WON BY WORKMAN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 March 1939, Page 7

WON BY WORKMAN

LIVERPOOL GRAND NATIONAL. ONLY ELEVEN HORSES FINISH COURSE. j y Tpleeraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day. 10.10 a.m.) LONDON, March 24. The' Grand National Steeplechase .-an at Liverpool resulted: — Workman, 10.6 (J. Hyde) 1 MacMoffatt, 10.3 (I. Alder) .2 Kilstar, 10.3 (G. Archibald) 3 Thirty-seven horses started. Fifteen horses fell and only eleven finished the course. Workman won by three lengths, with Kilstar fifteen lengths fii'Mier back. • Time, 9.42 l-ssec.

The Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase is a Tace which ranks second only to the Derby in itg appeal to racing enthusiasts in all parts of the world. It was on February 29, 1836, -hat the first steeplechase was run at Aintree. It was named the Liverpool Steeplechase, a sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns each with 80 sovereigns added, and the conditions stated that it was for horses of all denominations, to carry 12st, and to be ridden by gendeme n riders. The winner was also to oe sold for 200 sovereigns if demanded. Captain Becher, who gave his name to “Becher’s Brook,” one of the most formidable and dreaded fences in the Aintree, course, won this first race on a horse named The Duke. There are sixteen different fences on the Grand National course. Fourteen of them have to be jumped twice, but the water jump and the open ditch in front of the stands are crossed only once making thirty fences on the journey. The fourteen fences that have to oe cleared twice are all stiff thorn obs.acles, tightly packed, so they have to be jumped, as they will bring down any horse that may attempt the liberty’ of brushing through them. Workman is nine years old, MacMoffatt'' seven years, and Kilstar eight years old.