Ben Linfoot unpicks the result of the 2023 Randox Grand National in his big-race analysis - also check out the full result to find out what happened to your cash.
Randox Grand National 2023: Full Result
1st CORACH RAMBLER 8/1 fav
2nd Vanillier 20/1
3rd Gaillard Du Mesnil 10/1
4th Noble Yeats 10/1
5th The Big Dog 12/1
6th Born By The Sea 50/1
7th Roi Mage 33/1
8th Mister Coffey
9th A Wave Of The Sea
10th Le Milos
11th Our Power
12th Enjoy D'Allen
13th Fortescue
14th Carefully Selected
15th Minella Trump
16th Francky Du Berlais
17th Ain't That A Shame
Also ran:
Fell: Fury Road, Sam Brown, The Big Breakaway, Hill Sixteen
Pulled Up: Any Second Now, Capodanno, Coko Beach, Cape Gentleman, Velvet Elvis, Dunboyne, Back On The Lash
Unseated Rider: Galvin, Delta Work, Darasso, Diol Ker, Longhouse Poet, Lifetime Ambition, Recite A Prayer, Eva's Oskar, Cloudy Glen, Mr Incredible, Gabbys Cross
Click here for full Grand National report
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Analysis
The modern Randox Health Grand National has been praised for its safety modifications but the 2023 renewal was a reminder of the risks involved in the race for more reasons than one.
Threats of protestors aiming to at least delay the most famous jumps race in the world came through as a group attempted to infiltrate the track before the scheduled start time and although the police dealt with the disturbance as quickly as possible the Grand National did not go off on time.
“It’s the world that we live in,” Dan Skelton mused on Racing TV. “They have a right to protest,” before coolly and eloquently defending his sport as 39 revved up thoroughbreds circled the parade ring for a prolonged period.
In the end Aintree officials did remarkably well to delay the start by only 15 minutes, but any hopes of a drama-less race in the circumstances were quickly dispelled as a total of 15 of the 39 runners either fell or unseated their rider.
Hill Sixteen had to be put down after a heavy fall while two others, Recite A Prayer and Cape Gentleman, were being treated in the equine hospital after the race.
Sandy Thomson’s Hill Sixteen became the fifth horse to lose their life in the Grand National since the modifications began in 2013, which is five out of 395, a fatality rate of 1.27%, over three times the fatality rate across jumps racing as a whole.
Of course, a safety review will be undertaken, but with so many modifications already made you do wonder what more can be done. Becher’s Brook, historically the most formidable fence on the track, had no fallers or unseats on either circuit, for example.
That aspect of the 2023 renewal cannot be ignored, but the sport delivered as it always seems to with CORACH RAMBLER, the 8/1 favourite, running out a brilliant winner for Lucinda Russell and Derek Fox.
Scotland has had just three winners of this race in 175 years and Russell and Fox have now teamed up for two of them, incredibly, with Corach Rambler following in the hoofprints of their 2017 winner, One For Arthur, who died last month at the age of 14.
Owned by a syndicate of seven, The Ramblers, Corach Rambler was 10lb well-in on official ratings following his second success in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last month, but such weights and measures have rarely mattered too much in this race.
Certainly, for every Rough Quest there has been a Cloth Cap, but you would always take being extremely well-handicapped in the National and Corach Rambler could be picked out a long way from home as the horse going best.
Held-up in mid-division in the very early stages, Corach Rambler quickly established a smooth jumping rhythm which allowed Fox to glide towards the inside and gain a more prominent position than many had anticipated by the end of the first circuit.
This is a horse that has won two Ultimas from way off the pace at Cheltenham, but before halfway he was sat in fifth place as Mister Coffey and Coko Beach took the field along. Fox went for the inside and travelled well tracking the aforementioned pair, taking a beautiful racing line at the Canal Turn as the race began to hot up.
As Mister Coffey went five lengths clear under Nico de Boinville Fox sat tight, gradually making his move towards the second last. By the final fence he hit the front, tanking, with everything else being ridden and Fox went for it. The response was electric and Corach Rambler bolted clear of his pursuers.
Yes he idles and yes when he does so his head carriage is awkward. But this was Corach Rambler’s day. He was too well-handicapped and too far away for Vanillier to do anything about it and all credit goes to Russell, her partner Peter Scudamore who rides him every day at home, and Fox.
This was Fox’s second Grand National from four goes and Russell’s second from five. In this race that is exceptional, a word that could also describe Corach Rambler’s performance today. He won’t be so well-handicapped next year, but seeing what he can do off a big weight in this race in 12 months’ time will be interesting, to say the least.
Noble effort from last year's winner
Last year’s winner Noble Yeats was tasked with just that scenario this time around and he ran a stormer. Racing off 19lb higher than last year from a perch of 167, the Gold Cup fourth was given an extreme hold-up ride by Sean Bowen and he looked outpaced at a relatively early point in the race.
Cajoled along and nursed to tack on to the main group, he was ridden in ninth jumping the final fence but then started to make tremendous headway on the run-in, Bowen cutting to the inside as he made his challenge.
Beaten eight-and-a-half lengths by the winner in fourth, this was a highly commendable effort to retain his crown off 11 stone 11lb, but he was simply beaten by a trio of better handicapped horses.
While the trophy went to Scotland, Ireland were responsible for the next six home with Gavin Cromwell’s Vanillier running on strongly for second.
Jumping has held back the former Albert Bartlett winner over fences, but there were signs he was getting to grips with the game behind Kemboy in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse and he underlined that here, coping well with the task in hand under a patient ride from Sean Flanagan.
In the end Corach Rambler was too tough a nut to crack, both from a handicap and positional perspective, but this was further evidence of Cromwell’s skills as a trainer as he had clearly been beautifully prepared for the strongest of cracks at the £1,000,000 purse, from which he takes home a deserved £200,000.
Just behind him was Gaillard Du Mesnil for Willie Mullins. Again patiently ridden by Paul Townend, who had taken a crashing fall earlier on the card, he made steady headway from half a mile from home and stayed on well for third ahead of Noble Yeats.
The Big Dog was ridden more prominently than the trio who finished in front of him and deserves great credit for finishing fifth from a mark of 160, confirming the extreme improvement he has made all season.
Mister Coffey gave De Boinville a great spin around the fences in front before fading into eighth, while of the also-rans Enjoy D’allen did well to get round in 12th after having had to skirt around all sorts of trouble under Simon Torrens.
Le Milos and Ain’t That A Shame were well-fancied horses who didn’t seem to stay, while Delta Work was still going okay when he unseated Keith Donoghue at the 21st.
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