Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle

The Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle is a Grade 1 hurdle race run over 2 miles and 209 yards on the Mildmay Course at Aintree on the opening day of the Grand National Festival in April. As the name suggests, the race is restricted to horses aged four years or, in other words, horses aged three years at the start of the current season.

The Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle was inaugurated, in its current guise, as the Weetabix Hurdle, in 1976, when it replaced the Lancashire Hurdle, which was run for the final time the previous year. The word ‘Anniversary’ was added to the race title in 1988 and the race was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2005.

Nowadays, the Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle is the second most prestigious juvenile hurdle in the British National Hunt calendar, after the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. Indeed, it is often contested by horses that ran in the ‘championship’ race for juvenile hurdlers; the last horse to complete the Triumph Hurdle/ Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle double was Pentland Hills, trained by Nicky Henderson, in 2019.

Alan King and Paul Nicholls are, jointly, the leading trainers in the modern history of the Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle. King was responsible for Katchit (2007), Walkon (2009), Grumeti (2012) and L’Unique (2013), while Nicholls saddled Le Duc (2003), Zarkandar (2011), All Yours (2015) and Monmiral (2021). The 2022 renewal of the Anniversary 4-Y-O Novices’ Hurdle produced a dramatic result; odds-on favourite Pied Piper rallied to force a dead-heat with Knight Salute – whom he had beaten 17¼ lengths, on the same terms, in the Triumph Hurdle – in the final strides, only to be demoted to second place for causing interference.

The 2023 renewal of Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle is scheduled for 2.20pm on Thursday, April 7. Look out for horses that feature highly in the ante-post lists for the Triump Hurdle, such as the promising Daddy Long Legs, from the first crop of European champion three-year-old colt Almanzor.

Leighton Aspell

Many of the best National Hunt jockeys of the modern era, including Jonjo O’Neill, John Francome, Peter Scudamore and even Richard Johnson – who’s ridden more winners than anyone else in the history of the sport, apart from Sir Anthony Peter “A.P.” McCoy – have failed to win the Grand National. Not so Leighton Aspell who, unlike those illustrious names, will never be champion jockey, but has won the National not just once, but twice.

 

Aspell first rode in the National, at the age of 27, in 2003 and later admitted that he was “thrilled to bits” to finish second on 40/1 outsider Supreme Glory, 12 lengths behind the winner, Monty’s Pass. He came a cropper at Becher’s Brook, the Chair and Valentine’s Brook in 2004, 2005 and 2006, respectively and, when he pulled up Billyvoddan, who was tailed off at the time, approaching the first open ditch on the second circuit in 2007, his chance of winning the National appeared to be gone forever.

 

Three months later, no longer enjoying racing or going racing, Aspell retired from race riding. However, after working as pupil assistant to Arundel trainer John Dunlop, he began to miss race riding and announced his comeback as a jockey in April, 2009. He didn’t ride in the Grand National until 2011 when, although he completed the course, was beaten the proverbial “country mile” on 66/1 outsider In Compliance, who finished thirteenth of the 19 finishers.

 

However, undeterred, Aspell was back at Aintree three years later, aboard 25/1 chance Pineau De Re, an 11-year-old trained by Dr. Richard Newland. A small, but classy, individual, Pineau De Re made a few jumping errors, but ultimately pulled clear on the run-in to beat Balthazar King by 5 lengths. Aspell said afterwards, “It’s a wonderful day. This is what we do it for.”

 

Lo and behold, Aspell won the Grand National again in 2015, aboard another 25/1 chance, Many Clouds, an 8-year-old trained by Oliver Sherwood. In so doing, he became the first jockey since Brian Fletcher, in 1974 – and just the third since World War II – to win back-to-back Nationals.

Red Marauder

The 2001 renewal of the Grand National was memorable for several reasons. Run with foot-and-mouth precautions in place, in atrocious conditions, the race descended into a gruelling war of attrition, with just four finishers – two of whom were remounted – and a winner who was described by his jockey, Richard Guest, as ‘the worst jumper ever to win a Grand National.’

The winner was, of course, Red Marauder, an unheralded 33/1 chance at the ‘off’, who survived numerous mistakes to come home in splendid isolation, a distance ahead of Smarty. On a wet, windy afternoon, 15 of the 40 starters had already exited the race by the time the field approached the Canal Turn on the first circuit. At that stage, the riderless Paddy’s Return, who had parted company with jockey Adrian Maguire at the third fence, ran down the fence and put to the chances of eight more runners.

Heading out onto the second circuit, just eight runners remained and that number was reduced to three after a further incident at the nineteenth fence and the departure of the well-fancied Beau a fence later. Thereafter, the National effectively became a match between Red Marauder and Smarty; although headed, after another mistake, at the fourth-last fence, Red Marauder took a clear lead

turning for home and was driven out to beat his toiling rival, who stopped to a walk on the run-in. Blowing Wind and Papillon were eventually remounted to finish third and fourth, the proverbial ‘country mile’ behind the first pair.