I’m not sure when I first went to the National. It might have been in ’86 when West Tip won, or more likely I think for Maori Venture’s win the following year. It’s strange how I can easily recall the winners from the seventies and eighties but have no idea of the victors in recent years. A bit like the FA Cup, I suppose.
I can remember that I went on a bus from Stockton with Strach. It’s more likely to be ’87 as that was the year we did the Leger and the Arc too.
I know I went a couple of times in the early nineties. I was there for Party Politics and then the year when the false start didn’t get recalled. I’d taken my kids and, as you could in those days, parked in the centre of the course. I’ve a photo of my son somewhere, shorter than one of the fences.
It’s about fifteen years since my last visit. Paul and I went for a couple of years running and I recall him picking a big winner in the last race on one of those occasions.
This time I was there with Jen and had opted for some posh tickets. We were in the Earl of Derby Stand at one hundred and eight-five quid a pop. At least we got seats for our money. As with the previous day we were on the champagne, although the bar in our section was much less crowded than the day before, so it wouldn’t have been much of a hardship to keep making repeat visits for individual drinks.
I moved onto the whisky later on and then when they ran out switched to rum. That might have played a part in me tripping over some steps. Or perhaps it was just old-age.
Highlight of the day was bumping into an Irish wolfhound. The soldier who looked after him must have the best job in the Army. As the dog doesn’t go to war, neither does the handler. I could do a job like that.
Once again, we had little success with the betting and despite backing four horses in the big race came away empty handed. It was a shame really as it makes for a more memorable occasion if you’ve backed the National winner. As it is, I’ve already forgotten which horse came in first.
The weather turned ropey, so we hung on until well after the final race. By that time the storm had blown over and just about everyone else had cleared off. It made for an easy journey back to the Chester hotel.
Tags: Army dogs, Grand National
Trail of the Lion King 
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