Red Rum - A National treasure

Let's talk about... Red Rum | The greatest Grand National winner of them all

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Thu June 11, 2020 · 4y ago

There is one undisputed champion when it comes to the Grand National - three-time winner Red Rum. It's time to talk about 'Rummy' - and we want your feedback.

We want your feedback. What are your recollections of the great Red Rum? Check out details of how to contact us towards the foot of the article...

Simon Holt: Monumental achievement

Red Rum's first win was undoubtedly the moment that got me hooked on the Grand National. I was only nine in 1973 and I had this incredible interest in horse racing from a very young age. I remember watching Specify win on the black and white television and even Gay Trip, although I must have been in the pram then!

Red Rum's first win was the famous race when Crisp went off so far in front, jumping beautifully and Rummy was 20 or 25 lengths off him. It remains still the greatest horse race I've ever seen and I'll never forget the moment of drama on the run-in when Richard Pitman, unwisely as he agrees, picked up his whip on Crisp as he was faltering and the horse ran sideways for a moment and was rolling around like a drunk at closing time.

Red Rum was remorselessly closing him down all the way under Bryan Fletcher and I've watched the race again in the last few days. It was a remarkable commentary by Sir Peter O'Sullevan. He said "And Red Rum's going to win the National" some time before he actually got past Crisp - and he only managed that in the final strides.

He was the horse that sealed my interest in horse racing. He was massive at the time, he used to make guest appearances opening shops and was even on the stage at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards in 1977. When his then rider Tommy Stack was speaking from Ireland, Rummy pricked his ears and Tommy beamed "the old fella recognises me!"

He was a really famous raceourse and his achievements were absolutely fantastic. It was a different race in those days - the fences have been modified since and it's a much easier course to jump round.

In Red Rum's day Becher's had a massive drop that doesn't exist nowadays and the fences were a little bigger and stiffer.

This horse, who was only a selling plater on the flat, really took to them. He was a pretty good chaser, not top class, but his form at Aintree was. It wasn't just the first year in cutting back Crisp, next year he had a massive weight and beat the former gold cup winner L'Escargot.

He then finished second to that horse and Rag Trade in successive seasons and to come back and win for a third time was amazing. I was watching the race on on television with my father.

He's a sport's fan but has never been a huge racing fan, but when Red Rum came up that run-in with Peter O'Sullevan saying "he's coming up to the line to win it like a fresh horse in great style. It's hat's off and a tremendous reception, you've never heard one like it at Liverpool," my old man sank to his knees in front of the TV with his hands raised about his head.

That's what it meant. A momumental achievement.

Keith Hamer speaks to Donald McCain

Red Rum's remarkable third Grand National triumph entranced a nation and etched his eternal top billing in the great race's fabled history.

Among the millions forever caught in the moment 43 years ago was a six-year-old boy, gripped and overjoyed - without yet fully realising why - as he watched the commotion at Aintree on his grandmother's television.

Donald McCain will be 50 in June, but still remembers shouting at the box in the corner of the living room, arms and legs in frantic encouragement on the edge of the settee - an involuntary action, which he would later come to know as 'riding a finish' - as Red Rum and Tommy Stack surged clear of Churchtown Boy.

Red Rum stretches his neck out at home in Southport

Sir Peter O'Sullevan's BBC commentary, as resonant in this blank National year of 2020 as it was back in those mists of time, played in the background as grandmother ticked off grandson in case his celebrations somehow made Red Rum fall over - which, of course, he never did.

It was only in the years to come that McCain could start to make proper sense of it all, piecing together that the cosseted animal housed in the stable closest of all to his Southport home, whose well-being dominated family life, was trained by his father Ginger to become not just a National hero but perhaps the world's and certainly Britain's most famous racehorse.

While his mother and father, and several thousand others, had important business to attend to at Aintree on Saturday April 2, 1977, young Donald was safely dropped off across town at his grandmother's - and his childhood memory of what happened next is vivid.

"I was only six years old, but I remember shouting at the telly," he said.

"I remember my grandmother telling me to 'shut up, he might fall over' - and he'd already jumped the last!"

Red Rum duly passed the post 25 lengths in front, at the age of 12 completing his remarkable National form figures of 11221 - spread over five successive years.

The conquering hero's return to the McCain yard was the next eye-opener for the trainer's son - who had far and away the best view in Southport as Merseyside turned out en masse again to hail its equine hero.

McCain would go on to help his father train a second National winner, with Amberleigh House the small matter of 27 years later, and then send out another in his own name thanks to Ballabriggs in 2011.

Red Rum was the peerless pioneer, though, and of course made an indelible impression.

Red Rum is led in by Ginger McCain

"I remember him arriving home and looking out of my bedroom window, and the whole street was people on the roofs," added McCain.

"The street was shut. It was like watching Liverpool returning with a Champions League trophy."

Red Rum - 'Rummy' to his public, plain old 'Red' to the McCains - was as charismatic off the course as on it.

His fame therefore did not wane in retirement, quite the opposite in fact, and the attention was a constant - whether it be supermarket openings, future Grand National parades or art and crockery abundantly on sale in his image.

McCain, unsurprisingly, cannot recall a time 'before Red Rum'.

"He was just part of the family - he was there," he said.

"From as long I knew anything, the first stable outside the house was where 'Red' lived.

"You could never think anything other than Red Rum came first and foremost before anybody and anything - whatever was best for Red Rum was what happened, in business and in our lives."

Everyone was captivated by the tale of the people's champion who exercised on Southport Beach, owned by an ageing businessman in town and stabled behind the used-car showroom which accounted for Ginger's other livelihood.

"My sister's junior school, when she was there, visited the yard - and mine did as well," said McCain.

"We went to school in Southport and Liverpool, and everybody knew about Red Rum, everybody knew who our dad was.

"Everyone wanted to talk to dad, and we'd be tagging along. People stopped him in the street - people stopped him everywhere."

Ginger was delighted to oblige.

Red Rum addresses his adoring fans

Some might perhaps have assigned his readiness to engage as evidence of the salesman's patter doubtless needed elsewhere in his business interests.

It was simpler than that, though.

Red Rum's trainer had all the time in the world for anyone who wanted to know about his National treasure.

Almost half a century has passed since the improbable story began, but McCain junior still delights as much in the personal-touch details as the centre-stage heroics

He said: "I remember one of dad's best friends said one day 'Your old man's amazing, you know'.

"I said 'why's that?' He said 'every year at Aintree, in exactly the same spot, this lady - who had learning difficulties - would stop him and have exactly the same conversation as the year before'. He said 'He always spends the time, to talk about it with her, never questions it'.

"That was dad. He was always happy to talk about Red Rum and spend time with people who wanted to know."

Like father, like son.

Molly Hunter looks back at Red Rum's remarkable feat

Shaky Start

Bred in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1965, Red Rum's first visit to a racecourse was at the track he would later become synonymous with - Aintree. However, he had been bred with a career on the flat in mind and his racecourse debut saw him dead-heat in a five-furlong sprint. He developed into a mediocre flat horse, running in a string of low-value races and changing hands often before ending up in the yard of Ginger McCain. The gelding cost £6,000 and was lame when he arrived in the yard, but a training regime that included paddling through the shallows of Southport beach helped to alleviate the symptoms of an incurable bone disease.

Ginger McCain and Red Rum

Unbelievable comeback

His first encounter with the Grand National was in the memorable 1973 race. Red Rum went to post as joint 9-1 favourite alongside high-class staying chaser Crisp. The heavier Crisp looked a runaway winner of the contest when leading by 33 lengths as he jumped Becher's Brook for the second time. However, Red Rum - ridden by Brian Fletcher - was gaining ground and by the time Crisp jumped the last fence, the lead was 15 lengths. Crisp began to tire under the top weight he was carrying and just two strides from the line he was overtaken by Red Rum, who won by three-quarters of a length in a record time of nine minutes and 1.9 seconds.

Back to back

The gelding returned to defend his title the following year and this time he was the one lumbered with 12 stone, a weight horses running in the Grand National are no longer asked to carry. Partnered again by jockey Brian Fletcher, he started at a price of 11-1 as punters preferred dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L'Escargot and 7-1 favourite Scout, the mount of Tommy Stack. Travelling in mid-division for the bulk of the race, Red Rum jumped to the head of the field as he tackled Becher's Brook for the second time. That lead only widened as he pulled away from runner-up L'Escargot to retain his title by several lengths.

The hat-trick search

An unprecedented third successive victory was denied by old foe L'Escargot, who went on to triumph by a decisive 15 lengths. In 1976 he was again beaten into second place, this time at the hands of Fred Rimmell's Rag Trade. Previous jockey Fletcher had spoken sceptically of the horse's ability to win for a third time and was replaced by Stack. Red Rum jumped into the lead over the final fence but Rag Trade pulled away. Stack was criticised by McCain, who thought the ride for the line began too early.

History made

Stack remained in the role in 1977 when Red Rum, aged 12, was considered by many to be too old to run competitively. This time the gelding would not be denied. After many of the field fell away throughout the first circuit, Red Rum took the lead over the 22nd fence. From there on he was infallible, floating home with only loose horses for company to register a 25-length victory. Spectators spilled out on to the track in a scene commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan described as: "A tremendous reception, you've never heard one like it at Liverpool - Red Rum wins the National!"

Red Rum takes a look at his own statue

Legacy

McCain had another tilt at the big race planned, but a hairline fracture in the run-up to the fixture saw Red Rum retired. He became something of a celebrity, his image was used on a stamp and he was even called upon to attend the opening of a new rollercoaster at Blackpool Illuminations, named 'The Steeplechaser' in his honour. Led on stage at the 1977 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, he gained even more fans when neighing in recognition of the voice of Stack, who was appearing via video link. Red Rum died aged 30 and was buried at the winning post on the Grand National course at Aintree, his grave remaining open to the public and often decorated with flowers ahead of the race he won three times. No horse has yet matched the record he set in 1977, with Gordon Elliott's back-to-back winner Tiger Roll the most likely candidate to repeat the feat.

Send us your views

Send your comments and contributions on Red Rum to racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and if you’ve any ideas for more topics you want covering over the coming days and weeks please let us know.

Feedback from readers

Dainty: Like everyone else, I think Red Rum and L'escargot are the best known horses. I have been a fan of Red Rum since 1973. I am a walnut mare, rising 54. I remember myself and my dad screaming him home on that amazing day in 1977; I was 10 years and 7 months, and rather surprised at the time to think a horse older than myself was even running, let alone winning. It had always been a cherished dream of mine to meet him and go to the National.

I realised the first dream in late 1993 by visiting his stables. Also, in 2017, I was lucky enough to be superimposed into a couple of Rummy photos from 1974 and 1977, the second one with me 'riding' him to victory. What a magical way to make up for lost opportunities being stuck in Jersey at the time! Since 2017, I have strolled Aintree and horse shows in my own two Red Rum sashes - I wear them one at a time, of course. They are both my own creations. Last year, you might well have seen me in a big blue sash with gold writing with my Sakura pen on. I was desperately hoping to be caught on TV, and see my picture in the papers. This year would have been my 27th successive visit to Aintree had it not been for the pandemic.

Like Rummy, I would like to lead the National parade and open supermarkets and betting shops, perhaps next year or the year after, when I will hopefully have completed my BA Honours OU degree.

Dave Parker: Really great reading all these memories even the people who have emailed there memories. In a previous email I said my thoughts on Red Rum and Tiger Roll there is no comparison for many many reasons. The National course is a different course now compared to time of Red Rum running in the National. The likes of Ed Chamberlin who does a fantastic job with his team on ITV was blowing up Tiger Roll before the Cheltenham Festival where he was well and truly beaten. I accept the horse has won two Nationals but how can one compare him to Red Rum, it was a different race. In my opinion the Gold Cup fences, fences at Haydock and other courses are tougher than the National fences now. Without doubt Red Rum was the greatest and as somebody else emailed he saved the National.

Dave Chapman: RED RUM - The Greatest. From an unfashionable northern stable little used to winning big races to contest probably the worlds most unforgiving race and never finish out of the 1st two over five attempts is a fantastic feat, to finally win a 3rd race at the age of 12 is truly remarkable – we will never ever see his like again.

Richard Crook: I'll never forget Red Rum's first national victory in 1973 in that epic race with Crisp. Feel a bit sorry for Crisp who ran an absolute blinder and made the race what it was. After winning again the following year I found myself visiting my uncle in Arizona in 1975 and the race was shown on American television as Rummy was beaten into second giving a gold cup winner 11 pounds. After giving nearly a stone to finish second again in 1976 to Rag Trade, he duly won his third National in record time and enhanced his record to never being out of the first two in 5 Nationals, a remarkable record when you think of how the course was back then. I vividly remember him opening a Co-Op in my hometown of Preston and the crowd was unbelievable with people of all ages wanting to see Rummy. He was very much the people's horse at the time and he could very well be the reason why there is a Grand National still on the racing calendar when the race was constantly at risk in the 70's. Without a doubt the greatest National horse ever.

Andrew Pelis: I was too young to remember him winning. My first memory is of 1978 but that is partly because of the major story that broke, as Red Rum was a non-runner and retired. I already of course, knew the name, but not the context.

That came along in the following years as I watched this race in awe - every horse completing the course, a complete hero and a legend. And often there weren't many. I learned that from 1980 when Ben Nevis led home just three other horses.

It all seemed such a lottery to even finish the race, so horses like Rough and Tumble and The Pilgarlic quickly became elevated in my imagination.

Then I learned of just what Red Rum had achieved and all other Grand National horses immediately paled into almost insignificance.

He raced over four years in five Grand Nationals, completing in all five, over 150 fences - and those fences and the drops were unforgiving, as was the burden of weight. People say that the quality of the race has improved, but at the very top of the weights I would question whether it has. L'Escargot was a dual Gold Cup winner and a National winner. Crisp won a Champion Chase. The Dikler and Spanish Steps all top class horses.

The National was not a lottery with Red Rum; it was not luck or coincidence that he got round and ran so well in five renewals. His presence for so long was statistically significant enough to qualify him as the all-time ultimate Grand National horse. He created a new norm for the race which no horse before or since has come close to achieving but he did so over time, not just as a one-off.

Earlier in the week we spoke of Grand National favourites and regulars … but the likes of West Tip, Corbiere, Party Politics and co, could not sustain Red Rum's level of consistency over five renewals, jumping round and competing for honours every single time. Each of the above fell at least once in the race and in two cases, as older horses, finished down the field.

In retirement, Red Rum was equally extraordinary and came across as a people horse. He knew where he was on that first Saturday in April. He knew his place. Just as he did the countless public appearances up and down the country.

Horses are super intelligent and they show you this in different ways. I believe Red Rum had the agility of mind and body around Aintree to set him apart from any other horse that has run in the National.

He knew what he was doing alright.

And there will never be another.

Simon from Newark: ‘And Red Rum comes to take it up with two to go,’ screamed the commentator, triggering a rolling torrent of noise I will never forget as all 20,000 souls there seemed to be willing the horse on to victory.

No, not Aintree but the Scottish Grand National at Ayr on an April Saturday in 1974. The cheers began in the Silver Ring opposite that penultimate fence as Red Rum and Proud Tarquin began to pull away from the rest and increased to a huge crescendo through Tattersalls and the Members’ Stand as Red Rum held on to the line. (Race available on You Tube, with John Penney commentating for ITV).

I was working there that day and had to hold my emotions in check: it was part of my job to organise the presentations to owner Noel le Mare, trainer Ginger McCain and jockey Brian Fletcher amid the mayhem in the winner’s enclosure. Heaven knows how we achieved it. The result fully vindicated Red Rum's connections, who had come in for plenty of criticism for running the horse so soon after his second Aintree victory.

Fast forward 32 months and Red Rum finished last of three in a conditions race at Haydock. Ron Barry, who rode him that day, was satisfied. He said the horse had run well till he blew up at the last. Leading Northern bookmaker Eric Barber disagreed, telling all and sundry that Red Rum would never win another Grand National.

Bearing in mind Ron Barry’s verdict, I asked for a price. 33-1 said Eric; although I didn’t have an account with him he was happy to accept my modest £4 on tick.

Nothing like as happy as I was when a cheque for £132 landed on the doormat four months later.

What a horse!

Dave Orman: I have to say I am not keen on the comparison of Tiger Roll to Red Rum, for me there isn't one, simply because it is not the same race and though Tiger Roll is worthy of high praise for his achievements, but ultimately there is only one Red Rum. Rummy's Aintree record over those imposing and demanding fences is beyond anything that could compare in the modern era where the course and weights are structured so different to the unique challenges set back then, and don't forget Red Rum's record includes a Scottish National win under top weight just a couple of weeks after his Aintree triumph in 1974, people need to realise and appreciate just how great this legend of a horse truly was, and I am so grateful to have had even a distant connection to him during his illustrious career.

George Goodenough: Being of an age with Red Rum I recall him very well. His was the second National I watched on the telly having watched Well To Do the year before. When an Immortal is amongst us others sometimes are lost in their shadow. I like to remember the exploits of Mill House and Excelebration for example. L'ESCARGOT gets a couple of mentions on these pages but I'd like to give him a proper shout in his own right. This horse won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice and achieved a 321 in the National denying Rummy his hat trick in the process. WHAT A HORSE!

John Wilsher: When Ginger died I scribbled the following;

The Ballad of Rum and Ginger

Ginger McCain was a car dealing man
He bought and sold second hand.
But his heart was in the racing game
A thing we can all understand.

He bid for and bought a Horse called Red Rum
As only a dealer can.
And so a man had found his horse
And a horse had found his man.

Our tenderfoot had tender feet
And was barely sixteen hands,
But Ginger knew a thing or two
And trained him on Southport Sands

As soon as he was schooled to jump
Ginger could read the signs.
He knew The Chair would hold no fear,
Nor Becher’s, nor Valentines.

And so to Aintree in ‘73
The first of his fivefold trips
By five o’clock that afternoon
His name was on everyone’s lips

Three wins from five. While I am alive
We won’t see that again.
They took on the best, now both are at rest,
Rummy and Ginger McCain.

John Garrod: I will never forget Red Rum the greatest National horse and probably the greatest horse ever. My dad used to run the greyhound in Riccall Yorkshire and I remember him telling the story of a local farmer who came in and was just saying he was going to see this horse. Anyway when he came back he was full of it didn’t buy it but started backing it from odds of 100/1 to the day of the race when Red Rum won his first National beating the mighty Crisp. I still have the Red Rum Christmas card he sent us and it’s a picture of Rummys face and the races he had been in winning on the flat at Aintree back in the day around the card and one even had him with Lester Piggott aboard in his early days. Still have the card to this day and started my love with racing.