Grand National drama as Ruby Walsh points out starter's mistake - 'Got it wrong'

Ruby Walsh was adamant the starter 'got it wrong' with his handling of the William Hill Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle at Aintree. The race, which took place hours before the , was won by Deep Cave for trainer Christian Williams. Timmy Tuesday came home in second place, with Double Powerful coming home in third.

The start of the race was a bit of a mess, with some horses breaking into a canter while others continued to jog. As they approached the line, others slowed down to nearly a stop. There was no intervention from the starter, who allowed the race to continue with a number of horses being left behind.

Walsh, in his role as an ITV analyst, was not impressed with the way it was handled and reluctantly placed the blame on the starter.

"I don't want to be knocking the starter because I wouldn't do his job for ten times the salary, whatever he's getting, but I think yes, he has got it wrong here," said Walsh.

"They're jogging forward at this stage, which is allowed, but when they break from the jig-jog into a canter there can't be a start. Dartan breaks, Whatcouldhavebeen in the blue goes forward, but they don't get back to a jig-jog.

"For me, Whatcouldhavebeen is still trotting. That's a trot, not a jig-jog. Then he [the starter] starts the race and a couple get left behind."

The incident took place at the start of the first race on Saturday, the final day of the Grand National Festival. There have already been four false starts at Aintree this year, .

The starter of the Mares' Novices' Hurdle allowed the race to begin despite one horse facing the opposite direction. Maughreen, trained by Willie Mullins, was given no extra time to get ready after turning around just seconds before the start.

Aintree is no stranger to mishaps at the start line, with the results of the Grand National in 1993 being voided in a nightmare scenario. Esha Ness was the first to cross the finishing post but was denied a historic victory due to an error at the start.

30 of the 39 runners began and carried on racing despite there being a false start, with only seven completing the course. It was decided by the Jocket Club that it would not be re-run, leading to it being known as the 'race that never was'.