It had been some time since the Irish had a run of luck at the Aintree Grand National but then came the 2000’s when they dominated the race nearly every year and 2006 was no different when Numbersixvalverde became the fifth Irish winner in eight years.

The 10-year-old, Martin Brassil trained horse was weighted with 10st 8lb and began the race at odds of 11/1 but was not the favourite on the day. The previous year he had won the Irish Grand National so he definitely showed promise and was heavily backed by punters.

The 2006 John Smith’s Grand National was built up as possibly the most competitive renewal, with 2005 hero and Cheltenham Gold Cup second Hedgehunter also in contention and aiming to become the first dual Grand National winner since Red Rum, headed the betting market at 5/1.

Interestingly, Brassil was the only trainer in the race without a previous Grand National runner while the rider, Niall ‘Slippers’ Madden, was only 20 years old and having his first ride in the big race when he was paired with Numbersixvalverde.

Despite his lack of Aintree experience Madden rode a fantastic race as he delayed his challenge until approaching the final fence and once he asked his mount to put a seal on matters at the elbow, the result was never in doubt.

Numbersixvalverde galloped on relentlessly up the famous run-in to come home six lengths clear of the ultra-tough Hedgehunter.

Other contenders included Clan Royal who was unlucky in 2005 and second in 2004 but finished in third in 2006. The 14-year-old Amberleigh House, the 2004 victor and trained by Ginger McCain had his last race before retirement but could not add to his great record over the Grand National fences. There were no real hard-luck stories but the fancied Jack High, a 9/1 chance, unseated his rider at the 15th of the 30 fences.

Numbersixvalverde had the John Smith’s Grand National as his main target the following season and he ran well on faster ground to finish a creditable sixth.

It took Silver Birch, the 10-yer-old, Gordon Elliott trained gelding just 9 minutes 13.60 seconds to complete and win the four and a half mile Aintree Grand National in 2007. This was an incredible feat given that just two years earlier a leg injury had precipitated a downward spiral that saw a virtual halt to a once promising career.

He was despatched to Doncaster Sales after his Aintree tumble, but Irishman Brian Walsh purchased him for 20,000 guineas and sent him to trainer Gordon Elliott’s small yard in Trim, County Meath to patch him up.

By 2007 Walsh and Elliott, who at 26 and 29 respectively were the youngest owner and trainer to send out a runner, had him back in fighting form and ready for the race of his life. He slipped under the radar of the bookies who still perceived him to be a shadow of his former glory days and was sent off as one of nine horses deemed the joint 15th choice in the betting.

Point Barrow started the race as 8/1 co-favourite alongside Monkerhostin and Joes Edge but he made it no further than the first fence. Monkerhostin fared little better but refused at the seventh (Foinavon), while Joes Edge was pulled up before the 20th.

Robbie Power took the ride on Silver Birch, who was handily weighted on his best form with 10st 6lb and had moved through to take a prominent position by the 12th fence. But he had competition for the lead, while approaching the third last, from Barry Geraghty who was aboard fellow Irish horse Slim Pickings.

But a mistake by Geraghty’s mount at the last fence gave Power and Silver Birch the break that was needed to the charge to the line. Slim Pickings tried in vain to get back on terms but a new challenge emerged after the famous ‘elbow’ as Tom O’Brien drove Welsh-trained McKelvey in hot pursuit.

McKelvey was well-supported at 12/1 and had the crowd roaring as he surged wide of Silver Birch but the last ditch attempt was too little too late and it was Power and Silver Birch who took the most valuable prize in jump racing by three quarters of a length.

Slim Pickings was third at 33/1, the Nick Williams-trained mud-lover Philson Run stayed on to take fourth at 100/1 under John Smith’s Grand National debutant Daryl Jacob, while another first-timer, amateur Sam Waley-Cohen, enjoyed a dream ride to finish fifth aboard his father’s mare Liberthine at 40/1.

Perfect conditions at Aintree contributed to the fact that 30 of the 40-strong field were still standing with a circuit to race, with 12 crossing the finish line, including the past two winners, Hedgehunter and Numbersixvalverde, who finished ninth and sixth respectively.

The Aintree Grand National, as we know it, has been going for over 170 years so you can well imagine how much information is out there regarding it’s rich and illustrious history. So I’m going to go all the way back and give you the juicy details of it’s origins!

It’s widely believed that the first Grand National was in 1836 and was won by The Duke. This same horse triumphed again in 1837 while Sir William was the winner in 1838. But of course, like most things in life, there’s a big debate over these facts. Many disregard these races because of the belief that the 1837 & 1838 runnings took place at Maghull and not at Aintree!

But in the last twenty years several race historians have provided indisputable evidence that these three races were actually all run over the same course at Aintree but to date though, their calls for the Nationals of 1836-38 to be restored to the record books have been ignored.

From the 1840’s things ran smoothly enough so the next big upheaval came during World War I, while the Aintree racecourse was closed. An alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse on the site of the present Gatwick Airport.

The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase and in the following two years the race was known as the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not always recognised as “Grand Nationals” however, and their results are often omitted from winners’ lists.

So there you have a brief outline of the early history of the Grand National, let’s hope that nothing happens in 2010 to scratch it from the record books!!

The last 10 years have seen an explosion of Irish winners at the Aintree Grand National but the history between the two goes back much further than that. In fact it was two Irish fox-hunting gentlemen Edmund Bake and Cornelius O’Callaghan who gave birth to the word ‘steeplechase’ back in 1752! So it only seems appropriate given the races origins that the Irish have the greatest overseas impact at the Aintree Grand National.

Since the race first started in 1839 there have been 25 Irish winners of the Grand National starting with Coolreagh-bred Matthew who won the race in 1847, the 10-1 joint favourite. The next was Abd-El-Kader who became the first dual winner of the Grand National in 1850 and 1851. But it took a long 24 years before The Liberator triumphed, having finished third behind Austerlitz two years earlier. Trainer Henry Linde and jockey Tommy Beasley came back in force in 1881, winning again with Woodbrook, who revelled in the boggy conditions.

Over 100 years later the Irish are still having an incredible impact at this glorious race meeting including jockey of L’Escargot Tommy Carberry who trained the 1999 Irish and English National winner Bobbyjo, who was ridden by Tommy’s son Paul. The father-son combo quickly caught on and in 2000 Papillon won, with Ted Walsh training and son Ruby riding his first National.

2003 saw Monty’s Pass be victorious by 12 lengths, while Ruby Walsh secured his second National victory on Hedgehunter in 2005 who was also a runner up in 2006 behind Irish-trained Numbersixvalverde, Martin Brassil’s first runner in the National. Success came again in 2007 with Silver Birch who beat McKelvey by three quarters of a length, and in 2008 with Comply Or Die, proving that the Irish really do have what it takes in the great race!

Don’t forget that you can get some unusual bets at Paddy Power including the odds on an Irish trained horse to win the race outright!

Tony ‘A.P’ McCoy of Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland is officially the best jump jockey of all time, a status he achieved on 27th of August 2002 when victory on Mighty Montefalco in a three mile hurdle at Uttoxeter gave him his 1,700th winner, passing the three year old record total of Richard Dunwoody. This achievement at the age of 28 means that A.P. McCoy has set a standard that is unlikely to ever be surpassed.

His first victory was with ‘Legal Steps’, at Thurles in March 1992, and this initial success in Ireland led to him racing in England. Since getting his British licence, and winning his first race in Exeter in 1994, he has broken many records, including a record 74 winners in 2004. The following season he was a champion jockey, which he managed to replicate in the following 12 seasons, during which time he also became the fastest jockey to reach the 1000 winner mark.

In 2004 he made the momentous decision to transfer to Jackdaws Castle, the state-of-the-art yard of trainer Jonjo O Neill and his landlord J.P. McManus, for whom he has continued to add to their list of victories. A.P has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and King George VI Chase McCoy and has very few ambitions to achieve – except to ride 300 winners in a season and to win the Grand National.

The National has eluded him, but it is not something that he will give up on, having once famously said: ‘I suppose some people may regard me as a failure unless I win a National – I might even do so myself’, to which Carl Llewllyn, a twice National winner added ‘And then he’ll consider himself a failure if he doesn’t win two Nationals’. A.P. McCoy is indeed a hard self-taskmaster, so pre-race favourite Butlers Cabin, who he rode in the 2009 National achieving only 7th place will not have been in any way good enough for his own standards. One thing is for sure, A.P. McCoy will win the National – no man has ever been as determined.

Based on the last few years, the most likely scenario is that McCoy will ride a JP McManus horse for Jonjo O’Neill but we’ll have to wait to find out which one, but if you fancy an ante-post bet go to Paddy Power!

Born 14th May 1979, Rupert ‘Ruby’ Walsh of County Kildare, Ireland is recognised as one of the best National Hunt jockeys in the world. The son of Irish trainer Ted Walsh and named after his grandfather (another successful trainer), Ruby’s first walk around the Grand National course was when he was just nine years old, prior to the 1989 victory of Little Polveir.

He returned 11 years later, aged 20, to make his Grand National debut and won it by one and a half lengths on American-owned Papillon, a horse trained by his father. This win was against all odds, as in September 1999, he broke his collarbone and the following month, his leg whilst riding in the Czech Republic. In January, he reopened his leg fracture in another fall, and was only just fit for the Cheltenham Festival in March. Yet the following month he won the Grand National during his debut in the race. He reinforced his growing reputation by winning the Irish Grand National on Commanche Court just fifteen days later, and rounded up the season by winning the Punchestown Heineken Gold Cup.

In his next four National rides, he twice finished in fourth place and scored a second, 14 length victory on Hedgehunter, the 7-1 favourite of 2005. This triumphant win established Walsh as the first jockey to have won the Welsh, Irish and Aintree Nationals in the same season.

Walsh has ridden over 1400 winners and in 2007, won the inaugural British Horseracing Board Jockeys’ Order of Merit award. He has been the leading jockey at the Cheltenham Festival in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009, and this year rode a record-breaking seven winners over the four days of the festival. He has won the Irish jump jockeys’ title on six occasions to date – 1998/99, 2000/01, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08.

He is truly recognised as force to reckoned with, and so famous is he that one of Ireland’s greatest musicians Christy Moore has written a song ‘The Ballad of Ruby Walsh’ in his honour!

Though I don’t know which horse Ruby will choose for the 2010 Grand National, ante post bets are now being taken at Paddy Power!

A quick look into the Grand National history book tells us that only seven horses have managed to win the Grand National more than once! Let’s take a closer look at those Deja Vu winners starting with one of the very earliest Grand National winners.

Abd-El-Kader the Irish race horse who was petite in stature, still managed to win the Grand National in 1850. He was relatively unknown in England and unquoted in the betting before the 1850 twin, in 1851 the bookies had him priced at a lowly 7/1. Allotted just 6lbs more by the handicapper than the previous year and became the first horse to win the National twice.

Peter Simple was a gelding who won the Grand National for a second time at the ripe old at of 15 in 1853! He had previously won in 1849. Still the oldest winner to land the Aintree prize. A record that’s unlikely to be broken.

In 1869 ‘The Colonel’ won with experience jockey George Stevens on board, the jockey had previously won the Grand National three times, and is thought to have been the reason behind the Colonel’s initial victory. The following year the team pairing up again and won by half a length.

Only two greys have won the Grand National, and the first of them stood only 14 hands high, and was named The Lamb because of his tiny physique. He won the Grand National in 1868, was re-routed to Sefton Chase the following year, and was then out of action for two years due to a wasting disease. This all made it even more remarkable when he won the Grand National again in 1871.

Manifesto became an Aintree favorite winning the National two times 1897 & 1899, he also came third three times, came fourth and eighth once, only once failing to go the distance.

Reynoldstown became the hero of the 1935 Grand National when the horse expected to be the star – Golden Winner; winner of the 1934 Grand National and four consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups; unseated his rider. Unfortunately for Golden Miller he was a faller in the 1936 race, leaving Reynoldstown to battle it out with Davy Jones. Davy Jones looked set to be the winner as Reynoldstown was taking jumps carelessly, but he ended up taking a twelve length victory when Davy Jones’ reins came apart, and he ended up veering out-of-control leftwards.

Red Rum affectionately known as just ‘Rummy’ is without a doubt the greatest Grand National horse of all time. Originally breed to be a sprinter, Red Rum went on to become the only horse in the history of the race to win it three times; 1973, 1974 and 1977. He also came second in 1975 and 1976 and could have possibly won it for a four time in 1978 if hadn’t ruled him out of the race.