2011 Grand National

The 2011 Grand National was the 164th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England.
The showpiece steeplechase began at 4:15 pm BST on 9 April 2011, the final day of the three-day annual meeting. The maximum permitted field of forty runners competed for prize money totalling a record £950,000, making it the highest valued National Hunt race in the United Kingdom.
Nineteen of the forty participants completed the 4½-mile course; of the 21 who did not, two suffered fatal falls on the first circuit, reigniting debates over the safety of the event, ultimately leading to changes in the following year's race.
Irish horse Ballabriggs won the race, securing the first-place prize money of £535,135 and a first Grand National win for trainer Donald McCain, Jr., the son of four-time winning trainer Ginger McCain. Owned by Trevor Hemmings, Ballabriggs was ridden by Irish jockey Jason Maguire and was sent off at odds of 14/1. The pairing completed the race in 9 minutes 1.2 seconds, the second-fastest time in Grand National history.

Race card

On 2 February 2011 Aintree released the names of 102 horses submitted to enter, including 34 Irish-trained and three French-trained horses. Ten were trained by Paul Nicholls, including a leading contender in Niche Market; nine were handled by Irish trainer Willie Mullins, and three by Jonjo O'Neill, the trainer of Don't Push It, the 2010 winner. Ballabriggs, another leading contender, was trained by Donald McCain, Jr., the son of Ginger McCain who trained Red Rum to three National victories in the 1970s and returned with another winner, Amberleigh House, in 2004.
20 contenders were withdrawn in the first scratchings. After a second scratchings deadline on 24 March 74 horses remained on the list of entrants, with the top weight handicap of 11 st 10 lb allocated to last year's winner Don't Push It. The official odds on 24 March placed Mullins-trained The Midnight Club at 10/1 favourite. Backstage and Oscar Time were given joint-second favourite odds of 12/1.
At the five-day deadline on 4 April, nine further withdrawals since the second scratchings left a total of 65 contenders still in the running to compete. Nina Carberry, the sister of 1999 winner Paul Carberry, became the first female jockey to take a third ride in the Grand National. Four amateur jockeys lined up to compete. Official odds on favourite The Midnight Club were cut to 8/1, while What A Friend replaced Oscar Time as a joint-second favourite with Backstage on odds of 11/1.
On 7 April, Aintree declared the final confirmed list of 40 runners and four reserves as follows. The reserves would replace any withdrawals prior to 9 am on 8 April. None of the reserves, however, were required.

Number	Horse	Age	Weight	SP	Jockey	Trainer	Owner
1	Don't Push It	11	11–10		Tony McCoy	Jonjo O'Neill	J. P. McManus
2	Tidal Bay	10	11-09		Brian Hughes	Howard Johnson	Mr. & Mrs. Graham Wylie
3	What A Friend	8	11-06		Daryl Jacob	Paul Nicholls	Ged Mason & Sir Alex Ferguson
4	Vic Venturi	11	11-06		Andrew Lynch	Dessie Hughes	Seamus Dunne
5	Majestic Concorde	8	11-05		Mr. Robbie McNamara	Dermot Weld	Dr. Ronan Lambe
6	Or Noir de Somoza	9	11-05		Barry Geraghty*	David Pipe	Filsal Stadeg Racing
7	Dooneys Gate	10	11-04		Mr. Patrick Mullins	Willie Mullins	Mrs. Jackie Mullins
8	Big Fella Thanks	9	11-01		Graham Lee	Ferdy Murphy	Crossed Fingers Partnership
9	The Tother One	10	11-00		Mr. Ryan Mahon	Paul Nicholls	Graham Roach
10	Ballabriggs	10	11-00		Jason Maguire	Donald McCain, Jr.	Trevor Hemmings
11	The Midnight Club	10	10–13	F	Ruby Walsh	Willie Mullins	Mrs. Susannah Ricci
12	Niche Market	10	10–13		Harry Skelton	Paul Nicholls	Graham Regan
13	Silver by Nature	9	10–12		Peter Buchanan	Ms. Lucinda Russell	Geoff Brown
14	Backstage	9	10–12		Paul Carberry	Gordon Elliott	MPR & Capranny Syndicate
15	Chief Dan George	11	10–12		Paddy Aspell	Jimmy Moffatt	Maurice Chapman
16	Calgary Bay	8	10–10		Hadden Frost	Ms. Henrietta Knight	Mrs. Camilla Radford
17	Killyglen	9	10–10		Robbie Power	Stuart Crawford	David McCammon
18	Oscar Time	10	10-09		Mr. Sam Waley-Cohen	Martin Lynch	Robert Waley-Cohen & S. & M. Broughton
19	Quinz	7	10-08		Richard Johnson	Philip Hobbs	Andrew Cohen
20	Becauseicouldntsee	8	10-08		Davy Russell	Noel Glynn	Noel Glynn
21	Comply or Die	12	10-08		Timmy Murphy	David Pipe	David Johnson
22	Quolibet	7	10-08		Mark Walsh	Jonjo O'Neill	J. P. McManus
23	Grand Slam Hero	10	10-07		Aidan Coleman	Nigel Twiston-Davies	Walters Plant Hire Ltd.
24	State of Play	11	10-06		Paul Moloney	Evan Williams	Mr. & Mrs. William Rucker
25	King Fontaine	8	10-06		Denis O'Regan	Malcolm Jefferson	Trevor Hemmings
26	In Compliance	11	10-05		Leighton Aspell	Dessie Hughes	Westerly Breeze Syndicate
27	Hello Bud	13	10-05		Sam Twiston-Davies	Nigel Twiston-Davies	Seamus Murphy
28	West End Rocker	9	10-05		Robert Thornton	Alan King	Barry Winfield & Tim Leadbeater
29	Santa's Son	11	10-05		Jamie Moore	Howard Johnson	Douglas Pryde & Jim Beaumont
30	Bluesea Cracker	9	10-04		Andrew McNamara	James Motherway	J. P. McManus
31	That's Rhythm	11	10-04		James Reveley	Martin Todhunter	Don't Tell Henry
32	Surface to Air	10	10-04		Tom Messenger	Chris Bealby	Tim Urry
33	Piraya	8	10-04		Johnny Farrelly	David Pipe	Terry Neill
34	Can't Buy Time	9	10-04		Richie McLernon	Jonjo O'Neill	J. P. McManus
35	Character Building	11	10-04		Ms. Nina Carberry	John Quinn	Patricia Thompson
36	Ornais	9	10-04		Nick Scholfield	Paul Nicholls	The Stewart family
37	Arbor Supreme	9	10-03		David Casey	Willie Mullins	J. P. McManus
38	Royal Rosa	12	10-03		Paul Gallagher	Howard Johnson	Mr. & Mrs. Graham Wylie
39	Skippers Brig	10	10-02		Dominic Elsworth	Nicky Richards	Ashelybank Investments Ltd.
40	Golden Kite	9	10-02		Shane Hassett	Adrian Maguire	Dr. Anthony Calnan
R1	Always Waining	10	10-02			Peter Bowen	Mr. & Mrs. Peter Douglas
R2	Faasel	10	10-01			David Pipe	Jim Ennis
R3	Le Beau Bai	8	10-01			Richard Lee	Glass Half Full Syndicate
R4	Giles Cross	9	10-00			Victor Dartnall	KCMS Partnership

Barry Geraghty rode Or Noir de Somoza after his original jockey, Tom Scudamore, withdrew due to an injury sustained in a race the day prior to the National.
Finishing order

Ten-year-old Ballabriggs led for much of the race, and the gelding eventually saw off a strong run-in challenge from amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen on Oscar Time who secured second place. Third was 2010 winner Tony McCoy on Don't Push It, twelve lengths behind the second. 15/2 favourite The Midnight Club made a mistake at the third fence and finished sixth.
State of Play, the eleven-year-old 28/1 shot trained by Welshman Evan Williams, finished in the top four for the third successive National.
Nineteen runners completed the course, including three of the six 100/1 shots. This was the highest number of finishers since 2005 when twenty-one horses passed the finishing post.

Position	Horse	Jockey	SP	Distance	Prize money
1	Ballabriggs	Jason Maguire		Won by 2¼ lengths	£535,135
2	Oscar Time	Mr. Sam Waley-Cohen		12 lengths	£201,590
3	Don't Push It	Tony McCoy		2 lengths	£100,890
4	State of Play	Paul Moloney		7 lengths	£50,445
5	Niche Market	Harry Skelton		4 lengths	£25,270
6	The Midnight Club	Ruby Walsh	F	13 lengths	£12,635
7	Big Fella Thanks	Graham Lee		A head	£6,270
8	Surface to Air	Tom Messenger		19 lengths	£3,230
9	Skippers Brig	Dominic Elsworth		8 lengths	-
10	Backstage	Paul Carberry		½ length	-
11	King Fontaine	Denis O'Regan		25 lengths	-
12	Silver by Nature	Peter Buchanan		5 lengths	-
13	In Compliance	Leighton Aspell		8 lengths	-
14	Bluesea Cracker	Andrew McNamara		16 lengths	-
15	Character Building	Ms. Nina Carberry		12 lengths	-
16	Golden Kite	Shane Hassett		A distance	-
17	Chief Dan George	Paddy Aspell		20 lengths	-
18	Royal Rosa	Paul Gallagher		A distance	-
19	Piraya	Johnny Farrelly		Last to complete	-

2011 Grand National

Race card

Finishing order