2010 Grand National
The 2010 Grand National was the 163rd renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 2010.
The main race was held at 16:15 BST and was won by Don't Push It, ridden by Tony McCoy, five lengths ahead of Black Apalachi in second, and twenty ahead of State of Play in third.
It was McCoy's first win in the Grand National at his fifteenth attempt. Don't Push It started the race as 10–1 joint-favourite, having been backed down from 20–1 in the hours prior to the race. In the process of winning, McCoy avoided equalling the record for most rides in the National without winning, held by Jeff King.
The main race was seen by the largest attendance at Aintree since 2005, with a crowd of 70,341 on the day, and a total of 150,426 attending over the course of the three-day meeting.
Race card
- 1: Madison Du Berlais
- 2: Mon Mome
- 3: Vic Venturi
- 4: Black Apalachi
- 5: Joe Lively
- 6: Don't Push It
- 7: Comply or Die
- 8: Niche Market
- 9: Tricky Trickster
- 10: Made in Taipan
- 11: Dream Alliance
- 12: Cloudy Lane
- 13: Nozic
- 14: My Will
- 15: Pablo Du Charmil
- 16: Ballyholland
- 17: Backstage
- 18: Beat the Boys
- 19: Priests Leap
- 20: Snowy Morning
- 21: Can't Buy Time
- 22: Big Fella Thanks
- 23: State of Play
- 24: Character Building
- 25: Ellerslie George
- 26: Eric's Charm
- 27: King Johns Castle
- 28: Conna Castle
- 29: Ballyfitz
- 30: Ollie Magern
- 31: Arbor Supreme
- 32: Maljimar
- 33: The Package
- 34: Piraya
- 35: Irish Raptor
- 36: Cerium
- 37: Palypso De Creek
- 38: Hello Bud
- 39: Flintoff
- 40: Royal Rosa
Finishing order
| Position | Name | Rider | Age | Weight | Starting price | Distance | Prize money |
| 1st | Don't Push It | Tony McCoy | 10 | 11-05 | 10/1 JF | Winner by 5 lengths | £521,052 |
| 2nd | Black Apalachi | Denis O'Regan | 11 | 11-06 | 14/1 | 5 lengths | £196,285 |
| 3rd | State of Play | Paul Moloney | 10 | 10–11 | 16/1 | 20 lengths | £98,235 |
| 4th | Big Fella Thanks | Barry Geraghty | 8 | 10–12 | 10/1 JF | 3 lengths | £49,117 |
| 5th | Hello Bud | Sam Twiston-Davies | 12 | 10-06 | 20/1 | 7 lengths | £24,605 |
| 6th | Snowy Morning | David Casey | 10 | 10–13 | 14/1 | 1 lengths | £12,302 |
| 7th | Character Building | Nina Carberry | 10 | 10–11 | 16/1 | Neck | £6,105 |
| 8th | Cloudy Lane | Jason Maguire | 10 | 11-03 | 25/1 | 12 lengths | £3,145 |
| 9th | Tricky Trickster | Richard Johnson | 7 | 11-04 | 16/1 | ¾ length | Nil |
| 10th | Joe Lively | Joe Tizzard | 11 | 11-06 | 33/1 | Short head | Nil |
| 11th | Cerium | Davy Russell | 9 | 10-06 | 50/1 | A distance | Nil |
| 12th | Comply or Die | Timmy Murphy | 11 | 10-05 | 12/1 | 8 lengths | Nil |
| 13th | Piraya | Johnny Farrelly | 7 | 10-07 | 100/1 | A distance | Nil |
| 14th | Priests Leap | Philip Enright | 10 | 11-00 | 100/1 | Last to complete | Nil |
Non-finishers
| Fence | Name | Rider | Age | Weight | Starting price | Fate |
| Start line | King John's Castle | Paul Carberry | 11 | 10-09 | 28/1 | Refused to start |
| 1st | Eric's Charm | Wayne Hutchinson | 12 | 10-09 | 33/1 | Fell |
| 2nd | Pablo Du Charmil | Danny Cook | 9 | 11-02 | 100/1 | Fell |
| 4th | My Will | Nick Scholfield | 10 | 11-02 | 20/1 | Fell |
| 5th | Made in Taipan | Niall Madden | 8 | 11-04 | 100/1 | Fell |
| 8th | Can't Buy Time | Richie McClernon | 8 | 10–13 | 33/1 | Unseated rider |
| 14th | Irish Raptor | Paddy Brennan | 11 | 10-07 | 33/1 | Fell |
| 14th | Royal Rosa | Wilson Renwick | 11 | 10-05 | 66/1 | Unseated rider |
| 15th | Arbor Supreme | Paul Townend | 8 | 10-08 | 16/1 | Unseated rider |
| 19th | Madison Du Berlais | Tom Scudamore | 9 | 11–10 | 50/1 | Unseated rider |
| 19th | Beat The Boys | Brian Hughes | 9 | 11-00 | 66/1 | Pulled up |
| 19th | The Package | Graham Lee | 7 | 10-07 | 14/1 | Unseated rider |
| 20th | Vic Venturi | Roger Loughran | 10 | 11-06 | 25/1 | Fell when hampered |
| 20th | Nozic | Liam Treadwell | 9 | 11-03 | 40/1 | Unseated rider when hampered |
| 20th | Backstage | Davy Condon | 8 | 11-00 | 25/1 | Unseated rider when hampered |
| 21st | Flintoff | Andrew Tinkler | 9 | 10-05 | 50/1 | Pulled up |
| 22nd | Ballyfitz | David England | 10 | 10-09 | 50/1 | Fell |
| 22nd | Maljimar | Daryl Jacob | 10 | 10-08 | 28/1 | Fell |
| 23rd | Ellerslie George | Christian Williams | 10 | 10–10 | 66/1 | Unseated rider |
| 24th | Dream Alliance | Tom O'Brien | 9 | 11-03 | 16/1 | Pulled up |
| 26th | Mon Mome | Aidan Coleman | 10 | 11-07 | 14/1 | Fell |
| 27th | Palypso De Creek | Tom Siddall | 7 | 10-06 | 66/1 | Fell |
| 28th | Ballyholland | Andrew McNamara | 9 | 11-00 | 28/1 | Pulled up |
| 29th | Niche Market | Harry Skelton | 9 | 11-04 | 16/1 | Pulled up |
| 29th | Conna Castle | Sean Flanagan | 11 | 10-09 | 100/1 | Pulled up |
| 29th | Ollie Magern | Tom Molloy | 12 | 10-09 | 100/1 | Pulled up |
Trivia
For the first time since 2005, there were no equine fatalities in the main race. In each of the previous four years there was one casualty.Plaisir d'Estruval and Prudent Honour both died instantly after jumping Valentine's, the 13th fence in the Topham Chase on 9 April, a handicap over two miles and 5 furlongs. Both horses broke their necks. Earlier the same day, in the grade one Melling Chase over standard chase fences on the Mildmay track, Schindlers Hunt was put down after fracturing a leg in a fall at the third fence. Schindlers Hunt's jockey Paddy Flood broke his collarbone in the fall; the other jockeys were unhurt.
Coral bookmakers took the decision to refund bets placed on race-day for King John's Castle. The horse was bidding to become the first grey to win the National since 1961, but refused to run when the race started. Although under betting rules customers bets should have been classified as losers, Coral took the decision to make a goodwill refund gesture to their customers.
Jockeys and quotes
Selected quotes from the jockeys including winner at the fifteenth attempt, Tony McCoy, 17-year-old Sam Twiston-Davies who was aiming to become the second-youngest winning jockey ever, and Nina Carberry attempting to be first female rider to win the race:- Tony McCoy : "If you get enough goes at something and you keep going, once you're in there you've always got a chance. I'm delighted for JP as he's the best supporter this game has ever had and ever will have, and I'm very privileged to ride a Grand National winner in his colours."
- Denis O'Regan : "My fella's a tremendous horse and he gave me a tremendous feel. He just loves bowling along and loves this place. He was a bit keen early on but once he settled into a lovely rhythm he was fantastic. It's a pleasure to ride a horse like him round here."
- Paul Moloney : "It was a serious run from a serious horse who's been very good to me – and he might win it next year, please God."
- Barry Geraghty : "That was brilliant. He galloped from end to end, the best ride I've ever had round here. But if you can't have the winner then it's good to see AP win it."
- Sam Twiston-Davies : "That was brilliant. The horse has been a real star and has jumped from fence to fence."
- Nina Carberry : "He couldn't lay up and the plan was to give him a chance. I thought I had a really great chance of being in the money and in the first three over the Canal Turn, but he got tapped for toe and in the end I just got done for sixth. He ran a great race had it been softer he might have come back to them a bit more. Hopefully he'll come back next year."
At the opposite extreme, nine riders made their Grand National debut, though only one, Sam Twiston-Davies managed to complete the course, finishing fifth. Danny Cook's first National ended at the second fence while Ritchie McLernon, Brian Hughes, Roger Loughran, Tom Siddall, Harry Skelton and Tom Molloy were also taking part for the first time.
Broadcasting
As the Grand National was accorded the status as an event of national interest within the United Kingdom and was listed on the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events, the event had to be shown on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK. As with previous years the rights to broadcast the race were held by the BBC and the race, along with several others were shown on BBC One. It was also the first horse race in the UK to be broadcast in high definition on the BBC HD channel. The BBC's coverage was produced by Sunset + Vine who, with the aid of the SiS outside broadcast unit, provided coverage of fifteen races throughout the three-day meeting.Clare Balding served as anchor presenter for the fifth consecutive year with Rishi Persad providing interviews from the jockey's room as well as taking a closer look at the horses in the paddock with Richard Dunwoody. Mick Fitzgerald guided viewers through the course as well as providing post-race analysis from all the build-up races. Richard Pitman provided nostalgia with interviews with several famous names from the history of the race, including an interview with his ex-wife Jenny Pitman while Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes interviewed spectators in the stands for unusual and interesting stories. John Parrott and Gary Wiltshire completed the team with news from the betting ring.
The commentary team for the 2010 Grand National consisted of Ian Bartlett, Darren Owen and Jim McGrath, who called the winner home for the thirteenth consecutive year. This was the first time for six years that the team had been reduced from four to three with Tony O'Hehir being dropped in what the BBC called a cost-cutting exercise. As is tradition, anchor presenter Balding conducted the interviews with the winning connections while Bartlett, Dunwoody and Fitzgerald then took the viewers through a detailed rerun of the race.
BBC radio also covered the race live for the seventy-ninth time as part of its wider Five Live Sports broadcast. Mark Pougatch presented the programme live from Aintree with race commentary called by Cornelius Lysaght and John Hunt. The race was also covered by Racing UK into bookmakers' offices throughout the UK and Ireland using alternative camera shots from the BBC with their own commentary team.