Go Ballistic was made favourite after finishing fourth in the
Cheltenham Gold Cup three weeks before the National. The
Ascot specialist was considered to have been largely undervalued in the weights and was due to go off carrying the minimum ten stones with
the previous year's winning rider
Mick Fitzgerald in the saddle. Fitzgerald was one of many riders unable to make the allocated weight after the two-day delay and weighed out at 10 stone and 3 lb. Go Ballistic set off at 7/1 favourite but struggled to keep pace with the leaders; he was lying a distant tenth when he broke a blood vessel approaching the penultimate fence and was pulled up. Suny Bay was an eight-year-old whose popularity was assisted by his being a
grey, but was mostly built on a victory in the
Grand National Trial at
Haydock in February, beating Lo Stregone. Ridden by
Jamie Osborne, Suny Bay was sent off at 8/1 and ran prominently throughout but was beginning to tire when he made a bad mistake at the fourth fence from home. Although the pairing remained intact, Suny Bay was unable get on terms with the winner and finished a well-beaten second. Wylde Hide was a ten-year-old, two-times winner of the
Thyestes Chase at
Gowran Park who was carrying much of the Irish support to break a 22-year run without a horse from their homeland winning the race. It was also felt that the
J. P. McManus-owned
gelding would have gone close had he not unseated when starting to issue a challenge at the
Canal Turn second time in the 1996 race. The Arthur Moore-trained 11/1 shot failed to improve on that and was chasing the leaders when he blundered at
Becher's Brook on the second circuit and unseated
Charlie Swan. Avro Anson was a nine-year-old, trained by Maurice Camacho in
Malton, North Yorkshire, who was well backed despite being relatively inexperienced as a chaser with just five starts in his career.
Peter Niven took the ride, being sent off at 12/1 and they still held every chance in the first half-dozen at the Canal Turn second time, but a mistake at Valentine's cost him his chance. He faded out of contention over the remaining fences before rallying late on to finish sixth, almost 40 lengths behind the winner. Smith's Band was trained by
Jenny Pitman and given the most experienced rider in the race in
Richard Dunwoody, his 12th Grand National mount (including the
void race of 1993). He was sent off carrying two pounds overweight at 12/1 despite having pulled up on his only start in the previous 12 months. Smith's Band disputed the lead throughout before falling at the 20th fence. He suffered a broken neck and died instantly. The other equine fatality during the race was Straight Talk, who broke a leg at the 14th fence and was put down. Other well-backed contestants at the off were 1996
Sun Alliance Chase winner Nathen Lad,
Punchestown Grand National Trial winner Antonin, 1996
Scottish Grand National runner-up General Wolfe, 1996
Irish Grand National winner Feathered Gale and the 1996 Greenall's Grand National Trial winner Lo Stregone. Eventual winner Lord Gyllene had been the anti-post favourite until a few days before the race but drifted out to 14/1 before the race. The 11 riders making their debut in the race were all on outside chances but included two future winners,
Timmy Murphy and
Jim Culloty, as well as a quartet of others whose appearances would go into double figures in
Richard Johnson,
Robert Thornton, Joe Tizzard and David Casey. It was Sean Curran who fared best of the debut riders on the day, finishing seventh with only Murphy and Casey also completing the course. Glen Tormey and Tom Treacy also made their debuts while this was the only ride in a National for Daniel Fortt and Terry Mitchell. ==Finishing order==