2000 Grand National
| Grand National | |
| Location | Aintree |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 April 2000 |
| Winning horse |
 Papillon
|
| Jockey |
Ruby Walsh
|
| Trainer |
Ted Walsh
|
| Owner | Mrs. J. Maxwell Moran |
|
← 1999
2001 →
|
|
 Replay of the 2000 Grand National in full Racing UK, YouTube |
The 2000 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 153rd official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree Racecourse in England on 8 April 2000.
The race was won in a time of 9 minutes 9.7 seconds and by a distance of 1¼ lengths by 10/1 shot Papillon, ridden by jockey Ruby Walsh. The winner was trained by his father Ted Walsh and ran in American Betty Moran's colours of green with ice blue piping. The field was limited to a maximum of 40 competitors of which 17 completed the course without mishap. None of the horses who failed to complete the course were injured.
Dark Stranger was sent off as the 9/1 favourite, largely due to his being the mount of champion jockey Tony McCoy. The pairing had won the Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase at the recent Cheltenham meeting but had yet to win a race over three miles. The favourite backers' hopes were dashed early in the race when McCoy took a heavy fall at the third fence.
Star Traveller was a regular winner of good three mile chases prior to finishing third in a three-mile chase at the Cheltenham festival. The mount of Richard Johnson was sent off at 10/1 and led for much of the race before being pulled up after going lame when hitting the 25th fence.
Papillon was the subject of a huge public gamble from 33/1 to 10/1 on the day of the race. The Irish trained runner had undergone an unusual preparation of hurdles but had previously been second in the Irish Grand National and Irish Hennessey Cognac Gold Cup. Ruby Walsh kept his mount in the leading group throughout before taking the lead four fences from home, going on to win by one-and-a-quarter lengths.
Bobbyjo was popular with the public having won the previous year's National and was sent off at 12/1. He was again partnered by Paul Carberry and featured prominently in the early stages of the race until making a bad mistake at the seventh fence. The pair were always struggling to stay in touch after that and finished 11th.
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