Aintree Racecourse is one of the most famous racecourses in the world and is located on the A59 at Ormskirk Road, Aintree (Anglo-Saxon for 'one tree'), in the northern suburbs of Liverpool, just 6 miles from the city centre. The racecourse occupies more than 250 acres and has two left-handed chasing circuits. The rectangular Mildmay Course is the first and was opened in 1953. It is nearly one and a half miles in length, with sharp turns and steeplechase fences. The Grand National course isn't ...
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Voluptuary, bred on behalf of Queen Victoria, is the only horse to have run in the Epsom Derby and gone on to win the Grand National. Voluptuary was trained by the brothers William and Ted Wilson at Illmington, Warwickshire. He ran in the Derby in 1881, briefly holding the leading position as he rounded Tattenham Corner, but finished sixth to Iroquois. The six year old then won at Aintree, on jockey Ted Wilson (one of the trainers), by four lengths at his debut (in public) over fences in 1884. ...
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Lester Piggott was born in 1935, the son of Keith Piggott, who was a successful national hunt jockey and a Grand National trainer. Keith's father before him, Ernest Piggott was a champion jockey and won the Grand National three times and founded one great horseracing dynasty and joined it with another when he married Margaret Cannon, a descendant of Sam Day, three times winner of the Derby and sister of jockeys Mornington and Kempton Cannon. This of course all adds up to a pretty impressive ...
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The Irish Grand National is an annual racing event which takes place at Fairyhouse Racecourse. The race was first run in 1870 for a total prize of 167 sovereigns, and the winner of this grand prize was a horse named 'Sir Robert Peele'. Two years later Scots Grey took the prize for the first time and then won again in 1875 to become the first dual winner. The race has been held every year since then, with only two exceptions ? 1919 and 1941, during the First and Second World Wars.Legendary ...
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Analysis of the Kentucky Derby is hard any year, but 2007 Kentucky Derby analysis is particularly challenging. Rarely have we seen a field with so many questions and so few horses of which we have a clear picture of their capabilities or what we can expect. At this point it's almost impossible to know if the field seems so congested because it is so full of good horses, or if the problem is that this is a substandard class. If it's the former then the challenge becomes picking the best of the ...
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Have you been successful at the lower levels of dressage, or jumping, or how about barrel racing or eventing? The discipline doesn't matter; the difficulty moving up to the higher levels is the same. Time and time again we have all witnessed riders who seemed to be doing well in the lower divisions of their chosen discipline. Then they go out and purchase that advanced horse only to meet with disaster. Why is this you may ask? How could they do so well before and then have so much difficulty? ...
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A Horse's past performaces are the main cirteria that a handicapper looks at when deciding on his bets. Considering other aspects of the horse and race, the handicapper can not just rely on past performances and "Speed Figures." Countless factors affecting today's race and horses have to be taken into consideration. When a handicapper considers the effects of pace, track biases, and trips, he is dealing with a finite number of items. It's those infinite items that have to be also factored into ...
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The perfect way to elate your spirits, the peculiar cowboys and cowgirls and their sturdy horses, their thrilling activities and the mind boggling music'the world of Rodeos is charismatic and bewitching in its own way. Initially Rodeos were associated with Texas only but now its events have spread their wings throughout the globe. A Short Brush with the Past The history of Rodeos can be traced back to 1854 when San Antonio hosted the foremost Texas Agricultural Fair which turned out to be a ...
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The first bicycle wheels were from a horse drawn cart, made of wood with a metal band round the bicycle rim, very hard and very uncomfortable to ride. Then a man called Dunlop (Scottish) invented the pneumatic tire, this along with Macadam (another Scot) inventing the tar road surface made cycling a lot more comfortable. The bicycle rim, like the bicycle frame hasn't changed much in design, its still round and always will be. From the first wooden rims the next were made of steel, then alloy ...
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How can sports possibly be be romantic? It's simple. Just ask any man who has cheered on his favorite team, while cuddling with his wife, and he'll tell you. Many women I know profess to hate all sports. Why? If it's something your husband really enjoys, wouldn't you rather learn about it, and share the common bond of sports than to have him watch it alone or always leave to watch it with his buddies? Me? I'd rather be a sports wife than a sports widow. Before you start to panic, let me sneak ...
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