The Grand National is a race where the horses should always take centre stage. However, from time to time, this is not the case, and the 2010 Grand National was certainly one of those.
AP McCoy, the greatest national hunt jockey to ever live, landed his first Grand National at the 15th attempt, lifting the roof off Aintree racecourse in the process. McCoy is one of the most popular jockeys with punters, one that everyone wants to do well, and now he has the big one, and his mount was certainly backed by his adoring fans.
Available at 20/1 on the morning of the race, Don’t Push It was eventually sent off as the 10/1 joint-favourite, with plenty of money down from both those who fancied the horse and McCoy fans looking for a fairytale.
Once again, in 2010, the beauty of Aintree delivered in full
Results
| Result | Horse | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Prize Money | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don't Push It | 10/1 | 10 | 11-5 | £521,052 | Tony McCoy | Jonjo O’Neill |
| 2 | Black Apalachi | 14/1 | 11 | 11-6 | £196,285 | Denis O’Regan | Dessie Hughes |
| 3 | State of Play | 16/1 | 10 | 10-11 | £98,235 | Paul Moloney | Evan Williams |
| 4 | Big Fella Thanks | 10/1 | 8 | 10-12 | £49,117 | Barry Geraghty | Paul Nicholls |
| 5 | Hello Bud | 20/1 | 12 | 10-6 | £24,605 | Sam Twiston-Davies | Nigel Twiston-Davies |
| 6 | Snowy Morning | 14/1 | 10 | 10-13 | £12,302 | David Casey | Willie Mullins |
| 7 | Character Building | 16/1 | 10 | 10-11 | £6,105 | Ms Nina Carberry | John Quinn |
| 8 | Cloudy Lane | 25/1 | 10 | 11-3 | £3,145 | Jason Maguire | Donald McCain Jnr |
| 9 | Tricky Trickster | 16/1 | 7 | 11-4 | - | Richard Johnson OBE | Paul Nicholls |
| 10 | Joe Lively | 33/1 | 11 | 11-6 | - | Joe Tizzard | Colin Tizzard |
| 11 | Cerium | 50/1 | 9 | 10-6 | - | Davy Russell | Paul Murphy |
| 12 | Comply or Die | 12/1 | 11 | 10-5 | - | Timmy Murphy | David Pipe |
| 13 | Piraya | 100/1 | 7 | 10-7 | - | Johnny Farrelly | David Pipe |
| 14 | Priests Leap | 100/1 | 10 | 11-00 | - | Philip Enright | Tom O’Leary |
Non Finishers
What Happened In The 2010 Grand National?
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While there are a handful of stories from the 2010 Grand National, in many ways, just one matters. AP McCoy won his first Grand National, at the 15th attempt, and in doing so, took home the biggest prize in racing, which is fitting for the jockey who many regard as being the best to ever ride on the national hunt scene.
By winning the race, McCoy avoided equalling the record for the most rides in the race without a win, that is held by Jeff King, McCoy didn’t join the club.
40 runners went to post, with one reserve, Royal Rosa for Howard Johnson getting into the race after Abbeybraney was withdrawn from the contest. The going on the day was good, good to soft in places and more than 70,000 were in the course for the race, which makes this the most attended National since 2005.
Just 14 runners made it around the course, with numerous either falling or unseating their rider, though there were no fatalities on the course, which had happened in the past four years and was good to see.
There was controversy at the start of the race, with King John’s Castle refusing to race. He was left at the start and would no doubt have been popular with some punters due to being a grey horse in the field. The going for the race was described as good, good to soft in places.
Don’t Push It ran out a five length winner in the end, with Black Apalachi in second place and a long gap to State Of Play in third. There was little to choose between the front two after they jumped the last, but Don’t Push It responded to the power of McCoy in the saddle, and he lifted him home to finally land a win in the big race.
McCoy Wins First National
The greatest we have ever seen in the saddle, finally gets his hand on the greatest national hunt prize of them all. There wasn’t anyone out there who didn’t want McCoy to win the race, and finally, he’s done it.
This was McCoy’s 15th attempt at the race, just nine others have been in the race 15 times, and only one has ridden so much and never won it, Jeff King. McCoy doesn’t join him as being the man without a win after the most attempts, instead he goes down in history as a winner.
Changing Of The Guard With 9 New Jockeys Taking Part
Just under a quarter of the field were being ridden by jockeys who had never rode in the race before, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a fairy tale start for any of them. Of the nine to compete in the race for the first time, just one, 17-year-old Sam Twiston-Davies, managed to complete the course, finishing fifth aboard Hello Bud. Harry Skelton, Brian Hughes, Danny Cook and Ritchie McLernon were just some of the bigger names amongst the nine making their race debuts here.
Moments Of Note
- At the 15th time of trying, AP McCoy finally lands his first Grand National win aboard Don’t Push It
- He was gambled on heavily during the day of the race, backed from a morning price of 20/1 down to be 10/1 joint favourite
- Nine riders were racing in the event for the very first time, including a 17-year-old Sam Twiston-Davies
- Just 14 horses managed to complete the course from the 40 that started