Movie stunt horses make Grand National advert a real winner in Liverpool

STUNT horses from some of the biggest blockbuster films powered through a Liverpool park as they completed their second day of filming in the city.

The runners, who were stabled at Aintree, included Sultan, an eight-year-old bay who starred as Joey in Steven Spielberg’s War Horse.

Horse masters from The Devils Horsemen brought in 10 stunt horses including Irish hunters for the promo.

Some of the team’s four-legged stars had filmed for movies such as Les Miserables and TV drama Game of Thrones.

Action shots taken at Everton Park included the horses and the jockeys jumping over parked cars, darting through allotments and hurtling over football goalposts.

Crews and 300 extras took over the View Club, in Everton Road, yesterday to complete the ambitious two-day shoot.

The area was transformed as neighbours’ back gardens were extended, allotments were created and a pond was added.

A football pitch, skate park and market stalls were brought in and 900 hired artificial daffodils were planted to inject colour.

Olivia Browne, business director for 4 Creative, the communications company set up by Channel 4, said: “The idea was to take the race off the track and bring it into a context which people can relate to. We’ve had horses jumping over picnic benches and over back gardens and running past a speed camera. So people can understand a bit more about the skill of the jockeys and what the sport entails if they have never experienced horse racing.

“We shot them running with the skyline in the background because we wanted to get Liverpool into it.”

The 90-second advert, which will air from March 19, will promote this year’s Grand National at Aintree.

Producer Louise Oliver said it was key to film in the city because of the event’s history.

Racing presenter Nick Luck and commentator Simon Holt were also on location.