April 11: The Grand National

It's the Grand National today. 10 things you might not know about the race.

1. The first Grand National took place in 1839. It started two hours late because of confusion over weighing procedures. The winner was the 5-1 favourite, Lottery.
2. The 1997 Grand National started even later than that - two days late, in fact, due to an IRA bomb threat. Over 60,000 people were evacuated, and many of them were forced to leave their cars. Local residents helped out by providing accommodation for stranded spectators.
3. In the first five races there was only one jump, a stone wall which was situated where the Water jump is today.
4. The highest number of entrants was 66 in 1929, and the lowest was 10 in 1883. The largest number of Horses finishing was in 1984 when 23 finished. The lowest number of finishers was in 1928 when all the horses fell except one - Tipperary Tim, ridden by William Dutton. Before the start, a friend of the 100-1 outsider's rider called out, "Billy boy, you'll only win if all the others fall down!" And they did. One of the other jockeys managed to re-mount his horse and finish, so only two of the field of 42 starters finished with Tipperary Tim the winner.
5. The famous Becher's Brook was named when jockey Captain Martin Becher fell off there, and hid in the brook while the rest of the field thundered over him. His comment on this experience was: "Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of Whiskey."
6. The fences are made from Lake District spruce trees.
7. The oldest horse to win was Peter Simple, aged 15, in 1853. The oldest winning jockey was Dick Saunders who was 48 when he rode Grittar to victory in 1982. The youngest winning jockey was Bruce Hobbs, who was 17 when he won on Battleship in 1938.
8. No female jockey has won as yet. The first woman to ride in the race was Charlotte Brew in 1977. She didn't finish. Geraldine Rees became the first female jockey to complete the course in 1982. She came last. The best result for a female jockey so far was in 2012 when Katie Walsh came third on Seabass.
9. The horse which has run in the most races was Manifesto, who ran eight between 1895 and 1904, winning twice. The jockey to run in the most was Tom Olliver who took part in 19, winning three.
10. Red Rum is the horse to win the most times - three, 1973, 1974 and 1977. Red Rum is buried at the finishing line of the course.