Prince George was sent off as the 4/1 favourite as the mount of Tom Olliver who was also the most experienced rider in the race, being the only man to have taken part in every official National.
[4] The favourite remained prominent until the runners approached the racecourse for the final time where Olliver realised he had nothing left to offer, being nursed home a distant third to finish.
Powell was one of those caught out in the false start and, in desperately trying to make back the lost ground, blundered and fell at the second fence, the vet having to be summoned to end the horse's pain when he was found to be badly injured.
With no official governing body in place for the sport at the time D'Arcy had technically broken no rules in offering financial inducements to another rider and the only action that could be taken would have been for Lord Sefton to ban him from competing or entering horses at Aintree again.
Peel was among those who were part of the false start and was well placed behind the leader at the end of the first circuit but the second time round took its toll and the tired horse fell when beaten in the latter stages of the race.
Wolverhampton was owned by the 1840 winner rider, Bartholomew Bretherton who took the ride himself, making it his eighth, when unofficial pre 1839 Nationals are included.
Bretherton was a local man from a well known family and as such found popular support on the course for his mount, who was sent off at 12/1 but was never involved at the business end of the race and fell at a fence alongside the Canal on the second circuit.
The British Yeoman returned after finishing third in the previous year's race and was again partnered by Charles Bevill, taking his third and final ride in the National.
Alfred was the mount of 1847 winner Denny Wynne, who was having his fourth ride in the race and had already become the popular rider among Irish visitors to Aintree.
While the course was almost as it is today the fences to be jumped were mostly the natural hedges banks and ditches that they encountered along the route rather than the man made obstacles of the modern era.
By taking the widest extreme of the course the runners then had a home run of about a quarter of a mile in front of all of the stands and enclosures, this being deliberately designed to give as many spectators as possible a close up view of the action.
The press of the day are in agreement that three horses were killed and that there was some melee at the third fence on the second circuit, which resulted in several competitors being knocked out of the race.
In addition a journalist, writing for the London Illustrated News, reported that he walked the course some twenty minutes after the race and found three horses at the second, third and fourth fences, each lying dead where they fell, having been destroyed by the vet.