Grand National Winners: Top five memories

Golden Miller - 1934

The front page of the Sporting Life dubbed Golden Miller “The Finest Chaser of the Century” after he won the 1934 Grand National, breaking the course record in front of an estimated 250,000-strong Aintree crowd. Although that record no longer stands – though it did take thirty-nine years for Red Rum to break it – two of Golden Miller’s achievements are still yet to be equalled or bettered. When he added the Grand National to the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1934, Golden Miller became the first – and only – horse to do the double in the same season. Though he won a record five Cheltenham Gold Cups during his career (the other record that he still holds) this was the only National Golden Miller ever completed, unseating in 1933 and 1935 and refusing in 1936 and 1937.

Foinavon - 1967

Bookmakers enjoyed a lucrative 1935 Grand National when Golden Miller controversially unseated rider Gerry Wilson at the eleventh fence after being sent off at 2/1, which remains to this day the shortest price a horse has ever been sent off in the race. The bookies also had a profitable Grand National in 1967, when due to a freak occurrence at the twenty-third fence, 100/1-shot Foinavon was able to run out a fifteen-length winner from favourite Honey End. The scenes at the twenty-third fence were more reminiscent of a battlefield than a horse race, when the antics of loose horse Popham Down caused a huge pile-up at the head of affairs. Foinavon, who was amongst the stragglers at the time and therefore avoided the majority of the chaos, was able to pick his way through and was the only horse to take the fence at the first attempt, giving him a big lead which he maintained to the line. The twenty-third fence in the Grand National was named after Foinavon in 1984.

Red Rum - 1977

Foinavon’s victory was memorable for the way it happened, but he was widely regarded as an underachiever, and his then-jockey Pat Taaffe was quoted saying: “I don’t think I ever met a horse with less ambition”. The complete opposite can surely be said of Red Rum, whose record in the Grand National is beyond compare, having performed brilliantly in five consecutive renewals from 1973 to 1977, winning three times and finishing second twice. His final victory in 1977, where he beat Churchtown Boy into second by some twenty-five lengths under top weight (remains the last horse to defy top weight) in order to regain his crown was surely one of the most memorable Grand Nationals ever, not least because he posted a higher Timeform Rating than that season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

Party Politics - 1992

Party Politics’ win in the 1992 Grand National was all the more memorable because of the timing of the race, which took place just five days before the 1992 General Election that eventually saw John Major remain as Prime Minister, despite his main rival Neil Kinnock seemingly being ahead in the opinion polls throughout the run-up to polling day. Party Politics – a giant gelding who was reputed to be the tallest horse in training at the time – probably owed his SP of 14/1 more to his topical name than his previous form, though there seemed to be little doubt about the result once he took up the running four out. A horse of Party Politics’ demeanour could have been expected to dominate the National for years to come, but he was unfortunately pulled up (in response to flagmen) in the 1993 void National, missed the 1994 renewal through injury, finished a gallant second in 1995, and fell – for only the second time in his career – in the 1996 running. Party Politics may well have enjoyed further success if he had run in the 1997 Grand National, the year of the next General Election.

Don’t Push It - 2010

The 2010 National will always be remembered as AP McCoy’s National, the only time he won the race despite riding over four thousand other winners and being crowned champion jockey on twenty successive occasions. Winning the National was the achievement that registered most with the general public, and lead to McCoy winning the BBC Sports Personality of The Year, becoming racing’s only winner of the main award in its long history. McCoy was a fantastic servant to racing and few are more deserving of a win the world’s highest-profile horse race, but the performance of his companion in the 2010 Grand National, Don’t Push It, is sometimes underplayed, which is a shame considering he put up one of the best Grand National-winning performances in post-WWII history, though his performance (162 on Timeform-ratings) has since been bettered by both Neptune Collonges in 2012 (164) and Many Clouds in 2015 (166) as the quality of the race continues to rise.

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