1973 Grand National

1973 Grand National
Grand National
Location	Aintree
Date	31 March 1973
Winning horse	Red Rum
Jockey	Brian Fletcher
Trainer	Ginger McCain
Owner	Noel Le Mare
← 1972 1974 →

External video
Replay of the 1970-74 Grand Nationals in full Racing UK, BBC Sport, YouTube
The last stages of the 1973 Grand National BBC Sport
The Grand National 1973 British Movietone

The 1973 Grand National was the 127th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 31 March 1973.^[1]

The race is best remembered for being the first of Red Rum's three Grand National wins, doing so in record time, and for his remarkable defeat of Crisp on the run-in, having trailed by 15 lengths at the final fence.^[1]

Just a furlong to run now, 200 yards now for Crisp, and Red Rum is still closing on him! Crisp is getting very tired, and Red Rum is pounding after him. Red Rum is the one who's finishing the strongest. He's going to get up! Red Rum is going to win the National. At the line Red Rum has just snatched it from Crisp!

“

”

Commentator Peter O'Sullevan describes the climax of the 1973 National

Before the off, Red Rum was 9/1 joint-favourite with Crisp to win the race.^[2] However, by the time the runners had reached The Chair the Australian chaser Crisp, who was carrying the top weight of 12 stone, had already built up a significant lead and appeared unstoppable.^[1] For much of the initial stages, Crisp's closest challenger was Bill Shoemark on Grey Sombrero, but he fell at The Chair, giving Crisp an even greater lead which had grown to 20 lengths by the end of the first circuit.^[3]

Crisp's jockey Richard Pitman later recalled that at Becher's Brook on the second circuit, fallen jockey David Nicholson shouted at him: "Richard, you're 33 lengths clear, kick on and you'll win!" At the same time, he heard the Tannoy commentator Michael O'Hehir declare: "And Red Rum is coming out of the pack, Brian Fletcher is kicking him hard!"^[4]

At the 30th and final fence, Crisp was still 15 lengths ahead of Red Rum, ridden by Fletcher and given 10 stone 5 lb by the handicapper. However, Crisp was beginning to tire badly on the 494-yard run-in, carrying 23 lb more than his nearest rival. Red Rum made up considerable ground, and two strides from the finishing post he pipped Crisp by a mere three-quarters of a length, in a then-record time of nine minutes, 1.9 seconds (a record which would stand until it was beaten in the 1990 Grand National).^[1]

The third horse, L'Escargot, who would win the National two years later, was 25 lengths adrift at the finish.^[5]

There was one equine fatality during the race when Grey Sombrero fell at The Chair whilst leading the pursuit of Crisp. He suffered a broken leg and was euthanised, becoming the first fatal casualty of the Grand National since Vulcano in 1967. Grey Sombrero is one of three horses to have been fatally injured while jumping The Chair in the Grand National (the others were Land Lark in 1975 and Kintai in 1979).

1973 is often considered among the greatest Grand Nationals of all time, and the dramatic final-stretch battle between the two greats Crisp and Red Rum has also been described as one of the greatest sporting moments.^[5]

Finishing order

Position	Name	Jockey	Age	Handicap (st-lb)	SP	Distance
01	Red Rum	Brian Fletcher	8	10-5	9/1	¾ Length
02	Crisp	Richard Pitman	10	12-0	9/1	25 Lengths
03	L'Escargot	Tommy Carberry	10	12-0	11/1
04	Spanish Steps	Philip Blacker	10	11-13	16/1
05	Rouge Autumn	Ken White	9	10-0	40/1
06	Hurricane Rock	Bob Champion	9	10-0	100/1
07	Proud Tarquin	John Oaksey	10	10-11	22/1
08	Prophecy	Bob Davies	10	10-3	20/1
09	Endless Folly	Joe Guest	11	10-0	100/1
10	Black Secret	Sean Barker	9	11-2	22/1
11	Petruchio's Son	David Mould	10	10-5	50/1
12	The Pooka	Arthur Moore	11	10-0	100/1
13	Great Noise	David Cartwright	9	10-2	50/1
14	Green Plover	Mouse Morris	13	10-0	100/1
15	Sunny Lad	Bill Smith	9	10-3	25/1
16	Go-Pontinental	Jimmy McNaught	13	10-4	100/1
17	Mill Door	Peter Cullis	11	10-5	100/1	Last to finish

Non-finishers

Fence	Name	Jockey	Age	Handicap (st-lb)	Starting price	Fate
01	Richeleau	Neil Kernick	9	10-0	50/1	Fell
03	Ashville	Jeff King	8	10-4	14/1	Fell
06	Beggar's Way	Tommy Kinane	9	10-1	33/1	Fell
06	Culla Hill	Norton Brookes	9	10-7	100/1	Fell
07	Mr Vimy	Johnny Haine	10	10-2	100/1	Pulled Up
07	Swan Shot	Martin Blackshaw	10	10-0	100/1	Refused
08	Nereo	Beltrán Osorio	7	10-3	66/1	Pulled Up
09	Highland Seal	David Nicholson	10	10-6	20/1	Pulled Up
15	Canharis	Pat Buckley	8	10-1	16/1	Brought Down
15	Charley Winking	Derrick Scott	8	10-0	100/1	Fell
15	Glenkiln	Jonjo O'Neill	10	10-7	33/1	Fell
15	Grey Sombrero	Bill Shoemark	9	10-9	25/1	Fell
15	Proud Percy	Richard Evans	10	10-0	100/1	Fell
19	Fortune Bay II	George Sloan	9	10-3	66/1	Fell
19	Rough Silk	Tim Norman	10	10-0	66/1	Pulled Up
21	Tarquin Bid	J Bracken	9	10-0	100/1	Fell
22	Beau Parc	Andy Turnell	10	10-1	100/1	Pulled Up
26	Astbury	Jimmy Bourke	10	10-2	50/1	Pulled Up
27	General Symons	Pat Kiely	10	10-0	33/1	Pulled Up
27	Princess Camilla	Ron Barry	8	10-4	16/1	Refused
27	Rampsman	David Munro	9	10-0	100/1	Pulled Up

^[6] ^[7] ^[8]

References

1 2 3 4 "History". Grandnational.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
↑ "BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2001 | Grand National | Red Rum - a life in pictures". BBC News. 2001-03-30. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
↑
↑ "The Independent | 404". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-27.
1 2 Wood, Greg (2009-04-03). "The Joy of Six: great Grand National moments | Sport". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
↑ "1972 & 1973 - The Grand National & Aintree 1970-79". Seventiesnationals.webs.com. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
↑ The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin, ISBN 0-7524-3547-7
↑ "Grand National Anorak |". freewebs.com. Retrieved 2014-08-27.

Grand National

Races by year	1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Course	Aintree Racecourse Becher's Brook Canal Turn The Chair

Famous horses	Aldaniti Battleship Corbiere Crisp Devon Loch The Duke E.S.B. Foinavon Golden Miller L'Escargot Lord Gyllene Lottery Peter Simple Red Rum West Tip

Famous jockeys	Jack Anthony Martin Becher Tommy Carberry Bob Champion Richard Dunwoody Brian Fletcher Dick Francis Josh Gifford Bruce Hobbs Count Karl Kinsky Jem Mason Tony McCoy Tom Olliver Ernest Piggott Richard Pitman Ruby Walsh Fred Winter

Other people	Peter Bromley Ginger McCain Vincent O'Brien Michael O'Hehir Peter O'Sullevan Jenny Pitman Fred Rimell Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Lord Oaksey Lord Sefton

Lists	List of Grand National winners List of Grand National first four placings List of equine fatalities in the Grand National

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