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GRAND NATIONAL DAY DAYWorlds Worlds Most Famous Steeple ¬ chase to Be Run Today Americas Hope in Duettiste and andSergeant Sergeant Murphy An Extra ExtraLarge Large Field Expected LONDON England March 22 All Ens land is turning its eyes to Liverpool where tomorrow the eightyfourth running of the world famous Grand National Steeplechase will be decided over the difficult Aintree course courseThe The withdrawal on Tuesday of Major F J Scott Murrays Gerald L which a week ago was the reigning favorite for the big race will undoubtedly result in one of the largest fields contesting for the Blue Riband of stecplechasing seen in recent years yearsGerald Gerald L had met with considerable suc ¬ cess during the last winter racing under National Hunt Club rules but pulled up lame following his victory in the Hurst Park Trial Handicap Steeplechase two weeks ago Dur ¬ ing the last week Gerald L had been given cantering exercise and appeared to be per ¬ fectly sound Examination following a gallop yesterday disclosed the fact that all was not well with the liorso and it was decided to scratch him from the entry entryThe The definite announcement that Gerald L was out of the race has evidently given en ¬ couragement to owners and trainers of the more moderate animals and there are four from the minimum weight division now added to the list of probable starters as well as Mrs Putnams Vico which is well to the fore in the table of weights Stubbs who had been mentioned as having the mount on old Tay Bridge will be up on Vico Master ¬ ful with Robson up Martes ridden by his owner Captain Powell Canny Knight with Vause up and Pam Nut for which no jockey has as yet been engaged are all in the mini ¬ mum division with handicap of 140 pounds Trudgill will have the mount on Madrigal MadrigalThere There have also been several alterations in the jockeys I Morgan will replace F Morgan on Mrs Llyods Ammonal while Chapman will have the mount on My Rath RathAMERICANS AMERICANS HOPEFUL HOPEFULAmerican American interest is centered in whether J E Wideners Duettiste and Stephen San fords Sergeant Murphy will start and if they do what kind of a showing they will make There lias been considerable doubt of late after Dueltiste fell in his last two starts whether or not the Widener representative would contest for the big prise for which he was particularly shipped over here last year Sergeant Murphy ran fourth in the Gravid National of last year and the very fact that he finished that diHicult course encouraged his owner to hope that he may eventually carry off the coveted prize prizeThe The Grand National Steeplechase was first run in 1S39 It is beyond all doubt the great ¬ est event of its kind and the crowds that collect each year to witness it must be seen before their dimensions can be realized The course which has to be traversed twice is two and onequarter miles around and for an hour before the race is run it is framed the whole way by a wide ring of humanity The immense range of stands are always packed to suffocation If you want to see anything of the race from the htands you must take your place early in the afternoon anil remain fixed until the winner has passed the post Then you may push your way to the nearby railway station and tane your chance of getting into an early train back to Liverpool LiverpoolATTENDANCE ATTENDANCE TREMENDOUS TREMENDOUSPefore Pefore the war the Grand National crowd was becoming larger each succeeding year Since the war it has grown to a prodigious size Visitors from other parts of the coun ¬ try find it necessarw to travel to places many miles from Liverpool in order to get a bed But it is no use trying to describe the scenes witnessed before during and after the race Two years ago visitors reached the entrance to the paddocks an hour before the first race of the day was run and so great was the throng waiting to pass through the turnstiles that the turn to gain admit ¬ tance did riot come for half an hour Last year hundreds of late comers never got through the gate at all allIf If the day is fine and the atmosphere clear a fine spectacle is presented by Aintree on Rind National day Once seen it cannot be forgotten The course and its surround ¬ ings are ht it be said anything but pic ¬ turesque On the one side of the course there is a high railway embankment with factories and their tall chimneys beyond On the other side tiiere is a canal the near bank of which like the railway embankment affords the public a chance of seeing the race Away beyond the country is open fiat and bare The long range of stands is impressive but strictly utilitarian in character It is the poople and the horses that make the spec ¬ tacle For the lime being the whole place r ulsates with excitement and enthusiasm The great city of Liverpool ban for weeks been living for this day Practically every one of its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants has something at stake on the issue Lot ¬ teries are illegal in England but they exist under the name of Sweeps and hundreds of them are organized in connection with the Grand National
