2012 Grand National
| Grand National | |
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| Location | Aintree Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Date | 14 April 2012 |
| Winning horse | Neptune Collonges |
| SP | 33/1 |
| Jockey | Daryl Jacob |
| Trainer | Paul Nicholls |
| Owner | John Hales |
| Conditions | Good (good to soft in places) |
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 Full replay of the 2012 Grand National BBC Sport (UK & Ireland only) |
The 2012 Grand National (known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 165th annual renewal of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase, which concluded a three-day meeting which is one of only four held at Aintree throughout the year, took place on 14 April 2012. The maximum permitted field of 40 runners ran the 4 miles and 4 furlongs of Aintree's National Course featuring 30 fences, competing for record prize money of £975,000, making it the highest-valued National Hunt race in the United Kingdom.
Aintree had made a number of safety changes in the months leading up to the race, following the deaths of two horses in the previous year's National. The changes included reducing the severity of some of the fences, raising the minimum age of participating horses from six to seven years old, and requiring all runners to have previously been placed in a recognised steeplechase of at least three miles.
Neptune Collonges, ridden by Daryl Jacob, won the race, beating Sunnyhillboy in a photo finish and the closest ever finish to a Grand National. Neptune Collonges became only the third grey horse to win the 173-year-old chase, and the first since 1961. Joint-favourite Seabass finished third, which resulted in Katie Walsh, in her first outing in the race, scoring the best result ever for a female jockey in the Grand National. Synchronised, the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner and an early favourite for the National, and According to Pete both were euthanised after suffering leg fractures during the race. One fence was omitted on the second circuit as medics treated jockey Noel Fehily, who broke a leg in a fall on the first circuit.
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