Sporting Life
Our columnist has his say on the big race

Grand National preview: Simon Holt on 'racing freak' Kitty's Light

By Simon Holt
Horse Racing
Tue April 09, 2024 · 7M ago

In Saturday's Randox Grand National, Noble Yeats will attempt to become only the second horse since Manifesto in 1899 to 'regain the title' in the same way that Kauto Star won his two Gold Cups over three years.

The last horse that the 2022 winner seeks to emulate is, of course, Red Rum who, victorious in 1973 and 1974, won again on his fifth appearance in 1977.

In 2020, the dual winner Tiger Roll could have attempted to match Red Rum's three wins but his owner Michael O'Leary was unhappy with the way the horse had been handicapped and, much loved by his family, he was unwilling to risk him again.

This is not meant to sound mean but, personally, I was a little relieved Tiger Roll didn't attempt or win a third Grand National.

The reason is that Red Rum, the greatest influence on my early interest in horse racing, deserves his unbelievable record to remain unbroken as his achievements came when the fences were much more fearsome and when, unlike many horses today, he would run at least nine times a season.

Even now, his 1973 triumph when catching poor old Crisp in the dying strides is an emotional watch and it remains one of the most memorable horse races, many people would agree, they have ever seen.

And that performance by a former selling plater on the Flat, trained at the back of a garage by a car dealer and exercised on Southport sands had some back story.

A year later, he humped 12 stone to victory against the dual Gold Cup winner L'Escargot after which he took another step towards equine immortality when winning the Scottish Grand National.

But, in his book 'My Rum Life', Red Rum's jockey Brian Fletcher revealed that he was dead against the horse being turned out again in Scotland.

Trainer Ginger McCain overruled him and, despite following up in his tenth race in seven months, Fletcher wrote: "During the race, there was not that characteristic dash and explosive force about him. He was lethargic and sluggish.

"He sprinted away to victory on the run-in and all was well in the end, but this was not the same Red Rum who sparkled and shone and effervesced at Aintree."

What a tough horse he must have been and, of course, he advanced from household name to racing legend when finishing second in the next two Grand Nationals, before winning again (under Tommy Stack) at the age of 12 when probably assisted by the fall of the favourite Andy Pandy at second Bechers.

Sir Peter O'Sullevan's call on that historic third success ("you've never heard a reception like it at Liverpool") is perhaps as iconic as the performance but, the line Red Rum's fans needed to hear came two fences earlier when he said: "And Churchtown Boy didn't jump it too well!"

At the time, Churchtown Boy, who had won the Topham just two days earlier, looked a big danger under Martin Blackshaw but the mistake finished him and a nation celebrated.

And it really seemed as though the whole country was watching.

That won't be the case on Saturday but, despite various changes which threaten the essence of the race, it will still be the biggest television audience of the year for ITV’s racing coverage.

If Red Rum was a racing freak, there is another lurking in the list of runners.

Kitty's Light completed a remarkable hat-trick last spring

That horse is Kitty's Light but, at number 35, he is not yet guaranteed a run now that the maximum field has been chipped away to 34.

With British-trained runners sure to be in a small minority, it will be a terrible shame if this horse doesn't get a run as he is one of the best qualified having won the Eider Chase last season before completing a hat-trick in the Scottish Grand National and Bet365 Gold Cup in the space of a week in April.

Indeed, one would have thought making such races 'win and your in' qualifiers could only add to the National build-up.

Like Red Rum, who had 41 rivals to beat in 1977, Kitty's Light hardly looked like a future staying chaser in his younger days as he is Flat-bred being a smallish son of Nathaniel out of an Aga Khan mare and cost just 5,000 guineas as a yearling.

Yet he has proved to be a thoroughly relentless galloper, a horse with bottomless stamina, and his record in the spring is outstanding with form figures in March and April of 1223117 in a handicap chase at Kelso, two Scottish Nationals and three bet365 Gold Cups.

That seventh came in last month's Ultima at Cheltenham where Kitty's Light (still just an eight-year-old) passed several tired horses in the closing stages and handled the heavy ground better than might have been expected as most of his form has come on good or good to soft going.

If conditions remain deep on Saturday, it might not be such a problem for this incredibly versatile horse who looks made for the job, and seems to have Red Rum's athleticism in always being able to find a leg despite his individual approach to jumping.

As last year, trainer Christian Williams has given his stable-star a quiet mid-season preparation (including three runs over hurdles) to protect his handicap mark from going up or down too much, and the run at Cheltenham should have put him spot on.

However, at the five-day confirmation stage on Monday, it wasn't certain that Kitty’s Light would make the cut and, for a horse with such obvious credentials, it will be an absolute travesty if he misses out. And shouldn't be allowed to happen.

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