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The 2003 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 156th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree at 3:45pm BST, on 5 April 2003. The ten-year-old 16/1 shot Monty's Pass, ridden by Barry Geraghty and trained by Jimmy Mangan in Cork, Ireland, won the race by 12 lengths from the 2001 Welsh National winner Supreme Glory (40/1) in a time of 9 minutes 21.7 seconds. The field was limited to a maximum of 40 competitors, and 14 completed the 4 mile 4 furlong course. There was one equine fatality during the race. ==Leading contenders== Shotgun Willy became the favourite for the race after winning the Red Square Vodka Gold Cup at Haydock on 1 March and remained the most popular entrant with the public, going off as the 7/1 clear favourite, ridden by Ruby Walsh who had previously won the race in 2000. Shotgun Willy was always towards the rear of the field and began to lose touch with the leaders early on the second circuit, pulling up after making a mistake at the 21st fence. Youllneverwalkalone won the Leopardstown Chase in January and then the William Hill Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in March and was sent off as the 8/1 joint-second favourite in partnership with rider Conor O'Dwyer. The horse was naturally popular with punters on the Liverpool course due to links with Liverpool Football Club whose anthem is the song of the same name, however the horse was at the back of the field when he suffered a leg injury at the 11th fence and was instantly pulled up. He was found to have broken a leg and, although he recovered, was never raced again.〔(Scientists reveal secrets of Grand National success ) The Guardian, 25 March 2004〕 Iris Bleu had fallen in the 2002 National but had won the Thomas Pink Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in December and the Agfa Diamond Chase at Sandown in January to be backed to 8/1 on race day. Ridden by champion jockey Tony McCoy, Iris Bleu made a series of mistakes and was pulled up lame before taking the water jump at the end of the first circuit. Ad Hoc had been travelling well when brought down in the 2002 race, and was partnered by 1999 winning jockey Paul Carberry; the pair went off at a price of 9/1 and almost fell at the first fence. Having recovered, they were making progress when Carberry was unseated at the 19th. Chives had run prominently in several major races, including finishing second in the 2002 Welsh National and seventh in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and was sent off at 10/1 in company with 1998 winning rider Richard Guest but also disappointed with mistakes before suffering injury at the 11th fence where he was pulled up. At 16/1, Monty's Pass was considered among the good each-way chances for the race and had been backed heavily on race day from 40/1 the day before after being tipped by several leading tipsters. Among those who predicted his victory were John Francome in ''The Sun'', Eddie Freemantle in ''The Observer'', Marten Julian in ''The Sunday Telegraph'' and Thunderer in ''The Times'' while Pricewise in the ''Racing Post'' tipped the horse to win two months before the race.〔(What the tipsters said ) BBC Sport, 1 April 2003〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2003 Grand National」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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