Auroras Encore was the winner of the 2013 John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree Racecourse, on Saturday 6th April. The 66-1 long shot, ridden by jockey Ryan Mania and trained by Sue Smith (wife of the legendary showjumper Harvey Smith) won by 9 lengths. Sue is only the third woman to have trained a Grand National winner, following Jenny Pitman (1983 and 1995) and Venetia Williams (2009). Katie Walsh was doing her best to make history as the first female jockey to win the National but sadly her ride, Seabass, “ran out of petrol” to finish in 13th place. Cappa Bleu, ridden by Paul Moloney, came 2nd and Teaforthree, ridden by Nick Scholfield came in 3rd. The race started with 40 runners, competing for a share of the £975,000 prize fund.