Jockeys who ride in the Grand National are as brave as they come. 40 horses, 30 fences, more than four miles and seven minutes of danger. We’re still amazed that they all continue to wear white pants.
This year at Aintree the wise heads in the Paddy Power Mischief department decided that to honour the bravery of jockeys in the biggest race of the year, we too should do something quite daring– using 70 Catalan blokes to build a 25ft human tower in the Queen Mother Enclosure while dodging the numerous pint glasses thrown their way and avoiding a slap on the wrists by security.
If you were watching the Grand National this afternoon you will might have seen our latest act, featuring 70 professional ‘Castellers’. These guys create seven-tier human pyramids for real, and are ridiculously strong, fit and well-balanced. You can imagine their reaction when we suggest putting Paddy himself on top of their structure. The boss enjoys a breakfast of Guinness at Aintree and, despite the photo-shopping you may have seen on our Cheltenham campaign, isn’t exactly a prime physical specimen. Fitness and balance he has not.
As Rule the World crossed the line to win the four mile battle at odds of 33/1, our troop of Castellers had the best view at the track from the top of our human structure. Just in case you thought a few punters had got a little too merry on Aintree’s finest lager, we even gave one of them a Paddy Power flag and had them wear some Lucky Pants.
You need a fair bit of luck to win the National, and you need equal amounts of good fortune to build a human pyramid in the middle of Aintree without raising the suspicions of the course security folk.
The Castellers themselves are a group of people from Barcelona who have been running their club since 1948. There are more than 500 involved in the award-winning group and have represented their country across the globe.
Just in case you were so distracted by our human structure of jaw-dropping beauty and grace that you missed the end of the race, Last Samuri finished second, with Vic’s Canvas in third. Gilgamboa ran on to claim fourth and Paddy Power was paying out each-way bets on the first five home which means you are collecting some winnings from Goonyella.
