The National tradition that brings us all together once more each year

If you're a longstanding fan of racing, Grand National day becomes as much of a landmark in your year as Christmas or your birthday. It's such a fun day, and it always has been, a day to reconnect with people you've shared it with and remember old times, an unbeatable excuse for shrugging off chores and immersing yourself once more in the madness.

The anniversaries tell you everything about where you've got to in life. Amazingly enough, it's five years since Tiger Roll's first win, when Pleasant Company rocketed home to force a photo.

Ten years ago takes us back to Auroras Encore, which certainly doesn't feel like a decade ago to me. That was the first race after the timber cores were removed from the middle of those big, green fences and the entire field jumped the first seven obstacles without mishap.