The most magical day ..i went with my younger brother he was 13 i was 15 the previous year we had lost our wonderful Dad who had given us our love of racing ..for us the greatest day in sporting history ..loved Rummy ever since what a wonderful horse 😊❤
If they ran that race this year, Crisp would have won by at least 10 lengths, after they have shortened the course by a furlong and a half. It's also now down to a pathetic 34 runners max. The powers that be won't be happy until it's a flat race over 5 furlongs.
I just replied to a comment here and something just occurred to me - peter O'Sullivan still seems so remarkable, reeling off all those names he presumably memorised along with their colours of course - but how do we know he didn't just name the leaders then just read out the others randomly??
I was born a couple of months after this race, i recall the commentators voices as a kid, brought back some memories as my dad always had the racing on. What an incredible horse 🐎
I think only the FA Cup Final could rival the buzz generated by the National at this point. (The Ashes series of that year was also pretty dramatic!) It really was the high point of the season. With each winner there always seemed to be a fascinating back story, especially so in 1981.
I worked with a man who was a big racing fan, he only used to really bet on flat races (He said that there were enough things to think about without fences if your money was on a horse.) But he went to Aintree every year. He told me two things about that race and Red Rum. He said that year was the only time he saw the track bookies take a real hammering. Everyone was betting heavy on what they fancied to win but also putting a side bet on Red Rum, so if they had £50 on Curchtown Boy they put £20 on Red rum if £500 on another horse £100 on Red Rum. He said that virtually no one there that day had no money on Red Rum to win, just because they wanted him to. The other thing that he said was. "If the National was run over 6 miles over those fences, that horse would have won all 5." Some horse. A British sporting hero.
We ll all remember Red Rum quite rightly , but what a performance by Crisp who was essentially a two miler , what a jumper and weight carrying performance especially in the light of Red Rum s future Grand National performances , glory and heartbreak in equal amounts , what a great race .
If you look carefully at Red Rum as he approaches a fence, the action of his legs change to something almost hesitant, careful, bit deliberate. Perhaps it was an idiosyncrasy he had.
i read that these horses need courage are they forced, pushed to jump? do they not really want to do this? wondering where the courage for the horse comes in? i can understand it for the jockey! only been to a race once and the effect as the animals thundered by was quite something, the ground shook, i had not experienced that before..
I remember watching this down town outside a television shop with my mother. Having backed red rum I was delighted. Now I notice the horrific contorted falls of the horses. Not sure how many died that year but there were usually a couple.
I was 10 years old in 1977. I was suffering a miserable childhood. Red Rum was my hero & saviour. I'm now 56, and I still have to watch this race every year, on Grand National day. From the moment Peter O'Sullevan's voice breaks when Churchtown Boy stumbles at the 2nd last fence, the tears start flowing...I will watch the race later today, but it will never be the same. Thank you, Rummy, for all the memories, they will live with me forever xxx
Remember watching this as a schoolboy, and my nanna shouting hysterically at the TV "come on Red Rum" Over and over! It must of had some influence, as I've watched every National since.
Terrible ride by the jockey on Beau Bob. The horse had clearly nothing left to give, yet he ploughed on and suffered a fatal fall at Becher's Brook second time round.
