IT'S SAFETY FIRST BUT NOBLE'S MY WINNER

Sky Racing frontman Robert Cooper casts a wistful eye back on old-school Nationals - but he's fixed on Yeats

- Robert Cooper

AS we trot up towards the start of the most celebrated steeplechase on the planet, I wonder if the Grand National still resonates with those watching as it did say 20 years ago, let alone the black and white TV days pre-1969.

I’ve only sat upon (not ridden) half a dozen horses, none of them moving much faster than a very tired snail and I salute every jockey who sets out over those daunting Grand National fences.

The thought of leaving the ground 30 times to leap those obstacles leaves me giddy. The act of winning the Aintree marathon remains the pinnacle for jockey, trainer and owner

Forget levelling the landing side of Becher’s – if you’ve ever stood by it or, say, the Chair, you’d soon learn that it takes something special to negotiate these 30 fences and win this exceptional race.

For better or worse, probably the former, we inhabit a world infatuated by safety measures, be they car seat belts, smoke alarms or making the Grand National obstacles more benign.

Only the other day in the Post Office I was asked to remove the string from my neatly wrapped parcel – ‘it could tangle in the machines,’ I was informed. To inhabit the days of old when Aintree racecourse was strewn with stricken horses is nowadays justifiably deemed inexcusable. Watching the race as a mere youth I can recall the knot in my stomach throughout the entire ten-minute drama. 

The frisson remains but maybe the ‘X’ rated viewing then certificate now shows PG.