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It was 35 years ago that Red Rum gained the first of his three Grand National victories, earning him pride of place in racing’s record books. Bred to be a sprinter, Red Rum won the world’s best-known chase in 1973, 1974 and 1977 as well as finishing second on his other two starts to become the greatest Grand National performer ever.

In his early years, disaster struck when Red Rum acquired the debilitating bone disease pedalosteitis, which should have rendered him unraceable. When three separate vets were told that the horse had suffered from that affliction after Red Rum’s triumph in the 1973 Grand National, they dismissed the idea as impossible.After a course of medicine and intense physiotherapy, Red Rum seemed to recover. But in the 1972 Scottish Grand National, in which he finished an excellent fifth, the horse kept changing his legs in the last three quarters of a mile, hanging unusually towards the rails.

However, Red Rum ended up at one of the only yards in the country where the training took place on a beach. The sea water, into which McCain (his trainer) banished Red Rum after viewing the hobbling horse, worked an amazing transformation. Red Rum trotted out sound.Immediately things began to fall right. Red Rum won his first five races for his new trainer, on ground varying from good to hard. On March 31, 1973, he started joint-favourite for the Grand National and got up close home to beat the gallant front-running Crisp by three quarters of a length. Red Rum also broke Golden Miller’s course record with a time of 9 min 1.9 sec, which held for the next 16 years.

In the 1974 Grand National, Red Rum now carried the top weight -12st – but he won again. Giving 1lb to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, L’Escargot, Red Rum started third favourite at 11/1. He won easily by seven lengths when again partnered by Brian Fletcher. Only three weeks later, Red Rum took the Scottish Grand National.

Between the autumn of 1974 and spring of 1976, he ran in 18 chases, winning twice and being placed seven times. Red Rum failed to resist L’Escargot in the 1975 Grand National, coming second and again in 1976.
Again ridden by Stack, Red Rum tackled his fifth Grand National in 1977 and Churchtown Boy’s mistake at the second last fence settled things in the former’s favour, winning by 25 lengths under 11st 8lb.

The celebrations in Southport which received the three-times Grand National winner home were long and rapturous. But the greatest Aintree horse of all time was not yet finished. Up until the morning of the 1978 Grand National, Red Rum was being trained for a sixth attempt at the great race, as a 13-year-old. He was pulled up with a hairline fracture and retired from racing. Red Rum continued work in the public eye, leading parades at Aintree and making many appearances on TV.

Red Rum died at the grand old age of 30 in 1995 and was buried by the Aintree winning post. His grave is marked by an engraved stone, listing his Grand National record. A lifesize bronze statue also commemorates this legendary horse, along with a race staged at the John Smith’s Grand National meeting.

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