To begin with an auction is held to buy horses for the Grand National. Each horse has differing abilities and many are heavily affected by the going (as in reality). Each horse has a handicap rating and the higher the better basically. Each horse's stamina is adjusted once the going has been determined by spinning the going adjuster.
The going is important as it dictates the amount of speed points each horse gets. For example, if the going is firm all get 64; if heavy 54. The horses handicap mark is added to however many spaces a player chooses to move their horse per go of a player. So, again, the higher the handicap, the more likely you are to win.
There are times when you will land on a fence and so an appropriate card is drawn and it must be acted upon immediately. There are also horseshoe spaces that can bring good and bad luck.
More than just a dice throw and race game, each player must ensure that each of their horses has enough speed points to go two circuits around the lovely board. There are 24 hand painted horses and it all just looks nice.
- Grand National
