2017 Grand National
| Grand National | |
 |
|
| Location | Aintree Racecourse |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 April 2017 |
| Winning horse | One For Arthur |
| Starting price | 14/1 |
| Jockey | Derek Fox |
| Trainer | Lucinda Russell |
| Owner | Two Golf Widows |
| Conditions | Good to soft |
|
|
|
The 2017 Grand National (officially known as the 2017 Randox Health Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 170th official running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase over a distance of 4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km) took place on 8 April 2017, the final day of a three-day meeting. A maximum field of 40 runners competed for a share of a prize fund of £1 million.
Randox Health is the new sponsor of the main race and the festival itself for the next five years. It was broadcast live on television by ITV for the first time. There was live radio coverage by BBC Radio, which has held the radio rights since 1927, and by Talksport, which covered the main race live for the fourth time.
The race was won by One For Arthur, only the second horse trained in Scotland to win the Grand National (the other being Rubstic in 1979). One For Arthur was ridden by Derek Fox and trained by Lucinda Russell, and was sent off at odds of 14/1.
A total of 110 entries were received for consideration in the 2017 Grand National and were announced on 1 February 2017. Among the early favourites were Don Poli, who won three Grade 1 races in the 2015–16 season, and 2016 National runner-up The Last Samuri. The 2015 winner, Many Clouds, who was also among the ante-post favourites, died of a pulmonary haemorrhage shortly before the entries were announced.
The weights were announced on 14 February and headed by Lexus Chase winner Outlander, however, trainer Gordon Elliott indicated that he would not run. The top five weighted horses were all Irish-trained, including three by Elliott. One runner (Otago Trail) was scratched before the weights were assigned. Ninety-five entries remained after the first scratching deadline on 28 February. Elliott, who had earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with the weights assigned to his horses, withdrew several of his entries, including Outlander, Empire of Dirt and Don Poli, leaving Carlingford Lough as the new top weight. Vieux Lion Rouge, who won the Grand National Trial at Haydock, was now the favourite with the bookmakers, at 12/1. The field was reduced to 79 following the second scratching deadline on 21 March. The five-day confirmation process began on 3 April with 70 horses advancing, following the withdrawal of top-weight Carlingford Lough. The final field was announced on 6 April, including four reserves in case of any withdrawals before 1 pm on 7 April. One of the top 40 horses going into the confirmation stage (Pendra) withdrew. There were no further withdrawals before the deadline, leaving the following 40 starters:
...
Wikipedia