The Grand Nationals are a very English tradition, which combines the country's love for horses, drink, and gardening all in a single afternoon.
Sponsored by John Smith's brewery, this "national hunt" (or, as it's known in the vernacular, "steeplechase") race is held every April at the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. It involves two circuits of a 2.25 mile course, with 16 fences, 14 of which are jumped twice. According to the Aintree web site, it demands "stamina, courage, good jumping and some luck -- in short, it is the toughest test in world racing."
But, to an outsider looking in, it can seem more "coded" and foreign than a Spanish bullfight, even for a native English speaker.
The challenge begins even before the race commences, as there are no starting gates, it takes nearly 20 minutes just to get all 40 horses around roughly the same starting line.
Here I quote from the BBC blogger's play-by-play:
405 pm: The jockeys are all aboard their mounts now as they slowly circle around a few yards short of the startline. The nerves will be really jangling now, but most of the horses seem to be taking it in their stride despite the warm weather.
420 pm: The horses all charge the tape, and have to be recalled as the tape gets caught up in a few of the runners.
422 pm: A second attempt doesn't quite come off. "Now stand still" shouts the starter like an angry teacher. "Do as you're told. Go back. Now stay there. How many times do I have to tell you?" Priceless. The crowd are getting restless though.
After several failed attempts, the race finally gets underway.
Within only a few seconds, several contenders have already tumbled and lost their riders.
424 pm: And they're off - and immediate drama as one of the favourites Point Barrow goes at the first.
425 pm: Jack High departs the action with a fall at Becher's Brook.
Becher's Brook may be the most legendary obstacle in all of horse racing. It takes its name from Captain Becher, who, according to Wikipedia, fell there from his mount Conrad during the 1839 race, and sheltered in the small brook running alongside the fence while the remainder of the field thundered over.
Though still quite dangerous, the obstacle's severity has been
greatly reduced in recent years due to pressure from animal rights
groups following the death of two horses there in 1989.
428 pm: Monkerhostin is one of the casualties of the first circuit.
429 pm: Idle Talk falls at the 19th.
430 pm: Leader Bewleys Berry crashes out to let Liberthine into the lead.
Ballycassidy is also out of the running.
The action proceeds like this to the end of the race, by which point, of the 40 horses at the starting line, only 13 made it to the finish. Or to be more precise, only 13 finished with a jockey, because many of the horses continued "doggedly", without their riders, who, like Captain Becher, hid beneath the various obstacles so as not to get trampled.
Pictured above is 2007 winner Silver Birch, a 33-1 shot.
And if it's any consolation, it's not just the horses and jockeys who take a beating. Later that afternoon, the final race of the day had to be abandoned when one steed, Graphic Approach, ran through the rails and into the crowd, injuring three officials.
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