page_title: Grand National
section_title: Recent history (2004–present)
hierarchical_section_title: Grand National / History / Recent history (2004–present)
caption_attribution_description: English: 2011 Grand National winner Ballabriggs, pictured a couple of weeks after the race
context_page_description: The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap steeplechase over an official distance of about 4 miles and 2½ furlongs, with horses jumping 30 fences over two laps. It is the most valuable jump race in Europe, with a prize fund of £1 million in 2017. An event that is prominent in British culture, the race is popular amongst many people who do not normally watch or bet on horse racing at other times of the year.
  The course over which the race is run features much larger fences than those found on conventional National Hunt tracks. Many of these, particularly Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn, have become famous in their own right and, combined with the distance of the event, create what has been called "the ultimate test of horse and rider".
  The Grand National has been broadcast live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the United Kingdom since 1960. From then until 2012 it was broadcast by the BBC. Channel 4 broadcast the event between 2013 and 2016: UK broadcasting rights were transferred to ITV from 2017.
context_section_description: Red Rum's trainer Ginger McCain returned to the Grand National in 2004, 31 years after Red Rum's epic run-in defeat of Crisp to secure his first of three wins. McCain's Amberleigh House came home first, ridden by Graham Lee, overtaking Clan Royal on the final straight. Hedgehunter, who would go on to win in 2005, fell at the last while leading. McCain had equalled George Dockeray and Fred Rimell's record feat of training four Grand National winners.
  In 2005 John Smith's took over from Martell as main sponsors of the Grand National and many of the other races at the three-day Aintree meeting for the first time.  In 2006 John Smith's launched the John Smith's People's Race which gave ten members of the public the chance to ride in a flat race at Aintree on Grand National day. In total, thirty members of the public took part in the event before it was discontinued in 2010.
  In 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied outside odds of 100/1 to win by 12 lengths. The victory was also the first for trainer Venetia Williams, the first female trainer to triumph since Jenny Pitman in 1995. The race was also the first National ride for Liam Treadwell.
  In 2010 the National became the first horse race to be televised in high-definition in the UK.
  In August 2013 Crabbie's was announced as the new sponsor of the Grand National. The three-year deal between the alcoholic ginger beer producer and Aintree saw the race run for a record purse of £1 million in 2014.
  In March 2016 it was announced that Randox Health would take over from Crabbie's as official partners of the Grand National festival from 2017, for at least five years.
   The sponsorship is controversial as Aintree's chairwoman, Rose Paterson, is married to Owen Paterson, a Member of Parliament who also earns a £50,000 annual fee as a consultant for Randox.
  The 2020 race was not run owing to the coronavirus pandemic; in its place, a virtual race was produced using CGI technology and based on algorithms of the 40 horses most likely to have competed. The virtual race was won by Potters Corner, winner of the 2019 Welsh Grand National. (Another computer-generated virtual race was made also, whose runners were many horses who had won the Grand National in past years, each shown with its performance as at its racing prime: it is on Youtube. Its winner was Red Rum by less than a length, having just passed Manifesto.)
caption: Ballabriggs, the winner of the 2011 Grand National.
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