And the winner is.....
What a race!
Total farce at the start, took them three or four attempts to get away - then they all set off like rockets. 40 started, only 13 finished, nearly all the favourites fell, nail-biting finish.
And so the winners:
1. Silver Birch, backed by wildmagelet
2. McKelvey, backed by bratanimus
3. Slim Pickings, backed by godricgal
4. Philson Run, backed by drumher
5. Liberthine, also backed by wildmagelet
Other finishers:
6. Numbersixlaverde, backed by ladybracknell
7. Longshanks, backed by kileaiya
8. Puntal, backed by joely_jo
9. Hedgehunter, backed by mrstater
10. L'Ami, backed by phe_o
11. Clan Royal, backed by joely_jo
12. Gallant Approach, backed by molly_coddles
13. Kelami, backed by shimotsuki
All the horses are fine, and I'm trying to find a full report of what happened to everyone, so you can see what happened to your pick if they're not in this list. I'll edit this post when I find it (and I'm also hoping You Tube will come up trumps with footage at some point).
In a slight tweak to the rules....
Since wildmagelet has two top five horses, we've decided that the number sixth place horse should get a fic, too, since it's a bit unfair for wildmagelet to get two. And unfortunately, that's me, so it looks like a fix, but it isn't ;). gilpin25 has already launched a full steward's inquiry....
And so to the prizes! Winners, please visit this thread and use the list of other competitors to pick someone whose horse didn't win (so that means don't pick wildmagelet, bratanimus, godricgal or drumher or ladybracknell) to write you something, using their own guidelines to help you choose. Reply to their comment and let them know you've picked them and what you'd like.
If someone picks you to write for them, you've got from now until May 15th to post their prize fic to this community.
And now, I need a nice sit down, a rub down with a damp cloth, and maybe a nose bag....
ETA: Race Report from the BBC here.
And here's the full list of what happened to everyone's horses:
1 HEDGEHUNTER
Finished in ninth place.
2 EUROTREK
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Beecher's Brook).
3 L'AMI
Finished in 10th place.
4 MONKERHOSTIN
Refused at seventh fence (Canal Turn).
5 THISTHATANDTOTHER
Pulled up at 29th fence.
6 BILLYVODDAN
Pulled up at 19th fence (Westhead).
7 NUMBERSIXVALVERDE
Finished in sixth place.
8 IDLE TALK
Unseated rider at 19th fence.
9 ROYAL AUCLAIR
Fell at ninth fence (Valentine's Brook)
10 CLOUDY BAYS
Refused at 10th fence.
11 KNOWHERE
Unseated runner at eighth fence (Canal Turn).
12 KELAMI
Finished in 13th place.
13 POINT BARROW
Fell at first fence.
14 CELTIC SON
Pulled up at 22nd fence.
15 SIMON
Fell at 25th fence (Valentine's Brook).
16 BALLYCASSIDY
Unseated rider at 24th fence (Canal Turn).
17 CLAN ROYAL
Finished in 11th place.
18 GALLANT APPROACH
Finished in 12th place.
19 LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE
Unseated rider at sixth fence (Becher's Brook).
20 DUN DOIRE
Pulled up at 27th fence.
21 KANDJAR D'ALLIER
Fell at eighth fence (Canal Turn).
22 SLIM PICKINGS
Finished in third place.
23 ZABENZ
Pulled up at 14th fence.
24 BEWLEYS BERRY
Fell at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook).
25 LONGSHANKS
Finished in seventh place.
26 BOTHAR NA
Pulled up at 29th fence.
27 GRAPHIC APPROACH
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook)
28 HOMER WELLS
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook)
29 LIBERTHINE
Finished in fifth place.
30 SILVER BIRCH
Winner.
31 PHILSON RUN
Finished in fourth place.
32 PUNTAL
Finished in eighth place.
33 THE OUTLIER
Unseated rider at 19th fence.
34 TIKRAM
Unseated rider at first fence.
35 MCKELVEY
Finished in second place.
36 NAUNTON BROOK
Pulled up at 23rd fence.
37 JACK HIGH
Fell at sixth fence (Becher's Brook).
38 SONEVAFUSHI
Pulled up at 29th fence.
39 JOES EDGE
Pulled up at 20th fence.
40 LE DUC
Pulled up at sixth fence (Becher's Brook)
Total farce at the start, took them three or four attempts to get away - then they all set off like rockets. 40 started, only 13 finished, nearly all the favourites fell, nail-biting finish.
And so the winners:
1. Silver Birch, backed by wildmagelet
2. McKelvey, backed by bratanimus
3. Slim Pickings, backed by godricgal
4. Philson Run, backed by drumher
5. Liberthine, also backed by wildmagelet
Other finishers:
6. Numbersixlaverde, backed by ladybracknell
7. Longshanks, backed by kileaiya
8. Puntal, backed by joely_jo
9. Hedgehunter, backed by mrstater
10. L'Ami, backed by phe_o
11. Clan Royal, backed by joely_jo
12. Gallant Approach, backed by molly_coddles
13. Kelami, backed by shimotsuki
All the horses are fine, and I'm trying to find a full report of what happened to everyone, so you can see what happened to your pick if they're not in this list. I'll edit this post when I find it (and I'm also hoping You Tube will come up trumps with footage at some point).
In a slight tweak to the rules....
Since wildmagelet has two top five horses, we've decided that the number sixth place horse should get a fic, too, since it's a bit unfair for wildmagelet to get two. And unfortunately, that's me, so it looks like a fix, but it isn't ;). gilpin25 has already launched a full steward's inquiry....
And so to the prizes! Winners, please visit this thread and use the list of other competitors to pick someone whose horse didn't win (so that means don't pick wildmagelet, bratanimus, godricgal or drumher or ladybracknell) to write you something, using their own guidelines to help you choose. Reply to their comment and let them know you've picked them and what you'd like.
If someone picks you to write for them, you've got from now until May 15th to post their prize fic to this community.
And now, I need a nice sit down, a rub down with a damp cloth, and maybe a nose bag....
ETA: Race Report from the BBC here.
And here's the full list of what happened to everyone's horses:
1 HEDGEHUNTER
Finished in ninth place.
2 EUROTREK
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Beecher's Brook).
3 L'AMI
Finished in 10th place.
4 MONKERHOSTIN
Refused at seventh fence (Canal Turn).
5 THISTHATANDTOTHER
Pulled up at 29th fence.
6 BILLYVODDAN
Pulled up at 19th fence (Westhead).
7 NUMBERSIXVALVERDE
Finished in sixth place.
8 IDLE TALK
Unseated rider at 19th fence.
9 ROYAL AUCLAIR
Fell at ninth fence (Valentine's Brook)
10 CLOUDY BAYS
Refused at 10th fence.
11 KNOWHERE
Unseated runner at eighth fence (Canal Turn).
12 KELAMI
Finished in 13th place.
13 POINT BARROW
Fell at first fence.
14 CELTIC SON
Pulled up at 22nd fence.
15 SIMON
Fell at 25th fence (Valentine's Brook).
16 BALLYCASSIDY
Unseated rider at 24th fence (Canal Turn).
17 CLAN ROYAL
Finished in 11th place.
18 GALLANT APPROACH
Finished in 12th place.
19 LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE
Unseated rider at sixth fence (Becher's Brook).
20 DUN DOIRE
Pulled up at 27th fence.
21 KANDJAR D'ALLIER
Fell at eighth fence (Canal Turn).
22 SLIM PICKINGS
Finished in third place.
23 ZABENZ
Pulled up at 14th fence.
24 BEWLEYS BERRY
Fell at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook).
25 LONGSHANKS
Finished in seventh place.
26 BOTHAR NA
Pulled up at 29th fence.
27 GRAPHIC APPROACH
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook)
28 HOMER WELLS
Pulled up at 22nd fence (Becher's Brook)
29 LIBERTHINE
Finished in fifth place.
30 SILVER BIRCH
Winner.
31 PHILSON RUN
Finished in fourth place.
32 PUNTAL
Finished in eighth place.
33 THE OUTLIER
Unseated rider at 19th fence.
34 TIKRAM
Unseated rider at first fence.
35 MCKELVEY
Finished in second place.
36 NAUNTON BROOK
Pulled up at 23rd fence.
37 JACK HIGH
Fell at sixth fence (Becher's Brook).
38 SONEVAFUSHI
Pulled up at 29th fence.
39 JOES EDGE
Pulled up at 20th fence.
40 LE DUC
Pulled up at sixth fence (Becher's Brook)