Features 
/ Phil Turner / 21 March 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Red Rum makes history by romping to a record-breaking third Grand National win in 1977
"Red Rum's record of three wins and two second places in five successive editions during the mid-seventies will surely never be matched, let alone surpassed."
The names of Arkle, Red Rum and Desert Orchid are the most legendary in the post-war history of steeplechasing. Three-times Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Arkle remains Timeform's highest-rated horse ever, whilst exhilerating front runner Desert Orchid drew a huge following due to a succession of brilliant big-race wins. However, neither of that illustrious pair could match the popularity of Red Rum, who remains the best-known horse ever to race in Britain.
Red Rum, of course, owes this acclaim due to his remarkable achievements in the Grand National, steeplechasing's greatest prize and the race which most captures the general public's imagination (neither Arkle nor Desert Orchid were ever risked in the Aintree showpiece). His record of three wins and two second places in five successive editions during the mid-seventies will surely never be matched, let alone surpassed. Indeed, no horse has managed more than one win since Red Rum - West Tip, Party Politics, Hedgehunter and Comply Or Die all finished runner-up after their wins - and it is no exaggeration to say that Ginger McCain's stable star played a huge role in saving the Grand National itself, his exploits attracting extra interest in the race at a time when Aintree was facing a very uncertain future.
Red Rum's Grand National record:
1973
1. Red Rum 8-10-5 (B. Fletcher) 9/1
2. Crisp 10-12-0 (R. Pitman) 9/1
3. L'Escargot 10-12-0 (T.Carberry) 11/1
38 ran. Distances: ¾, 25. Trainer: D. McCain.
Timeform verdict: Arguably the greatest Grand National of all time, with the ex-Australian chaser Crisp blowing the race apart with a staggering front-running display, only to be caught close home in heart-breaking fashion by fellow joint-favourite Red Rum, who'd given game pursuit since second Becher's and posted a course-record time.
1974
1. Red Rum 9-12-0 (B. Fletcher) 11/1
2. L'Escargot 11-11-13 (T. Carberry) 17/2
3. Charles Dickens 10-10-0 (A. Turnell) 50/1
42 ran. Distances: 7, short-head. Trainer: D. McCain.
Timeform verdict: The villain of the piece twelve months earlier, Red Rum rightly earned all the plaudits this time around with a hugely impressive display under top weight. Almost certainly the finest moment of his illustrious Aintree career.
1975
1. L'Escargot 12-11-3 (T. Carberry) 13/2
2. Red Rum 10-12-0 (B. Fletcher) 7/2
3. Spanish Steps 12-10-3 (W. Smith) 20/1
31 ran. Distances: 15, 8. Trainer: D. Moore, Ireland.
Timeform verdict: Old rival L'Escargot proved too strong after Red Rum had jumped the last upsides him, with the Irish veteran becoming the only Cheltenham Gold Cup winner since Golden Miller to taste Grand National glory.
1976
1. Rag Trade 10-10-12 (J. Burke) 14/1
2. Red Rum 11-11-10 (T. Stack) 10/1
3. Eyecatcher 10-10-7 (B. Fletcher) 28/1
32 ran. Distances: 2,8. Trainer: F. Rimell.
Timeform verdict: New jockey Tommy Stack is criticised in some quarters (including by his predecessor Brian Fletcher on third-placed Eyecatcher!) for not kicking for home sooner, though Red Rum's strong rally in the closing stages probably owed more to his fighting qualities rather than any untapped reserves.
1977
1. Red Rum 12-11-8 (T. Stack) 9/1
2. Churchtown Boy 10-10-0 (M. Blackshaw) 20/1
3. Eyecatcher 11-10-1 (C. Read) 18/1
42 ran. Distances: 25,6. Trainer: D. McCain.
Timeform verdict: Left in front after clear leader Andy Pandy departed at second Becher's, Red Rum cements his position as the Grand National's greatest horse by powering home twenty-five lengths clear of Churchtown Boy, who'd won the Topham Chase forty-eight hours earlier.
There is a danger that history will bracket Red Rum as simply an Aintree specialist, with modern racegoers rather comparing his achievements to those of cross-country regulars such as Risk of Thunder, Spot Thedifference and Garde Champetre who've emerged in recent years. That would be doing Red Rum a great disservice as, although he did admittedly reserve his best for the National fences towards the end of his career, he was a top-notch chaser in his prime and not just at Aintree either. Red Rum won a total of twelve races in his first two Grand National-winning campaigns (six apiece in 1972/3 and 1973/4). His career-best effort arguably came with an imperious display under top weight in a strong field for the 1974 renewal, when he beat dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L'Escargot by seven lengths after taking up the lead before second Becher's. Red Rum followed that up with a memorable win under top weight (including a 6 lb penalty for Aintree!) in the Scottish National at Ayr three weeks later, when he gave 20 lb and a four-length beating to Proud Tarquin - who went on to finish first past the post, ahead of that year's Gold Cup runner-up The Dikler (who was conceding 24 lb), in the Whitbread Gold Cup at Sandown a week later. It is also worth noting that the first edition of Timeform's Chasers & Hurdlers annual in 1975/76 awarded Red Rum the same rating as for that season's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Royal Frolic.
Ratings derived from a study of the form-book have only a minor role in the Red Rum story, however. He owes his place among the immortals of the turf - and as a wider "sporting superstar" - solely to the Grand National. His three victories are without precedent and his record of never being out of the first two in five successive editions reveals a degree of domination unmatched by any other horse in the history of the race, an achievement all the more meritorious given the quality of oppostion he often faced at Aintree - for example, the trio who chased him home in 1973, Crisp, L'Escargot and Spanish Steps had filled three of the first five places in the betting for the previous year's Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Few racehorses in the world have ever achieved the popularity of Red Rum who became, in every sense, a National hero and enjoyed celebrity status even after his racing days were over, his busy schedule of public appearances ranging from opening supermarkets to switching on the Blackpool Illuminations. He was retired aged thirteen on the eve of the 1978 Grand National (for which he'd been a short-priced ante-post favourite) following a late injury setback, news which made the front page of every British national newspaper. Such unprecedented media coverage of steeplechasing even extended to his death some seventeen years later, when more column inches were devoted to Red Rum than for the same day's obituries for novelist Sir Kingsley Amis and former prime minister Lord Home!
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