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The Grand National 2010 is the highlight of the racing calendar and the most celebrated racing event in the racing world. Every April forty horses plan to tackle the famous Aintree course. The course is four and one half miles , which has 30 big fences, the National is questionably the hardest test of horse and jockey in the United Kingdom.

Much of the Nationals appeal lies in the challenging conditions of the race. With such a difficult course the odds of a favourite doing well are slim! Of course this makes it exciting for those who follow the race online. Over the last eighty years only a handful favourites have actually won the National. In the last few years the fences have been reduced in size to protect the horses and riders from getting seriously injured but, despite this, it remains one of the most dangerous races in racing.

Sea The Stars Retires

Following Sea The Stars’ captivating victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, it has been questioned whether he is the greatest Flat racehorse ever to have existed. The horse bred from Cape Cross and mare Urban Sea has provided horseracing with one of the greatest horses to ever grace the turf. So it has come as a bit of a shock to hear that he is going to be retired. Some, although well able to admit his brilliance refuse to believe that he is one of the three greatest racehorses of all time. Joe Mercer, a former champion jockey who rode Brigadier Gerard in the early 1970s, is one voice of skepticism. He fears that we are in danger of being swept up in the momentary hype, but he remembers horses such as Galileo who won the King George in 2001. Back then everyone thought that Galileo was the best horse that had ever been seen – and as Mercer affirms: you can’t have a best horse you’ve ever seen every other year! He points out that the horse he rode, Brigadier Gerard won thirteen Group Ones, whereas Sea The Stars has only won six.

Others though have been less hesitant to vilify Sea The Stars. Pat Eddery who rode Dancing Brave to victory in the Prix de l’Arc in 1986 has said that Sea The Stars is ‘up there with the best’, and laughed at the suggestion that he might resent the current champion being regarded by many as a better horse than the one he rode.