Grand National goes ahead as tributes paid following death of Prince Philip
The 173rd Grand National will go ahead as planned on Saturday afternoon after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, which was announced on Friday, with a two-minute silence being held at Aintree before the big race and all jockeys taking part being invited to wear black armbands. Flags at the racecourse will also be flown at half-mast.
Aintree racecourse said in a statement that the decision to proceed with racing had been taken after discussions between Jockey Club Racecourses, which owns the course, and the British Horseracing Authority.
Television coverage of the final day of the Grand National meeting will return to ITV’s main channel, having been switched to ITV4 on Friday after the news of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death.
A two-minute silence was also held at Aintree before racing on Friday, when the amateur jockey Patrick Mullins recorded his first victory over the Grand National fences on Livelovelaugh in the Topham Handicap Chase.
Mullins, who is due to ride Burrows Saint in the same pink colours of owner Rich Ricci in Saturday’s National, scarcely saw another rival as Livelovelaugh put up a brilliant display of front-running.
“Ever since I was a kid, I watched horses do that and thought what a thrill it must be,” Mullins said. “I just wanted to go round again on him. I just sat there, he did most of it, to be honest.
“He was faultless, you could just tell he enjoys it. From 100 yards away he was pricking his ears and measuring his stride. Any time I gave him a squeeze he came for me [and] one or two of them were quite long. He hasn’t won in three years, but you could just see the real Aintree factor.
“This makes up for having to miss Cheltenham [following a ban on amateur riders because of coronavirus restrictions]. When I was a kid, I had a book about the history of the National fences, and I never thought I’d get a chance to win on one. Willie [Mullins, his father and Livelovelaugh’s trainer] won the Foxhunters’, so this kind of puts us level – or this might be slightly above that, is it?”
Sixteen of the 26 starters completed the course, with one horse falling and three more unseating their jockeys. No injuries were reported to any horses or jockeys in the race.
Fakir D’Oudairies, the runner-up in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham in March, broke a run of four second places in Grade One events with an 11length success in the Melling Chase.
“He’s been running great all season so I’m delighted he got his head in front,” Mark Walsh, who will ride Any Second Now in the National, said afterwards.
“He had a hard race in the Ryanair and Joseph [O’Brien] has done well to freshen him up and he’s done it well today.
I’m looking forward to Any Second Now in the National. You can make all the plans you like for the race but anything can happen, as we know.”