. The first woman to ride in the Grand National was Charlotte Brew, but what was the name of the horse she rode in the race won by Red Rum in 1977?
  • 2. The first woman to lead up in the paddock at Aintree happened to look after the last mare to win the race. The “lass” was Jo Wells. Who was the mare?
  • 3. Venetia Williams won the race as a trainer with Mon Mome in 2009, but which horse buried her at Becher’s on her only ride in the race two decades earlier?
  • 4. Along with George Dockeray and Ginger McCain, her husband holds the record for the number of National winners trained, but her influence on him was huge. Simon ran in her colours in the 2007 Grand National, travelling best when falling six from home.
  • 5. Which female jockey failed to win the race in six attempts, but twice rode the SP favourite for the Grand National?

    • Round 3 – The quotes

  • 1. “Sex will be an anticlimax after this”, he famously said after riding Rough Quest to win, but I tipped runner-up Encore Un Peu to a girl I really fancied at work, and that never worked out so, swing and roundabouts, eh? Name him.
  • 2. “It’s bloody cold without brandy in it!” Which amateur rider is immortalised for his unfortunate experience with water at the course’s sixth fence?
  • 3. The winning owner of the 1985 winner was left in the paddock by her trainer with the parting words: “I’ll meet you at the back of the stands after they’ve caught him.” Name the owner (you should already know the trainer).
  • 4. Which trainer’s joint-leading haul of four winners was deemed: “Not bad for a bloody taxi driver!”
  • 5. Of whom did the above say: “She’s a broodmare now and having kids does not get you fit to ride Grand Nationals. If [she] wins…I’ll bare my backside.”

    • Round 4 – The veterans

  • 1. A simple one. Which horse, at the age of 15, is officially the oldest to win the Grand National at Aintree.
  • 2. Winner of the Irish Champion Chase in 1892, which Aintree legend made his final appearance in the Valentine Chase over the Grand National fences in 1904, just seven weeks shy of his 17th birthday?
  • 3. Since 2000, five 14-year-olds have run in the Grand National. Name any of them, or all five if you want to look like a swot.
  • 4. Dick Saunders won the race at the age of 48 in 1982, riding Grittar, but the oldest jockey to finish (in 1968) was 20 years older still. Name him.
  • 5. Rosemary Henderson owned, rode and trained Fiddlers Pike to finish a creditable fifth in the 1994 National. The gelding was a 13-year-old, but how old was his rider?

    • Round 5 – The youngsters

  • 1. No horse younger than seven can now run in the Grand National, but can you name either of the six-year-olds who ran in the 2008 contest, the last horses of that age to do so?
  • 2. Seven-year-olds had a poor record until Noble Yeats scored in the race in 2022. Name the ast of that age group to win prior to that success, and the year.
  • 3. At 6ft1½in, the youngest jockey to win the race was also the tallest on official record. Name him, and the winning horse, who stood at just over 15 hands.
  • 4. In the post-war era, two more teenagers have ridden to success in the big race, both Irishmen, and both 19 years old. Name either.
  • 5. Rule The World was a maiden over fences before winning the Grand National in 2016, but who was the last horse to win the race as a first-season steeplechaser?

    • Round 6 – Can you repeat that?

  • 1. Known affectionately as “Little Ab”, which diminutive chaser became the first to win back-to-back Grand Nationals in 1850/’51?
  • 2. What was unique about Emblem and Emblematic, winners of the Grand National in 1863 and 1864 for owner Lord Coventry?
  • 3. The rider of the above pair also won the race in 1856, 1869 and 1870, making him the most successful in the race’s history. What was his name?
  • 4. Red Rum became the only horse ever to win the race three times when romping home in 1977. Who was the gelding’s octogenarian owner?
  • 5. Commemorated by a plaque in the old winner’s enclosure, which popular chaser was runner-up three times in the Grand National without winning between 1957 and 1962.

    • Round 7 – If at first you don’t succeed…

  • 1. This popular 12-year-old finally managed to win the Grand National at the fifth attempt for trainer Fulke Walwyn and jockey Willie Robinson. Name him.
  • 2. Which modern-day jockey has the dubious honour of having ridden in more Grand Nationals than any other rider, but never won the race.
  • 3. Which horse finished strongly to be third in the 1982 race despite earlier unseating his rider when hampered by a loose horse.
  • 4. Which legendary Corinthian rider rode in multiple Grand Nationals from 1952 before the Jockey Club refused to renew his permit to ride after a bone-crunching fall on his horse Nereo in the 1976 contest?
  • 5. Which great jockey fell at the first fence in 1951 and again the following year, but went on to win the race (for a second time) almost two decades later at the age of 40.

    • Round 8 – All your favourites

  • 1. Who was the last mare to start favourite for the Grand National, and in what year?
  • 2. In 2002, there were four co-favourites. Clan Royal fared best of them in second, but can you name any of the other three?
  • 3. Wikipedia incorrectly reports that Red Rum was sent off the 9/1 joint-favourite for his third National win in 1977. Which horse actually started favourite for that race before going on to win the Whitbread Gold Cup?
  • 4. In 2007, a reported £150,000 bet at SP saw which horse backed from 25/1 into 8/1 co-favouritism in one of the most bizarre Grand National gambles of all time?
  • 5. Which horse was twice sent off an overwhelming favourite for the Grand National, at 7/2 in 1965 and 11/4 the following year. He finished second both times.