Sporting Life
Grey Abbey and jockey Brian Harding en route to Scottish National glory
Grey Abbey won the Scottish National

Let's talk about... the Scottish Grand National | Canton & Grey Abbey head our recollections

By Sporting Life
Horse Racing
Sat April 18, 2020 · 5y ago

It should've been Scottish Grand National day at Ayr today and our racing team recall their favourite memories of the race - we want your stories, too.

What are your memories of the Scottish National? Share them with us via racingfeedback@sportinglife.com

David Ord - Canton, 1983

Canton. Not a horse that will linger long in the memory for many, but he was my first racing obsession.

It was during a visit to Wetherby in the early 1980s that he first came on my radar. There he was in the racecard, with a flurry of 1s next to his name. Trained by Neville Crump, ridden by Colin Hawkins and in a novice chase. He was number one too and as a fledgling, and none too flexible, goalkeeper I deemed that my lucky number.

I had my one permitted £1 bet on, courtesy of my dad. Canton won and I followed him religiously from that moment on.

Owner Simon Lycett Green also had Even Melody in training at the time and that cracking two-mile chaser was more of a flagship but he didn’t win the Scottish National in 1983.

Canton did – under Kevin Whyte. He was a lynchpin of the Dickinson team who were dominating the game at the time but with Hawkins preferring Narvik, found himself aboard the Crump 16/1 second string here.

It was like a scene from a George Formby racing film. Going out onto the final circuit Canton, along with the majority of the field, had lost contact with the leaders. The World Of Sport cameras honed in on the hares – Narvik among them – and I sat there, glued to the screen.

Then, just as they prepared to turn in, a horse latched onto them. He had a white cap but more distinctive were the red and white hoops.

I was transfixed. As they battled down the straight it looked for all the world that Canton was going to finish third. And that seemed enough. I started roaring him home. Jumping the last he was still in third but with the aid of the far rail and a strong Whyte drive, began to get there. Whiggie Geo backed out of it and in the final 50 yards Canton mastered Was I Right and claimed his biggest pay day.

In the jubilation of the moment I’d managed to turn the video recorder off (kids, ask your dad) meaning the Canton highlights VHS tape I’d been meticulously putting together was short of the final 18 seconds of his finest hour.

Fear not. The finish was played on the News At Ten that night and my dad somehow managed to seamlessly (well go on, clumsily) stitch on that finish to the full replay.

I still have the tape – albeit no VHS player – and that amazing memory.

The day Canton won the Scottish National.

1983 William Hill Scottish National Handicap Chase

Ben Linfoot – Grey Abbey, 2004

I was at Thirsk the day Grey Abbey won the Scottish National in 2004.

The headline act in North Yorkshire was the classy front-runner Welsh Emperor, a horse that almost nicked a Prix de la Foret in his absolute pomp.

And up at Ayr there was another beast cut from the same cloth, albeit tackling a very different discipline.

We all crouched around a TV in one of the bars at Thirsk to watch the Scottish National unfold. Sue Smith and Trevor Hemmings had the joint-favourite, Simply Supreme, a horse that had won the Mildmay at Aintree two weeks before and got in at Ayr off a low weight.

When he fell at the first all eyes switched to Grey Abbey and you couldn’t miss him. He was Grey by name, grey by nature, and he was in front at the very first fence.

In a gruelling race that often went to lightly-weighted types, Grey Abbey wasn’t particularly well-fancied.

He went into 12/1 from 14s on the off but the top-weight factor weighed heavily on most punters’ minds (including mine). After all, he was in the form of his life since switching to Howard Johnson and was on a hat-trick.

Yet Graham Lee, still eight years away from his switch to the Flat at the time, adopted an aggressive approach from the very first fence and the field were strung out on the first circuit.

Hardly anything could cope with the relentless gallop Grey Abbey was setting up front and he was jumping brilliantly, so much so that only three horses had a chance rounding the home turn.

Grey Abbey was tanking and it looked like a one-horse race in a flash, until Lee lost several lengths at the omitted second-last when having to switch from towards the inner of the course.

That let lone pursuer Granit D’Estruval back in, but a crashing fall at the last ended his challenge once and for all, while Grey Abbey, who probably would’ve won anyway, jumped the final obstacle with his usual aplomb.

I’m not sure why I remember where I was that day. Perhaps it was because a particularly tight mate of mine had backed Grey Abbey and got a few rounds in for once.

Or maybe it was just the memory of the fabulous Grey Abbey himself. He was fortunate to win by 30 lengths in the end, but it remains one of the standout Scottish National performances of the modern era.

2004 Gala Casinos Daily Record Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase

Send us your views

Send your favourite Scottish National memories and other contributions 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

Kevin 'Sooty' Whyte: I was just reading your piece on Canton, I was third choice jockey that day and did not wish to go as I had to lose eight pounds in a couple of days. Anyway I did it, but I can tell you never had I been so knackered after a race! Thanks for remembering.

Scot MacMillan: From the age of 8 years old I went to every National at Ayr from 1989 with my Dad till around 2002. I saw amazing finishes but the one that stands out was Take Control just getting up to beat Shotgun Willy, Gunther McBride and Grey Abbey after the last fence was omitted. Lost lots of photo finishes in those years including Stormez. Also remember waiting for Baronet to come back the following year after finishing thirrd to Belmont King and taking revenge. Plotted that bet out the whole year. Don't often come off. Amazing race.

Doug: Very much with Ben on this one, Grey Abbey is my immediate go to Scottish National Memory. Living at home in Aberdeen at the time and following off the back of the Grand National, the Scottish National was in the public psyche and you often got another sweepstake at work. I was very sweet on Grey Abbey, ignoring the nagging doubt over top weight and it was a joy to watch. A horse jumping so sweetly and effortlessly is a joy in these staying chases. He was a classy horse though, as in the 2004/5 season he went on to win the Charlie Hall Chase, the Cotswold Chase (called something different then) and the Bowl at Aintree. He'd finished 5th in the Gold Cup too. In hindsight, any top weight worries at Ayr were well wide of the mark!

Peter Caddis, Ayr: Hi there, really liked your wee trip down memory lane speaking about Canton. My memories are not so fond I had backed two in the race and they were Whiggie Geo and Was I Right From the second last I assumed that I was a stick on to be collecting my dosh at the local bookies. However, you know the rest of the story. Scottish National day is one of my favourites as I grew up in Dalmilling which is a stone’s throw from the track. My other favourite day is the Ayr Gold Cup in September as all my family always went on that day. A rerun of Royal Figurine would be nice if you can work your magic. Anyway thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Alans Farnsworth: For me, it was the 1997 renewal when Belmont King put up a mighty performance to give Paul Nicholls his first win in the race. He made, from my recollection, just about every yard of the running and battled ferociously to repel repeated challenges up the straight under a typical forceful A P McCoy ride. The horse dug deep and responded every time he was asked to give a truly brave, memorable and moving display – magnificent!

Darren Ashworth: Two renewals come to mind straight away. 1981, outsider Astral Charmer, further ahead than Crisp was back in 73, after a circuit. He didn't come back and was still clear at the line. 1996, Moorcroft Boy jumped the last in the 1994 Grand National first before finishing third. Badly injured falling in the Becher, his career and possibly life looked over. However he recovered to plough through the unusual soft ground to a magnificent career finale at Ayr.

David Brown: I've loved this race ever since I saw the thrilling finish between Merry Master under Gee Armytage - who had made all the running - watching her getting reeled in under the gallant top weight Run For Free back in 1993.

I eventually travelled up to see a run of Scottish Nationals in the early noughties, bagging the winners in Gingembre in ’01 and Grey Abbey in ’04. However, my standout memory is going back in 2006, convinced I'd seen the winner earlier in the year at Sandown, when Carl Llewellyn - who had just took up the training and riding of Run For Paddy - gave him a quiet spin round in a “getting to know you” sort of a ride. He’d caught my eye earlier in the season when running on late in the Hennessy and as a previous winner of the Grimthorpe had that bit of Donny form that I often look for in a Scottish National winner I was more than keen on him. A nice prep under top weight at Warwick in soft ground sealed the deal and I told anyone who would listen that 33-1 was massive.

To be in the Grandstand opposite the winning post when Carl got him up in the dying strides to collar Ruby Walsh on Ladalko (who I think was going for a clean sweep of Nationals if memory serves) was a fantastic experience, particularly as I was clutching a £30 e/w ticket at 33-1. Needless to say, we didn’t see too much other racing after that as me and my friends got hammered in the newly opened champagne tent, the long train journey home passing in an alcoholic haze!!

Fantastic memories and lets hope we are all back to watch the 2021 running of the great race.

Paul Brighton:

Dave Youngman: My favourite winner of the Scottish National was THE FOSSA in 1967, he was ridden by Andy Turnell for trainer Fred Rimell and carried a mere 9-12. Stan Mellor rode the horse in the Grand National that Foinavon won, Stan came off the horse at the twenty third fence and in all the furore caught and remounted a horse he thought was The Fossa and jumped three fences before he realised it was the wrong horse he was on. That was in the days when I followed jump racing more than I do today. Now I have my Racing Club and so many members I concentrate on Flat racing more. Today was my first Saturday out on the Limekiln gallops here at Newmarket and although a little chilly it was fabulous. Stay well and safe everyone.

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