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Friday 1 February 2019

Red Rum: 10 Really Cool Facts


Typically, winning the Grand National is considered to be the highlight of a jockey and race horse’s career. Thousands have tried and ultimately failed to navigate successfully across the legendary four-mile track at Aintree, but there are those who have risen to the challenge.

Red Rum, who is still the only horse to land the Grand National on three separate occasions, made the race his own with his unrivalled success throughout the 1970’s. It’s unlikely that we’ll see a three-time National winner again anytime soon, but you can check out all the latest Grand National 2019 prices now. 

Here, we take a look at some really cool facts that you might not have known about Red Rum's Grand National victories

1. Red Rum was aptly named after his parents – taking the word ‘red’ from ‘Mared’ and ‘rum’ from ‘Quorum’. Pretty cool! 

2. In the beginning, Red Rum’s initial trainers envisaged a career as a sprinter but Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain took ownership and focused on realising his dream of training a winner at the National. Wonder how that panned out! 

3. In his old life, Ginger McCain was a second-hand car salesman that went on to become one of the most popular trainers in the sport after his success with Red Rum.

4. Red Rum’s owner was Noel Le Mare, who dreamed of winning the Grand National alongside becoming a millionaire and marrying a beautiful woman. The latter two he realised quite early on in his life, but he was 85 years old before the dream was complete with Red Rum’s first National win.


5. English comedian and actor Lee Mack have a small claim to fame when it comes to Red Rum. Whilst working as a stable boy, Mack was fortunate enough to ride on Red Rum. Not many people can say that! 

6. Red Rum suffered from pedodontists, a debilitating bone disease that is thought to be incurable. McCain noticed that rival horses who were suffering from similar ill-health would recover just by toiling on the soft sand at Southport. From there, McCain ran Red Rum across the shallow waters and the problem was no more. Magic! 

7. Despite being renowned for his trio of Grand Nationals, the Scottish Grand National was another major win that Red Rum secured in his heyday. His 1974 victory is the only time both the Grand National and Scottish Grand National have been won by the same horse in the same year. Double champion. 

8. In 1977, Red Rum completed a hat-trick of Grand National wins. His first victory came in 1973, which is arguably the greatest race of all-time, and again in 1974. At the 1977 BBC Sport Personality of the Year awards, ‘Rummies’ ears pricked up when he heard the voice of jockey Tommy Stack. Special bond. 

9. Amazingly, Red Rum never fell during a race in over 100 starts. Great balance. 10. After his passing in 1995, Red Rum was buried at the winning post at Aintree. Thousands and thousands of supporters each year will flock to the site to pay homage to one of the best ever steeplechaser’s British racing has ever seen. Nice tribute.