Before Tiger Roll and Red Rum, which was the last horse to win the Grand National two years running?

For many owners, trainers and jockeys, winning the Grand National, just once, remains an elusive dream. However, several horses have won the world-famous steeplechase two – and, in the case of Red Rum, three – years running. Of course, the most recent of them was Tiger Roll who, in 2020, was denied the opportunity to attempt an unprecedented hat-trick when the National was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before Red Rum, though, we need to look back to the interwar years, 1936, for the last horse to record back-to-back victories in the National. That horse was Reynoldstown, owned and trained by Major Noel Furlong and ridden, in 1935, by his son Frank and, in 1936, by Fulke Walwyn.

The 1935 renewal was notable for the presence of Golden Miller who, in 1934, had become the first – and, so far, only – horse in history to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season; sent off 2/1 favourite, Golden Miller parted company with jockey Gerry Wilson at the fence after Valentine’s Brook on the first circuit. Reynoldstown, carrying11st 4lb, jumped well and although challenged for the lead by Thomond over the final two fences, ran on strongly to bear Blue Prince by 3 lengths. In so doing, he set a new course record, 9:20.20, which would not be beaten until 1973.

Despite being sidelined with injury, Reynoldstown returned for the 1936 Grand National and, under 12st 2lb, disputed the lead with Davy Jones from Becher’s Brook on the second circuit. However, he nearly unseated Fulke Walwyn when colliding with Davy Jones at the fifth-last fence and made a bad mistake of his own at the third-last. He rallied gamely to dispute the lead again at the final fence, at which point Davy Jones’ reins came unbuckled and he ran out, leaving Reynoldstown to come home unchallenged.

How steep is the ‘Cheltenham hill’?

Cheltenham Racecourse, in Prestbury Park, Gloucestershire, is home to the four-day Cheltenham Festival, staged annually in March and, undoubtedly, the highlight of the British National Hunt season. During the Festival, most of the racing takes place on the Old Course, on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and the New Course, on the Thursday and Friday. Both courses are left-handed, undulating and feature a stiff, uphill finish, known colloquially as the ‘Cheltenham hill’.

On the New Course, in particular, where the emphasis is on stamina, rather than speed, conversation invariably turns to the severity of the ‘hill’, which has taken on mythical proportions and garnered a fearsome, if not entirely warranted, reputation. The stiffness of the finish is, no doubt, exacerbated by the pronounced downhill run to the home turn, but the ‘hill’ is not, as some commentators suggest, the ‘north face of the Eiger’. In fact, over the last three furlongs, the ground rises just 10 metres, or 33 feet, with a percentage slope of just 1.67%. Indeed, the angle between the horizontal plane and the surface of the ‘Cheltenham hill’ is less than 1º so, while it has been the scene of many iconic finishes, it is nowhere near as steep as folklore suggests.

Who was Terry Biddlecombe?

In recent times, the late Terry Biddlecombe, who died, at the age 72, in January, 2014, after a long illness, is probably remembered as the husband of former trainer Henrietta Knight. Together, the ‘Odd Couple’, as they became known, masterminded the career of Best Mate, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

However, in his heyday, Biddlecombe was a hugely successful National Hunt jockey. By the time he retired from race riding, on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day in March, 1974, he had ridden 908 winners and had won the jockeys’ title three times, in 1965, 1966 and 1969, although on the latter occasion he shared the title with Bob Davies. Nicknamed the ‘Blonde Bomber’, Biddlecombe was a fearless, larger-than-life character, but his riding talent was reflected by the fact he was stable jockey to Fred Rimmell and Fulke Walwyn during his career.

Indeed, it was Rimmell who supplied Biddlecombe with his one and only Cheltenham gold Cup winner as a jockey, Woodland Venture, in 1967. Rimmell also trained Gay Trip, on whom Biddlecombe won the Mackeson Gold Cup – now the Paddy Power Gold Cup – at Cheltenham twice, in 1969 and 1971, and finished second, beaten just two lengths, behind Well To Do in the Grand National in 1972.

Which was the last mare to win the Champion Hurdle?

The Champion Hurdle, run over 2 miles and 87 yards on the Old Course at Cheltenham, was inaugurated in 1927 and is currently the feature race on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival. Fillies and mares receive a 7lb allowance from their male counterparts but, remarkably, in 90 runnings of the two-mile hurdling championship, just five of them have won.

The first of them, African Sister, won way back in 1939, before the start of World War II, but it would be another 45 years before the most famous mare of them all, Dawn Run, completed the first leg of what would become an historic Champion Hurdle – Cheltenham Gold Cup double two years later. Thereafter, it would be another decade before the unheralded Flakey Dove, trained by Leominster husbandman Richard Price, lifted the spoils in 1994 and another twenty-two years before Annie Power – who was anything but unheralded – laid the ghost of her final-flight fall in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle the previous year to rest in 2016.

However, the last mare to win the Champion Hurdle was Epatante, who justified favouritism on the 69th birthday of her owner, J.P. McManus, in 2020. Indeed, at the time of writing, Epatante is vying for favouritism with another mare, Honeysuckle, for the 2021 renewal of the Champion Hurdle so, like London buses, two or three may turn at once!

1 … 133 134 135 136 137 … 142