GRAND NATIONAL : It’s No Problem for 16-1 Shot Miinnehoma

A year after the biggest fiasco in Grand National history, the world’s premier steeplechase went off without a hitch Saturday.

Miinnehoma, a 16-1 shot ridden by Richard Dunwoody, held off a late challenge from Just So to win the grueling 4 1/2-mile race at Aintree by 1 1/4 lengths.

Moorcroft Boy, the 5-1 favorite, finished third and Ebony Jane, a 25-1 shot, was fourth.

In the best performance by a female jockey in the National, Rosemary Henderson, 51, rode 150-1 shot Fiddlers Pike to fifth place. Roc de Prince was the sixth and only other finisher.

Poor conditions caused by recent heavy rain took their toll on the other 30 starters, who either fell, lost their riders or pulled up on the heavy ground.

The main casualty was The Fellow, the French-trained gelding bidding to become only the second horse in history to win both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year. The Fellow was contending for the lead when he fell at the 24th fence.

What mattered most, really, was that the race came off. Last year, it was declared void after two false starts.

A new starting procedure worked perfectly, as starter Simon Morant pressed an electronic button that automatically raised the tape above the heads of the jockeys.

Police mounted a massive security operation to prevent the race from being disrupted by animal-rights activists. Last year, demonstrators got onto the course, causing one of the false starts.