Grand National History 1869 - 1860
Aintree Grand National 1869
A young 6 year-old stallion "The Colonel" won the first of two back-to-back triumphs at Aintree by winning the 1869 Grand National whilst being ridden by George Stevens both times. The same George Stevens who won the 1856 National some thirteen years earlier and another set of back-to-back victories on "Emblem" and "Emblematic" in 1863 and 1864 making him one of the true legends of the event. It was "The Colonel's" second ever steeplechase winning at 100-7. The horse changed owners over the next twelve months with John Weyman passing over the honour of bringing back the champion horse to Matthew Evans a year later.
Aintree Grand National 1868
"The Lamb" became the first ever grey winner of the National in 1868 and one of only two grey horses to win the race, the other being "Nicolaus Silver" almost one hundred years later in 1971. The tiny horse that had been thought to be far too small to win the National found an unusual path to entering the 1868 event after he had originally been sold to a vet, who bought the horse for his daughter. "The Lamb" however proved to be too much to handle for the young girl allowing him to find his route into the Grand National for the first time in 1868.
The horse did however start with fairly good odds at 9-1 and was owned by Lord Poulett who also owned the horse in 1971 when he returned to the race winning again. The jockey George Ede and trainer Ben Land did not return with "The Lamb" though, but still enter the record books associated closely with the small grey horse.
Aintree Grand National 1867
5 years after Harry Lamplugh won the Grand National as a jockey he was back again winning for a second time, but this time as the trainer of "Cortolvin" the 16-1 outsider. The horse who won while ridden by John Page and was owned by the Duke of Hamilton wasn't really expected to fair that well in 1867, but under the guidance of John Page and Harry Lamplugh, was prepared sufficiently to fly past the opposition and win at the big one Aintree.
Aintree Grand National 1866
The 1866 Grand National was won by "Salamander" a 40-1 outsider with larger odds than any winner for years. The horse had been born with a crooked leg and was thought to be near to worthless, with it being bought for a bargain price by Mr. Edward Studd of Rutland when in a terrible state. "Salamander" did however repay the faith Edward Studd showed in him by making a full recovery and returning £40,000 from the huge gamble placed upon him as Alec Goodman rode him to victory.
Aintree Grand National 1865
"Alchibiade" won the 1865 Grand National ridden by Captain Henry Coventry of the Grenadier Guards who only ever raced in one National. Starting at 100-7, the horse trained by Mr. Cornell ran a fantastic race battling hard to beat all others to victory. The jockey Henry Coventry was also cousin of Lord Coventry who owned the two winning horses in 1863 and 1864, while this year's horse owner was Benjamin John Angell, the same Benjamin John Angell who formed the governing body for horse racing in 1866 known as the National Hunt Committee.
Aintree Grand National 1864
George Stevens who won the year before returned to race on 6 year-old "Emblematic", which carried a very similar name to the 1863 Grand National winner but was not the same horse with a rename. In something of an amazing feat George Stevens won his second National in a row on a horse not expected to perform anywhere near as well as "Emblem" who started with odds of 10-1.
25 runners began the race, which was a welcome improvement over the past two years as 1863's winning group of owner Lord Coventry and trainer Edwin Weever returned to all achieve back-to-back victories.
Aintree Grand National 1863
Another year, another poor number of starters with only 16 horses competing, which was still an improvement on the previous year. Even though the interest in competing seemed to have dropped the past couple of years the Grand National had become far too much a feature on the horse racing calendar to discontinue and the future looked bright with many die hard fans returning to bet and watch the race again.
"Emblem" won the 1863 event starting with odds of 4-1 ridden by "George Stevens" who didn't finished the race a year before and was about to become one of few jockeys to win the Grand National two years in a row by following up for his second victory in 1864. Lord Coventry owned the horse, which was trained by Edwin Weever.
Aintree Grand National 1862
The 1862 Grand National was won by 3-1 favourite "The Huntsman" on March 12th, almost a year to the day since "Jealousy" won. Unfortunately the number of starters was much poorer this year with only 13 horses lining up to compete. Jockey Harry Jeremiah Lamplugh, who had been racing for French owners since 1849 and first competed in the National in 1853 but did not complete the course that year. He did however keep trying and finally completed the course finishing fourth at his third Grand National in 1855 ten years after his father John Lamplugh raced in the same event.
It was Harry Lamplugh's 8th attempt to win the big race and he finally started on the horse most expected to do well after his third place finish in 1859, followed by second in 1860. "The Huntsman" however may never have seemed such a sure bet if last years winner "Jealousy" hadn't of withdrawn on the morning of the race leaving only "Bridegroom" to run from last years first four home.
1862 also sadly saw jockey James Wynne die at the fence before the water, the fence, which was always taken at such great speed was later changed to an open ditch. The ditch came to be known as The Chair due to it featuring directly across from the seat that the distance judge sits on.
Aintree Grand National 1861
"Jealousy" left 23 other runners feeling very envious as he won the Grand National on the 13th of March 1861. Owned by Mr. J Bennett and ridden Joseph Kendall the 5-1 bet ran an impressive race winning at the age of 7, but he had always been expected to perform very well at Aintree. The horse, which by today's standards was a very young winner weighed 9-12 and delighted all those associated with him especially his trainer Charles Balchin and the jubilant owner.
It was from 1861 the Grand National seemed to lose it's appeal, the number of horses participating each year was very low and much of the public's interest in the event faded away as fans felt the fences and other obstacles had become so small that they were no longer much of a challenge. Thankfully changes were set in motion and Aintree managed to counter this several years after the problems began.
Aintree Grand National 1860
7-2 favourite "Anatis" won the 1860 Grand National, which was moving into it's 4th decade and by now was such a solid feature on the horse racing calendar, that virtually always as a minimum of 19 or 20 racers participated. This year the highly favoured 10 year-old trained by William Holman who also trained "Emigrant" to victory in 1856, was ridden by Tommy Pickernell, who during the race ignored an offer of a £1000 bribe from second place jockey on "Huntsman" to allow him through to victory.
The winning jockey, Tommy Pickernell raced under the name Mr. Thomas at the 1860 Grand National, something, which we have not uncovered a reason for. If anyone has any insight as to why the jockey chose this name to race under rather than his own please email us at info@the-grand-national.co.uk and help us solve this mystery.
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