A few minutes earlier the two of us had clambered into it up a notably rickety ladder ahead of the 150th Aintree Grand National. Crowds file on to the Aintree course after the order came of evacuate the stands following a bomb scare ahead of the 1997 Grand National. Some of the great and the good of Irish racing were among those determined to make the most of a bad lot in the Moat House. O’Sullevan was pessimistic about the 1997 Grand National going ahead. National Hunt racing in Ireland and Britain is a single organism in many ways, two sides of the same coin.

Source: The Irish Times August 19, 2020 04:52 UTC