The legendary Red Rum has lit up Liverpool again, half a century after his first Grand National win.

A hologram of the three-time National winner in action was projected on to the Royal Liver Building on the city’s waterfront last week (4 April). The tribute was commissioned by bookmaker Coral to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Red Rum’s first win at nearby Aintree.

Red Rum also topped a poll commissioned by Coral to find the nation’s favourite Grand National winner of all time. More than 700 Racing Post readers voted, ranking Red Rum number one ahead of the two-time National hero Tiger Roll, and Aldaniti, who took a fairytale win with Bob Champion in 1981.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “It might be 50 years since Red Rum won the first of those historic three Grand Nationals, but our survey shows he is still the most popular and best-loved winner of the most famous race in the world.

“We hope his many fans will enjoy seeing him come ‘back to life’, and we think the hologram is a fitting tribute to Red Rum on the anniversary of that famous first National victory.”

Red Rum, trained by Ginger McCain, won in 1973, 1974 and 1977, coming second in 1975 and 1976. He was retired on the eve of the 1978 Grand National, when he pulled up lame after a gallop. Then 13, he was still among the favourites.

As Tommy Stack, who rode Red Rum to his third National win, once said: “How can I ever thank Red Rum enough for what he has done for me, for racing and for the Grand National? He was a legend that should never be forgotten, and never will.”

You might also be interested in:

Red Rum: the three-time Grand National winner who ‘belonged’ at Aintree

Red Rum remembered in the sand he galloped on, nearly 50 years on

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The treble Grand National winner, who died at the age of 30 on this day 27 years ago (18 October), is synonymous with Aintree’s showpiece. Julian Muscat maps his story from a run-of-the-mill sprinter to a household name

Red Rum’s origins

Bay gelding, foaled 3 May 1965, died 18 October 1995

By Quorum out of Mared, by Magic Red

Owner: Noel le Mare

Trainer: Ginger McCain

Breeder: Martyn McEnery

Jockeys: Brian Fletcher, Tommy Stack

Red Rum was bred to be fast on the Flat. His sire, Quorum, was runner-up in the 2000 Guineas while his dam, Mared, was barely trainable on account of her wayward temperament. Whenever Mared ran, she was black with sweat from the neck down and white with foam around her mouth. She eventually won a small race over seven furlongs at Galway. It is often overlooked that Red Rum won three races on the Flat before he transferred to the jumping code.

NO other story in the annals of racing matches that of a horse bred to win sprint races on the Flat developing into the most formidable Grand National competitor of them all.

Red Rum was an anonymous seven-year-old when he was bought by a small-time trainer from Lancashire in 1972. Originally a second-hand car dealer, Ginger McCain gave 6,000gns for a fifth-hand horse he housed in run-down stables behind his used-car showroom in the sleepy suburb of Birkdale.

Red Rum was a virtual cripple from the day he arrived, yet Ginger saw hope where others had despaired. In his taxi-driving days, he’d befriended a regular customer in Noel le Mare, whose dream it was to win the Grand National.

Time was fast running out for Noel, who was 84 at the time. So Ginger badgered him until he relented. Noel would give Ginger funds to buy a horse, which saw Red Rum join the other equine renegades under Ginger’s wing. He had already tested the patience of four previous trainers without once alluding to the heights he would scale at Aintree – although he did dead-heat there on his racecourse debut as a two-year-old over five furlongs on the Flat.

In the end, Red Rum was retired on the eve of the 1978 Grand National, when he pulled up lame after a gallop. Then 13, he was still among the favourites. Over the previous five years, he’d completed 10 circuits over Aintree’s daunting fences while barely touching a twig.

HIS record is unsurpassed. It will almost certainly endure despite significant modifications to obstacles that have taken the “tree” out of Aintree. The fences, no longer packed densely with birch, are not the force of old.

When they were, the unique nature of the test spawned a spate of Aintree specialists. In the Grand National’s heyday, extravagant jumpers who cleared their obstacles with feet to spare wasted precious energy. Equally, horses prone to jumping through the top of a fence would tip over.

Red Rum’s great strength was his ability to measure each fence with an economy of effort. And there was something about Aintree, then a ramshackle old dive, that stirred his blood. He was the equine incarnate of a working-class hero.

Yet these assets alone cannot explain how a horse plagued by pedalostitis – an incurable inflammation of the bone inside the hoof – came to win three Grand Nationals and finish runner-up in two more. In the process, “Rummy” became a totemic national presence at a time when the Grand National itself was under grave threat.

The Topham family, long-time owners of Aintree racecourse, sold the site to property developers in 1973. Ladbrokes, the bookmakers, immediately granted the course a stay of execution when it negotiated a seven-year lease on the property, in the process buying time for a proper rescue package.

Having secured Aintree’s short-term future, Cyril Stein, chairman of Ladbrokes, dispatched Mike Dillon, a young company executive, to Aintree to promote a race that was losing purchase with the public.

“I was originally from Manchester,” Mike recalls. “Cyril said: ‘Send that man Dillon up there for us. He speaks with a northern accent so they’ll be able to understand him.’ We had some wonderful years with Ginger and Red Rum. They were days from the gods really.”

BY then, Red Rum had won his first two Grand Nationals and chased home L’Escargot in 1975. In his inaugural 1973 triumph, Red Rum was cast as the villain of the piece. He’d narrowly caught the mighty front-runner Crisp, who carried 12 stone and was run down after jumping the final fence with a 10-length lead.

But there were no reservations when Red Rum followed up 12 months later. This time it was he who carried 12 stone, and who breezed to victory by seven lengths. Even though he was beaten by L’Escargot in 1975, Mike Dillon understood that Red Rum was the hook on which to hang the race.

“I was very lucky to hit it off with Ginger straight away,” says Mike, who gave a reading at Ginger’s memorial service in 2011. “We had to raise the race profile because it was dying in the water. And Ginger was happy for [footballer] Emlyn Hughes, who was captain of Liverpool and England, to be photographed sitting on Red Rum by Becher’s Brook as part of our promotion.”

Emlyn wasn’t the only unfamiliar rear-end to occupy Red Rum’s saddle. The build-up in 1976 saw Brian Fletcher, who’d been aboard in the previous three years, voice doubts about Red Rum’s ability to contend for a fourth time. He felt the horse had lost his sparkle and should be retired. An enraged Ginger responded by replacing him with Tommy Stack.

In the event, Red Rum almost won his third Grand National in 1976. A good jump at the second-last fence saw him seize an advantage he only relinquished to Rag Trade halfway up the run-in.

But the knives were out the following year. Red Rum’s heart wasn’t in it; he looked a pale shadow of his former self throughout the season. Ginger was berated by an angry public, which felt uneasy about their pride and joy being risked at Aintree for a fifth time.

True to form, Ginger wasn’t having it – despite subsequently admitting to his own reservations. But come the big day, Tommy found cause for optimism on the way to post.

“Red Rum had never run a bad race at Aintree,” Tommy recalls, “and when we got down to the start, the old horse was on his toes. Aintree was where he belonged.”

Despite his lack-lustre preparation, Red Rum’s doting fans ensured he was among the market leaders. The fates, too, were on his side as he strove for that record-breaking third victory. That time, Davy Lad – recent winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup – fell early on. And Andy Pandy, who started favourite, was eight lengths ahead of Red Rum when he capsized at Becher’s second time round (the 22nd of 30 fences).

It was plain sailing for Red Rum thereafter. Churchtown Boy, his only conceivable danger, ploughed through the second-last fence, after which the sprightly 12-year-old with the distinctive sheepskin noseband extended his advantage with every stride.

Red Rum’s 25-length victory was greeted by tumultuous cheering but there was no more enthusiastic observer than Peter O’Sullevan, the fabled BBC commentator. Rarely have such simple words conveyed so much meaning. They still resonate 45 years later…

“It’s hats off and a tremendous reception; you’ve never heard one like it at Liverpool. Red Rum wins the National.”

IT was all so implausible, and it would almost certainly never have happened had Red Rum not been united with Ginger. The horse’s suspect legs gained immeasurably from therapeutic visits to nearby Southport beach, where he would gallop over the sands and warm down by standing in seawater up to his knees.

A further irony was that Tommy had ridden Red Rum without success in the horse’s youth. Tommy partnered Red Rum 26 times between 1969 and 1970, when he was trained by Bobby Renton – the grandfather of Ian, who today runs Cheltenham racecourse.

Red Rum’s transformation was thus down to Ginger. As irrepressible as he was politically incorrect, and only slightly tongue-in-cheek with it, Ginger loved telling a tale. Two in particular stand out.

The first concerned his days as a cabbie, when he drove all the way from Southport to London with a caged lion for company in the back seat. The second was when he claimed to have had Frank Sinatra in the back of his taxi. Asked what he’d made of the acclaimed singer, Ginger replied: “He was an insignificant little man. I always thought Bing Crosby was better.”

Yet engaging though Ginger was, Red Rum was the star of the show. Almost all those connected with him are no more, while Ginger’s son, the trainer Donald, was too young to remember much about it. The sole exception is Tommy, who barely survived a severe attack of meningitis 15 years ago.

A few years before that, Tommy was asked to reflect on the halcyon era of Red Rum: “How can I ever thank Red Rum enough for what he has done for me, for racing and for the Grand National? He was a legend that should never be forgotten, and never will.”

Red Rum’s finest hour

EACH of Red Rum’s three Grand National victories might warrant this accolade. His third was a triumph for faith over the naysayers who questioned his place in the line-up. The second saw him defy the welter-burden of 12 stone but his trainer, Ginger McCain (pictured), was adamant.

“Red Rum’s first National was the best, because in all honesty you never think you’re going to win a National,” he said. “All you do is go with the hope you’ll run a big race.”

More than a horse in a million

IN 1978, when Red Rum was 13 years old, Japanese businessman “Rocky” Aoki offered to buy Britain’s national treasure for £1m. But Red Rum was more than a horse in a million. Three Grand National victories rendered him unique and his owner, Noel le Mare, rejected the offer.

In a nationwide poll in 2006, when respondents were asked to name an equine animal, 33% plumped for Black Beauty but 45% went for Red Rum, who became a highly marketable celebrity in retirement.

“I liked the money,” Ginger said of opening supermarkets, “but it wasn’t my line of country. I didn’t like the silver spoons and the tea towels; all the merchandise.”

This feature was first published in H&H magazine (8 April, 2021)

You may also be interested in…

A nostalgic Grand National tour: which are your favourite Aintree memories?

H&H takes a look back and some memorable Aintree heros

Striking Red Rum mural revealed above beach on which he trained

Artist Paul Curtis said it was a ‘privilege to paint such an iconic horse’

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits. 

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

1. Red Rum

It’s 45 years since Red Rum scored his third Grand National win. With the Randox Grand National Festival starting today (7 April), it’s a fitting time to be thinking of the Aintree hero. Sand artist Sean Corcoran has created a 50mx50m portrait in the sand on Ainsdale Beach, where Rummy trained. The portrait was commissioned by bookmaker Coral as both a tribute to the legend and to celebrate Red Rum topping a public poll to find the most popular Grand National winner of all time.

Find out more about how the artwork was created

2. Road to Badminton

Badminton-bound combinations were out in force at the Eventing Spring Carnival at Thoresby Park (31 March to 3 April). The new fixture replaces Belton in the calendar, serving as both a major short-format event in its own right, plus a key preparation run for combinations eyeing the spring five-stars.

Take a look at fan favourites and rising stars enjoying the cross-country

Badminton final scores

3. Safety, risks and ego

Bolesworth and Liverpool show president Nina Barbour reflects on safety over ego after investing in an air jacket – and what more can be done to help protect others involved in horse sport. “Grooms are often at most risk, so it is equally our duty as employers to make sure they’re provided with safety gear and we listen to their concerns. I feel strongly that there’s more to do as show organisers, employers and federations to limit risk and increase awareness,” she says.

Read more about Nina’s thoughts on safety, plus her opinion on making international fixtures work in the UK

You might also be interested in:

‘You’ve just got to take the opportunity’: British rising star set for Kentucky debut

Joe Stockdale’s new ride owned by One Direction star – with more horses to come

‘I’m hooked up to a pump that delivers my nutrition 15 hours a day’: rider overcomes serious hurdles to win eventing

Top British eventer and ‘force of nature’ mare on showjumping grand prix podium

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits. 

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Nearly 50 years after he was trained there, a 50x50m portrait has been created of the legendary Red Rum on Ainsdale Beach.

Sand artist Sean Corcoran used a garden rake to recreate Rummy in the sand on which he galloped in preparation for his three Grand National victories.

Bookmaker Coral commissioned the portrait in memory of the Ginger McCain-trained superstar, who won in 1973, 1974 and 1977. It was also in celebration of the fact Red Rum came top of a public poll to find the most popular Grand National winner of all time, ahead of this year’s race (9 April).

Coral’s David Stevens said: “It may be 45 years since that historic third Grand National triumph, but four and a half decades on, Red Rum is still the most popular winner of the world’s most famous race, and the portrait of Rummy on the beach where he was trained was our tribute to the legend ahead of this year’s renewal.”

More than 700 people took part in the poll, in which two-time winner Tiger Roll came second, and Aldaniti, who recovered from a career-threatening injury to win in 1981 under Bob Champion, who had recovered from cancer, third.

Many Clouds and Hedgehunter were voted fourth and fifth, with 100-1 2009 winner Mon Mome sixth, followed by Don’t Push It, Rhyme ‘N’ Reason, West Tip and Red Marauder.

Artist Mr Corcoran, who took six hours to create the portrait using an adjustable rake, working against the tide, said: “Like everyone, I love the Grand National and Red Rum is a true sporting legend. I couldn’t think of a better way to pay tribute to him than by recreating a portrait on the beach on which he trained.”

You might also be interested in:

Red Rum: the three-time Grand National winner who ‘belonged’ at Aintree

Grand National legend Red Rum: 8 unseen images of ‘the people’s horse’

Photographer Jeremy Hoare reveals his mostly unseen and unpublished images of Red Rum

Red Rum and Potters Corner win virtual Grand Nationals: £2.6m raised for NHS

Potters Corner was the winner of the race that never was, with Red Rum securing yet another triumph with victory

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

From Olympic gold medallists to works of art, famous horses take many shapes and guises. Here Horse & Hound selects the most famous horses of all, and explains what brought them such fame. We begin with famous racehorses, racing being the horse sport most widely followed. A few brave thoroughbreds have really caught the public’s imagination, even helping to raise spirits in challenging times. One of those was Red Rum…

Famous horses in racing

Red Rum

Red Rum remains in the hearts of every racing fan who witnessed him winning the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977. The horse came second in 1975 and 1976, too. His third win is considered one of the greatest moments in racing history. That 25-length victory was greeted by tumultuous applause and BBC commentator Peter O’Sullevan stating: “It’s hats off and a tremendous reception; you’ve never heard one like it at Liverpool. Red Rum wins the National.”

Red Rum was bred to win sprint races on the Flat and was an anonymous seven-year-old when a small-time trainer from Lancashire bought him in 1972. That trainer, Ginger McCain, a former second-hand car dealer, gave 6,000gns for the fifth-hand horse. He housed him in run-down stables behind his used-car showroom in a suburb outside Liverpool.

The gelding was lame on arrival and suffered from pedalostitis – an incurable inflammation of the bone inside the hoof. His condition was managed with therapeutic visits to nearby Southport beach, where he would gallop on the sand before cooling down in the sea.

In his previous role as a taxi driver, Ginger befriended regular customer Noel le Mare, then 84, who wanted a Grand National winner. Noel gave Ginger the money to buy Red Rum.

In a nationwide poll in 2006, 45% of the public asked to name a horse picked Red Rum. He retired a celebrity on the eve of the 1978 Grand National, when he pulled up lame after a gallop. Then 13, he was still one of the favourites.

Aldaniti

The Josh Gifford-trained racehorse Aldaniti was part of one of the most tear-jerking racing stories in history. He won the 1981 Grand National under Bob Champion. The jockey and horse were a perfect pair. Having both been written off with serious health problems, they made remarkable comebacks. By winning the big race at Aintree, they captured the heart of a nation.

Bob had been diagnosed with cancer in 1979 and given a small chance of survival. He underwent a gruelling programme of chemotherapy, which gave him some hope. Aldaniti, who belonged to Nick Embiricos, made a spectacular return to the racecourse following a bad leg injury. He picked up the problem at Sandown in November 1979, and it put him on the sidelines for a year. When the duo lined up for the Grand National in 1981, no one expected them to win. But their story saw the public back them into 10/1 second-favourites behind Spartan Missile.

Aldaniti very nearly didn’t make it past the first fence, having landed too steeply and gone down onto his knees. However, Bob held on and the pair finished 41⁄2 lengths in front of Spartan Missile – literally beating the odds. It was one of the most popular successes in the history of the Grand National.

The chestnut gelding was bred in the UK by Harrowgate Stud and his name was derived from the names of breeder Tommy Barron’s four grandchildren; Alastair, David, Nicola and Timothy. In his retirement, the horse helped raise funds for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, set up by Bob in 1983.

Aldaniti played himself in a film made about the moving story in 1984 called Champions, in which actor John Hurt played Bob. The horse died at the home of his owner in Sussex in 1997, aged 27, having suffered a heart attack.

Whistlejacket

A star of the racetrack in his lifetime, Whistlejacket achieved greater fame as the subject of George Stubbs’ renowned portrait. One of the world’s most famous horses, he hangs in the National Gallery, London. George Stubbs’ life-size portrait of the chestnut has a slightly wild look in his eye. The 1762 oil painting was last sold for £11m, and has been fêted as “a paradigm of the flawless beauty of an Arabian thoroughbred”.

Stories abound about how this masterpiece came to be. Some contemporaries suggested it was an unfinished portrait of King George III, being on a scale typically reserved for kings. When the real Whistlejacket saw his likeness on canvas, he is said to have reacted violently. Stubbs then considered his work complete and the king was never painted in. Others say funding simply ran out – although the 40 guineas commission looks a worthwhile investment today.

Whistlejacket belonged to the second Marquess of Rockingham. Born in 1749, he was by the Godolphin Arabian son Mogul out of a Bolton Sweepstakes mare. He was named after a cold remedy of the times, containing gin and treacle. He was a star of the track in his day, defeated only four times in a six-year career, and winning £2,000 in his final race. He retired to the Rockingham stud aged 10, where he was only moderately successful. He was known to have “a nearly ungovernable temper”.

Famous horses in service

Burmese

Burmese was the first of four horses given to The Queen by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The Queen took on the mare in 1969 when the RCMP visited Britain to ride in a display at Royal Windsor Horse Show. Burmese was trained by RCMP Staff Sergeant Fred Rasmussen.

Her Majesty rode the mare for 18 consecutive years in her birthday parade, Trooping the Colour. After 21 years’ service, Burmese was retired to Windsor in 1986. She died in 1990 and is buried at Windsor. While not serving as The Queen’s charger in Trooping the Colour, Burmese served her adoptive country in the Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch.

The horse’s fame became more pronounced when in the 1981 Trooping the Colour a young man fired blanks at the pair. Burmese skittered briefly, and was instantly calmed by her rider.

Warrior

Warrior was born in 1908, a compact thoroughbred by Straybit out of Cinderella, and prophetically named. Of those famous horses who took part in battle, Warrior’s is perhaps the greatest story of all. Ridden for most of his 33 years by his breeder, General Jack Seely, Warrior survived four years of war. He spearheaded a crucial and gruesome cavalry charge to check the German offensive in Moreuil Wood in 1918. It is barely believable that Warrior survived all those blood-soaked battles in France. The Canadian cavalry, led by Seely, would say “the bullet hadn’t been made that could kill Warrior”.

On the very rare occasions he was lame and Seely had to ride another horse, his substitutes were killed. Once, while on watch, Warrior’s nose touching another horse, the other was shot. Twice, his stable was blown up moments after he was let out. Seely remembers during the Battle of Amiens, when Warrior was stabled in the drawing room of an abandoned French villa, it too was shelled.

“I said, ‘I’m afraid that is the end of Warrior,’” Seely writes in his 1934 book about his great charger. “But his head was poking out of the few bricks still standing, with the joist of the ceiling on his back.”

Seely’s grandson, racing broadcaster Brough Scott, says: “Warrior was the ultimate symbol of unquestioning, upstanding courage.”

Sefton

In 1982, the IRA detonated explosives that killed seven horses. Sefton, one who survived, became a symbol of hope. It was 20 July 1982. Eleven soldiers died in the two explosions on that day. Four were soldiers of the Blues and Royals. Seven bandsmen of the Royal Green Jackets died in another explosion in Regent’s Park. “The poor horses; my poor soldiers,” The Queen reportedly said on learning of it. The names of the soldiers and horses are commemorated on a plaque inside Knightsbridge Barracks.

Sefton recovered from terrible injuries. He retired to the Horse Trust, where he died at the grand age of 30. He was then returned to Melton Mowbray, where he was interred at the Defence Animal Centre, in the aptly named Remount Road. His grave has a marble headstone and overlooks the fields where his modern-day successors graze contentedly.

Famous horses in dressage

Valegro

Born in 2002, Valegro is the world famous horse who brought dressage to a wider audience with his rider Charlotte Dujardin. The pair won team gold at the 2012 Olympics and individual gold at the 2016 Olympics. At Olympia in 2014, Valegro beat his own world record in the grand prix freestyle, scoring 93.4%. During his career he set new records in all three types of grand prix.

The horse’s part-owner, Olympic gold medallist Carl Hester, gave the ride to his protégée Charlotte. She was to produce him as a young horse for Carl to ride later. But their partnership proved too strong to dissolve.

Although Valegro retired from competition after retaining individual Olympic gold at the Rio 2016 Games, he remains in work. The gelding continues to entertain his fans with special appearances. His official retirement ceremony took place at Olympia in 2016. There he produced an outstanding performance of his London 2012 freestyle to a packed house.

Totilas

The black stallion Totilas broke records in all three grand prix tests ahead of Valegro’s time, ridden by Edward Gal. He was also the first horse to break the 90% barrier. British Olympic rider Richard Davison said of the horse: “You had to fight through people just to get a glimpse of him. He was incredible, the talk of the town.”

The horse’s conformation was harmonious from front to back. He was said to possess the ideal topline for collection and connection, with superb flexibility, too. He had an extraordinary ability to open his elbow, which created his expressive front leg action.

Totilas was sold to German owners in 2010 to be ridden by Matthias Rath. The new pairing were beset with problems. They missed out on the London Olympics when Matthias contracted glandular fever. Totilas then missed the 2014 World Equestrian Games due to injury. The pair did hit form for a time, beating Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro twice, but never reproduced top form on the world stage. After helping the German team to European Championship bronze in 2015, Totilas was retired from competition. He continued breeding duties until his death in 2021.

Blue Circle Boy

Sir Lee Pearson says both he and four-year-old Blue Circle Boy “knew nothing about dressage” when they started. But the pair went on to win three gold medals at the Athens Paralympics – in the team, individual and freestyle events. They repeated the feat with triple gold at the 2002 European Championships in Portugal. At the 2005 European Championships, they won another team gold, plus individual and freestyle silver.

“My being disabled and having a horse of such beauty and power made people sit up and look,” says Lee. “We took on the world within para dressage. He carried me to become the first British dressage rider with a disability to become a national champion [elementary restricted in 2004]. He put para dressage on the map.”

The first time Lee saw Blue Circle Boy, he’d gone to buy a horse from a local lady in Staffordshire who had a yearling colt she kept in her garden. “He was bright dun, his dam had died when he was a day old and he was bottle-fed,” Lee recalls. “Three-and-a-half years later the lady phoned and said she had this stallion in the field. I went to see him and he was a massive, shaggy thing with hair down to his knees. A couple of months later, after castration, we put him on the lunge and we were dragged round the field by this golden monster. I just planted myself with my crutches while he kept slipping around. He was a bugger, but a very talented horse.”

Famous horses in eventing

Charisma

New Zealand event rider Mark Todd’s Olympic gold medal-winning ride Charisma achieved a great deal more than would be expected of any 15.3hh gelding. The horse became a national hero and one of the most famous horses in New Zealand after winning two consecutive gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

Nicknamed “Podge” because of his love of food, Mark fondly described the horse as “a fat, hairy pony”. He had a prolific international record, winning the British open championships twice and enjoying several wins across Europe.

In 1987, Mark had his eye on a Badminton victory, which was not to be as the event was cancelled due to bad weather.

“1987 was the year the Whitbread Trophy had Podge’s name on it, or so I believed,” said Mark in his first autobiography, So Far, So Good. “I was devastated. If I kept him in training the following year as a 16-year-old, it would be to defend his Olympic crown in Seoul, which would definitely rule him out of Badminton, so he’d missed his last chance.”

So despite winning back-to-back individual Olympic gold medals, Charisma never won a British four-star (now five-star). He finished second at Badminton in 1984 and 1985 and at Burghley in 1987. Officially retired at the age of 16, Charisma was flown back to New Zealand, where he completed a gold medal tour of the country, and then spent his retirement on Mark’s Rivermonte Farm.

King William

Postmen in British event rider Mary King’s Devon village became accustomed to fielding letters addressed to: “King William, Devon” in the 1990s. “I suppose there weren’t any other King Williams,” laughs Mary.

The fan mail started after she and the 17hh gelding won Gatcombe in 1991 and by the following year, hundreds of letters were arriving. With his prominent blaze, alert demeanour and increasingly consistent one-day-event record, the famous horse was easy to recognise.

His celebrity status was cemented in the biblical rain and mud at Badminton in 1992. Arriving in the 10-minute box, 38th to go, Mark Phillips delivered Mary the news that no one had yet gone clear. As she set off, Mary found herself praying: “Please God, look after William.” They rode the first clear of the day, with Mark’s advice to kick on and ignore the mud ringing in Mary’s ears. Despite painstakingly rubbing nearly every showjump on the final day, King William knocked just one. Mary took the Badminton title for the first time; a childhood dream realised at the age of 30.

“Winning Badminton is in a league of its own; it’s like a jockey winning the Grand National – virtually everyone in the world has heard of this occasion, and it’s your big, famous moment,” she wrote in her 2009 autobiography.

Priceless

Priceless was arguably the greatest of Ginny Elliot’s famous horses, taking her to her first Olympics and giving her the confidence to aim high with all the horses that followed. His purchase price of £900 turned out to be an incredible investment, although he was suffering from a curb when Ginny went to view him at Diana Scott’s Brendon Hill Farm in Devon. Diana had bred him, by Ben Faerie and out of an Irish hunter mare, Reckless, and had hunted him as a four-year-old.

“Priceless was plain and small — he stood at only 16hh — but in his favour he was a big mover,” recalls Ginny. “The decision on whether or not to buy him rested on how he jumped a ditch, and he flew it. He turned out to be an incredible eventer. He never deviated from a line and you could turn him on a sixpence. This gave him an advantage and he almost always made the optimum time despite this being the era of long-format three-day events.”

Priceless won Burghley, Badminton and world and European gold. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he clinched team silver and individual bronze. Despite the cross-country being an imposing four-star, Priceless didn’t make a single mistake, and he also showjumped clear. The gelding was retired at 12 – having achieved so much, it was only right that he should bow out while still at the top of his game.

Famous horses in showjumping

Stroller

Stroller was a showjumping sensation, a little bay pony who took on the world’s greatest and most famous horses – and beat them. At around 14.2hh, Stroller was among the smallest of stars but also among the greatest. He was a TV sensation whose fans wrote to ask for hairs from his tail. Bought as a junior showjumping pony for a Hampshire farmer’s daughter, Marion Coakes, Stroller and his rise to international fame summed up every young rider’s dream.

“When I came out of juniors at 16, Dad wanted to sell Stroller. It seemed the natural thing to graduate to horses,” Marion recalls. “I pleaded with Dad not to sell him, but to let me start open jumping with him.”

It became a showjumping sensation that a child’s pony was soaring over spreads, parallels, banks and ditches better than most of the world’s great horses. He won the formidable Hamburg Derby in 1970. Marion recalled: “When we sailed over the last fence, having completed the only clear round, the crowd of 25,000 went crazy. It was the most exciting moment. We had completed the 50th clear round ever on the course – and the first by a woman rider.”

Stroller’s greatest triumph was in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. He was suffering from a decayed and split upper tooth. It was decided to give him painkillers and steam inhalations rather than risk an extraction just before the contest. Marion won the silver medal and was fêted on her return to Britain and named Sportswoman of the Year. Retired in the 1970s, Stroller lived until the age of 36.

Hickstead

One of showjumping’s most famous horses, the 2008 Olympic gold medallist’s life and career was cut short when he was 15. In 2008, Eric Lamaze became Canada’s first Olympic showjumping champion following a thrilling climax to the equestrian Olympics in Hong Kong riding Hickstead. All the medals were decided in a jump-off and the gold only at the very last fence.

Eric and Hickstead jumped off against Sweden’s Rolf Bengtsson on the compact Ninja for gold. Eric and Rolf had jumped the sole double clears of the competition. They both finished on the same time, 38.39sec, but Ninja crashed through the final fence, a multi-coloured wall.

Hickstead died in particularly tragic circumstances when competing in Verona, where he had been taking part in the fourth round of the World Cup. Hickstead and Eric had just completed their round when the 15-year-old stallion collapsed. The cause was later revealed to be a rupture of the main artery supplying his heart. Riders requested that the competition be cancelled and filed into the arena in tears to pay their respects with a minute’s silence. FEI president at the time Princess Haya described Hickstead as “a horse in a million”.

Foxhunter

Foxhunter is credited with bringing showjumping to the attention of the British public, making him one of Britain’s most famous horses. Sir Harry Llewellyn began his partnership with the horse after buying the six-year-old bay for £1,500 in 1947. The gelding won an incredible 78 international competitions, including the King George V Gold Cup three times. He won a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics, then most notably team gold, this being the only British gold medal at the 1952 Olympics. He retired in 1955.

Norman Holmes of Thrussington, Leicestershire, produced Foxhunter. He bought the horse as an unbroken four-year-old in 1944 for £60 from his breeder and hunted him with the Quorn only a fortnight later. He changed the horse’s name from Eelskin to Foxhunter, schooled him as a showjumper and went on to win top-level classes at county shows. “He was very easy to break in, had a kind eye and so much quality,” said Norman.

You may also be interested in…

Which famous horse (or rider) do you share a birthday with?

15 of the most famous racehorses of all time

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

While many, many brilliant thoroughbreds have made their mark on the racecourses around the world during their Flat or National Hunt careers, far fewer have stolen the hearts and minds of the public to become truly famous racehorses. So what is it that makes a successful horse into a one widely regarded as a “people’s horse”?

In the vast majority of cases, as well as winning important races, the most famous horses have a back story that racing fans – and the media — are interested in. Those horses who stick around for multiple seasons – an achievement that is easier for most National Hunt horses than those racing on the Flat — have the time for a wider fan base to develop.

With some famous racehorses, the story is almost as much about the people who are around them – Bob Champion with Aldaniti and Sir Henry Cecil with Frankel for example – as it is the horse itself. And not every horse becomes famous during their racing career. The fame of the late, great Galileo only grew after he retired and became the world’s most influential sire, while Shergar’s fame exploded when he went missing, never to be seen again.

As for deciding which horses deserve the title of “most famous racehorses ever”, that’s a tricky task to undertake but we’ve challenged ourselves to take it on, so here is our selection of some of the most famous racehorses of all time…

Horse & Hound’s most famous racehorses

Frankel

Foaled on 11 February 2008, Frankel is now retired from racing and is standing at stud. The British-based horse was unbeaten in his 14-race career and was the highest-rated racehorse in the world from May 2011. By Galileo, Frankel amassed £2,998,302 during his three-year Flat racing career. He was trained by the late Sir Henry Cecil and ridden in his races by Tom Queally. His race record is remarkable and includes wins in the 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Lockinge Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, International Stakes and Champion Stakes.

Red Rum

Red Rum jumped his way into the public’s heart with his three Aintree Grand National wins (1973, 1974 and 1977). Born on 7 May 1965, the prolific steeplechaser was renowned for his jumping ability, having not fallen in 100 races. He remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times. The 1973 race in which Red Rum secured his comeback victory from 30 lengths behind is often considered one of the greatest Grand Nationals in history. Trained by Ginger McCain and owned by Noel le Mare, he also won the 1974 Scottish National and amassed over £146,000 in prize money throughout his career. He died on 18 October 1995 and remains one of the most famous racehorses to have ever entertained the public over fences.

Galileo

Galileo (30 March 1998 – 10 July 2021) enjoyed a successful Flat racing career (six wins from eight starts as a two- and three-year-old), but it was as a sire that he made his indelible mark on the racing industry as the most successful thoroughbred stallion of all time. After winning The Derby, Irish Derby Stakes, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001, he was named the 2001 European Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. After retirement, Galileo became one of the most sought after sires in the world. First crowned leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 2008, he then consecutively earned the title from 2010 until 2020. In 2020, he set the record for the number of Derby winners sired at five: New Approach, Ruler Of The World, Australia, Anthony Van Dyck and Serpentine. At the time of his death he had sired 91 Group One winners, while 20 of his sons – including Frankel and Australia – have also sired Group One victors.

Arkle

Named after a mountain in Sutherland, Scotland that bordered the Duchess of Westminster’s Sutherland estate, Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) won three Cheltenham Gold Cups before his career was brought to a premature end by an injury. Owned by Anne Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, he was trained by Tom Dreaper at Greenogue, Kilsallaghan in County Meath, Ireland, and ridden during his steeplechasing career by Pat Taaffe. At 212, his Timeform rating is the highest ever awarded to a steeplechaser.

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid (11 April 1979 – 13 November 2006) has been described as “the most charismatic racehorse of the 20th century”. Adored by his public, at its height Dessie-mania was just as impassioned as Beatle-mania. Trained by David Elsworth, ‘Dessie’ won a remarkable four King George VI Chases, a Cheltenham Gold Cup, an Irish Grand National and a Tingle Creek, among many others. During his racing career he was partnered by five different jump jockeys: Colin Brown, Richard Linley, Simon Sherwood, Graham Bradley and Richard Dunwoody. Desert Orchid won 34 of his 70 starts, amassing £654,066 in prize money, but he never ran in the Grand National at Aintree as he was “too beloved” by the public.

Secretariat

Champion American Flat horse Secretariat (30 March 1970 – 4 October 1989) won the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. During his racing career, he won five Eclipse Awards, including Horse of the Year honours when he was two and three years old. Trained by Lucien Laurin, “Big Red” as he was also known, amassed over $1.316m in prize money. His win in the Belmont Stakes was record-breaking, storming home 31 lengths clear of the rest of the field.

Kauto Star

Record-breaking Kauto Star (19 March 2000 – 29 June 2015) earnt his place in the record books – and any list of famous racehorses – with five wins in the King George VI Chase. The French-bred National Hunt champion racehorse, who was trained by Paul Nicholls and owned by Clive Smith, also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice, in 2007 and 2009. He earned a total of £3,775,883 in prize money and bonuses. He was the top-rated steeplechaser during the 2006/7, 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2011/12 season, winning the Tingle Creek Chase in both 2005 and 2006 and the Betfair Chase four times in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

Winx

Winx (foaled 14 September 2011) won 33 consecutive races as a Flat horse, predominantly in Australia. These victories included 25 Group One races, amassing over £14m in prize money. Winx became the first horse in history to win the prestigious Cox Plate four times. She retired on 13 April 2019 at Randwick racecourse after winning the Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the third time. She is now a broodmare. Trained by Chris Waller, Winx was the world’s top-ranked filly or mare and the world’s top-ranked turf horse in 2016. She retained this ranking in 2017 and in 2018 was co-ranked as the best horse in the world.

American Pharoah

American Pharoah (foaled 2 February 2012) won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2015. He won nine of his 11 starts and amassed $8,650,300 in prize money for his connections. This famous racehorse now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He was the American Champion Two-Year-Old in 2014 and the American Champion Three-Year-Old in 2015, and was also the American Horse of the Year in 2015.

Denman

Fondly known as “The Tank”, Denman (17 April 2000 – 5 June 2018) was a much-loved National Hunt horse, who was trained by Paul Nicholls during his illustrious career. He won 14 of his 24 races, including the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Hennessy Gold Cup in both 2007 and 2009. He was well-known for his rivalry with stable mate Kauto Star throughout his career. Owned by Paul Barber and Maggie Findlay, Denman had a front-running style and was tough and gutsy, which caught the imagination and hearts of racing fans during his career.

Enable

Enable (foaled 12 February 2014) is one of the great horses of modern day Flat racing. During her career, which ran from November 2016 to October 2020, she won 15 of her 19 races, including 11 Group One races. She amassed over £10m in prize money for her owner, the late Khalid Abdullah, who also owned Frankel. She was trained by John Gosden and ridden predominantly by Frankie Dettori, who regularly documented his love for this horse. She won the Cheshire Oaks, Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, three King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes’, the Yorkshire Oaks and two Prix de l’Arc de Triomphes. She also won the Breeders’ Cup Turf, becoming the first Arc winner to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf in the same year. She has retired to stud as a broodmare.

Best Mate

Best Mate (28 January 1995 – 1 November 2005) was a three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup between 2002 and 2004. He was much-loved by the public and trained by Henrietta Knight to win 14 of his 22 races, and finished second in seven more. He also won the King George VI Chase in 2002 and amassed over £1m in prize money. Best Mate never fell at a fence or hurdle. Of the seven races in which he finished second, five were Grade One races, and two were Grade Two races. Jim Culloty was Best Mate’s jockey for most of his biggest successes and he was owned by Jim Lewis. This famous racehorse suffered a suspected heart attack and died in front of his adoring fans while racing at Exeter.

Seabiscuit

The subject of books and films, Seabiscuit (23 May 1933 – 17 May 1947) was a champion Flat horse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple-Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse special at Pimlico and was voted the 1938 American Horse of the Year. He only won a quarter of his first 40 races, but after moving to trainer Tom Smith, he went on to achieve great things. Among the many books and films documenting this famous racehorse’s life, the movie Seabiscuit, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Aldaniti

Aldaniti (25 June 1970 – 28 March 1997) won the Grand National in 1981. His jockey on that day, Bob Champion, had recovered from cancer, while Aldaniti had recovered after suffering a career-threatening injury. The horse was trained by Josh Gifford and owned by Nick Embiricos. Aldaniti starred as himself in the 1983 film Champions alongside John Hurt. He finished third in the 1979 Cheltenham Gold Cup and second in the Scottish Grand National. He sustained a serious leg injury at Sandown in November 1979 and was off the racecourse for over a year, which made his Grand National win all the more remarkable.

Shergar

No list of famous racehorses would be complete without Shergar (3 March 1978 – c. February 1983), who was bred and owned by HH Aga Khan IV and trained by Michael Stoute in Newmarket. From his eight races, he won six, including the Epsom Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, all in 1981. After this successful season, he was retired to the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland. In 1983 he was stolen from the stud, and a ransom of £2m was demanded; it was not paid, and negotiations were soon broken off by the thieves. In 1999 a supergrass, formerly in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), stated they stole the horse. The IRA has never admitted any role in the theft and the horse was never found.

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

With this year’s Grand National abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic, H&H takes a look back at some memorable Aintree heros.

2018/19 – Tiger Roll

The National Hunt star raced into the history books in 2019 when winning back-to-back Grand Nationals. Trained by Gordon Elliott and owned by Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud, the diminutive gelding, who was bred to be a Flat racehorse, claimed the impressive double under Davy Russell.

2001 – Red Marauder

The year when foot-and-mouth disease wreaked havoc with racing fixtures with the Cheltenham Festival abandoned, the Grand National went ahead, but was run in terrible weather conditions owing to high winds and rain. Only four horses completed the race successfully – two having been remounted – due in part to the bad conditions and because of loose horse Paddy’s Return causing mayhem at the Canal Turn. The 33/1 chance Red Marauder was victorious under Richard Guest.

2009 – Mon Mome

Ridden by Liam Treadwell and trained by Venetia Williams, Mon Mome won the Grand National at a huge price of 100/1 and was the largest-priced winner since 1967.

2015 – Many Clouds

The popular chaser, who was trained by Oliver Sherwood, helped jockey Leighton Aspell to win back-to-back Grand Nationals. Sadly, in January 2017, the gelding collapsed and died after crossing the finish line at Cheltenham, having narrowly beaten Thistlecrack to the post.

2010 – Don’t Push It

The JP McManus-owned and Jonjo O’Neill-trained gelding helped multiple champion jockey AP McCoy to his first Grand National win in 2010.

1973/74/77 – Red Rum

Without doubt the greatest horse to grace the Aintree turf, Red Rum loved the big fences at the Merseyside track and still holds the record for winning the Grand National on three occasions – two of which were consecutive. Jockey Brian Fletcher was on board for the first two victories, while Tommy Stack took the reins to win in 1977.

1997 – Lord Gyllene

Jockey Tony Dobbin partnered the Steve Brookshaw-trained Lord Gyllene to the rescheduled 1997 Grand National. That year’s renewal was postponed by two days following an IRA bomb threat on the initial Saturday.

1990 – Mr Frisk

The Kim Bailey-trained Mr Frisk won the 1990 contest under amateur jockey Marcus Armytage, who is now H&H’s racing correspondent and a writer for the Telegraph.

1967 – Foinavon

The 100/1 shot was the only horse to survive carnage at the 23rd fence, when the rest of the field either fell, refused or were hampered and brought down thanks to a loose horse. The outsider was ridden by journeyman jockey John Buckingham, and the fence was officially named after Foinavon in 1984 by Aintree Racecourse.

1981 – Aldaniti

Jockey Bob Champion and the Josh Gifford-trained gelding were victorious in 1981. The winning jockey was making a comeback having successfully battled cancer, while Aldaniti had also bounced back from injury.

Don’t miss the virtual Grand National, being shown on ITV on 4 April at 5pm.

Would you like to read Horse & Hound’s independent journalism without any adverts? Join Horse & Hound Plus today and you can read all articles on HorseandHound.co.uk completely ad-free.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A mural of three-time Grand National winner Red Rum has been unveiled near the beach he trained on.

The painting, by street artist Paul Curtis, took just over a week to complete and can be found by the promenade on a gable wall at the top of Scarisbrick Avenue, Southport.

It covers more than 270 square meters and was commissioned as part of Sefton’s Borough of Culture celebrations for 2020.

“This is by far the biggest mural I have completed and one of the most enjoyable to do,” said Liverpool-based Paul, whose other works include the iconic Liverbird wings in the Baltic Triangle in his home town.

“A lot of planning went into the design of the artwork and I was able to capture Red Rum galloping is the sea with the Southport sands in the background.

“Red Rum is part of Southport’s and the Grand National’s heritage and it was a privilege to paint such an iconic horse as part of Sefton’s Borough of Culture celebrations in such a prime location.

“Such is the size and scale of the mural you can see it from a great distance away, and I hope it will form part of a continuing legacy of Red Rum, remembering what he achieved as a racehorse and his training on Southport beach.”

The Ginger McCain-trained record-breaker won the iconic race in 1973, 1974 and 1977, finishing second on his other attempts in 1975 and 1976.

Mayor of Sefton, Cllr June Burns, said it is a “remarkable piece of artwork”.

“Considering the current national situation, I hope the mural really paints a positive image for everyone as part of our [celebrations],” he added.

“Thanks to Paul Curtis for creating something amazing that will form a legacy of our Borough of Culture year.”

Until you are able to travel to see it in person, owing to the nationwide lockdown, enjoy these amazing photos of how the masterpiece came to life

Would you like to read Horse & Hound’s independent journalism without any adverts? Join Horse & Hound Plus today and you can read all articles on HorseandHound.co.uk completely ad-free

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Entitled simply Red Rum, this book produced by photographer Jeremy Hoare contains around 85 unseen and mostly unpublished glorious photographs of the famous racehorse, taken after he won his second Grand National in 1974.

H&H shares a sneak peek of some of the pictures…

What makes this book special is that all the photographs were taken by Jeremy behind the scenes at Ginger McCain’s Southport yard and readers are treated to images of Red Rum relaxing in his stable (pictured below with head lad Jackie Grainger) and rolling in his field — scenes not many racing fans would have witnessed before.

For Jeremy, his association with Red Rum started when his wife, Gillian, an artist, did a drawing of the superstar after his Grand National victory in 1974.

“We sent the drawing into Horse & Hound, but weren’t expecting much from it. However, to our delight the drawing was published on the whole of the magazine’s back page,” reflects Jeremy.

“I contacted Ginger McCain and asked if he’d seen it. He said he had and then invited us to the yard to meet Red Rum. He was the most amazing horse I have ever met — his intelligence was like no other, it was extraordinary.

“One month later, we returned and were able to both photograph and draw Red Rum relaxing at home and in his field (pictured rolling below). He really was ‘the people’s horse’ — he loved people so much and we got to see him playing around at home.”

The photographer also remembers how Red Rum’s field was in a “secret location” so no one would know where he was, plus he had a companion in Andy the donkey.

Jeremy adds: “He came over to Gillian’s canvas on which she was drawing (pictured below). Most horses would have knocked it over, but he was just so curious about everything. Gillian was a bit wary of horses but she was never scared of Red Rum, he made her feel at ease.”

Jeremy was also fortunate enough to capture Red Rum working on the beach, many images of which have become iconic over the years.

“The stretch of beach they galloped along was always harrowed everyday by Ginger or a member of his team,” remembers Jeremy, who also captured Red Rum making his way back to the yard from Southport beach with his lad Billy Ellison (pictured below).

“Ginger (pictured below) was an amazing character,” reflects Jeremy. “While Red Rum came across as such an easy going and laid back horse, both in his stable and with people — he loved the attention and knew he was special.”

Jeremy’s wife, Gillian, painted a picture of Red Rum after he won his third and final Grand National in 1977. The painting (pictured below) was purchased by Red Rum’s jockey Tommy Stack and now hangs in his house.

“I guess Red Rum was the horse who should have never raced, let alone win. He had pedal osteitis and Ginger swore by using the sea’s salt water everyday,” adds Jeremy, who ironically has never been to Aintree to watch the Grand National.

Jeremy Hoare’s Red Rum exhibition

The above pictures and many more will be exhibited at Osborne Studio Gallery, 2 Motcomb St, Belgravia, London for all to enjoy from 9-18 April. There will also be a book signing of Jeremy’s book Red Rum on Tuesday, 10 April — ahead of the 2018 running of the Grand National on 14 April.

Don’t miss Horse & Hound’s Grand National preview (12 April), plus read the full report — including analysis, comment and pictures — in the 19 April issue.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Three-time Grand National winner Red Rum has been revealed as one of the horses featured in the Royal Mail’s “Racehorse Legends” series.

Steeplechasing superstar Desert Orchid was the first racehorse of the series to be announced when the themes for the 2017 special stamp collections were made public in January.

He has now been joined by fellow equine superstars Red Rum, Frankel, Shergar, Kauto Star, Desert Orchid, Brigadier Gerard, Arkle and Estimate.

Equestrian painter Michael Heslop created the artwork for the stamps.

“I started painting racehorses a long, long time ago,” he said. “The reason I wanted to paint racehorses is, for an artist they have everything; you paint form, you can paint movement.

“In that one image you’ve got horseflesh and you’ve got the silks of the jockey. Everything in that one image — that is really, really worth painting.”

The stamps go on sale today (6 April) and can be bought from 7,000 Post Office branches or at www.royalmail.com/racehorselegends

Racing journalist and former jockey Brough Scott added: “British Racing has been going on for almost as long as the Royal Mail and it is great for it to be recognised in this way.”

A replica Royal Mail coach and horses is also attending the Randox Health Grand National today and tomorrow (6-7 April).

“Racing is a British passion, and we pay tribute to eight legendary horses that have proven their greatness on UK racecourses and won the affection of the public,” said Philip Parler, Royal Mail’s stamp strategy manager.

The horses

Frankel (b.2008)

Unbeaten in any of his 14 starts, Flat legend Frankel’s highlights include the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in 2011 and the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2012. He retired to stud in October 2012, following his win in the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Red Rum (1965-1995)

This year marks four decades since Red Rum won his third Grand National. Trained by Ginger McCain, he won the iconic race in 1973, 1974 and 1977, finishing second on both his other attempts in 1975 and 1976.

Shergar (1978-1983)

Trained by Michael Stoute, Shergar won five consecutive races as a three-year-old in 1981. These included the Guardian Classic Trial at Sandown Park, the Chester Vase and the Irish Derby at the Curragh. At the Epsom Derby in June, he won by 10 lengths, which remains the furthest winning distance in the race’s history. He retired to the Aga Khan’s Ballymany Stud in Ireland, but in 1983 he was stolen and never found.

Kauto Star (2000-2015)

National Hunt hero Kauto Star won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice (2007 and 2009) and the King George VI Chase a record five times between 2006 and 2011. During his racing career he notched up 16 Grade One victories.

Desert Orchid (1979-2006)

Known affectionately as ‘Dessie’, Desert Orchid was adored by the crowds for his incredible jumping, versatility and courage. Trained by David Elsworth, he ran 71 times between January 1983 and December 1991, winning 34 races. His victories include four King George VI Chases, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Irish Grand National.

Brigadier Gerard (1968-1989)

Owned by John and Jean Hislop, and trained by Dick Hern, Brigadier Gerard won 17 of his 18 races between 1970 and 1972. His most memorable wins include the 2000 Guineas Stakes, a 10-length victory in the Goodwood Mile and top honours in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, all in 1971.

Arkle (1957-1970)

The Irish steeplechaser stormed to victories in the 1964 Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse and in the Leopardstown Chase (1964, 1965 and 1966). He cemented his legend status with consecutive wins in the Cheltenham Gold Cup (1964, 1965 and 1966) and the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury (1964 and 1965).

Estimate (b.2009)

Her Majesty The Queen became the first reigning monarch to triumph in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot when Estimate won the coveted race in June 2013. The mare was retired to stud in September 2014 after five victories on the track.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

A wire sculpture of Grand National legend Red Rum is to be unveiled at Aintree to mark 40 years since his third win in the iconic race.

Artist Paul Tavernor has spent three months creating the piece of art out of steel wire and mesh.

The artwork will be on display at the racecourse from the first day of the Grand National Festival (6 April) and is to be installed close to Red Rum’s final resting place.

“When I learned that Red Rum — this beautiful and superb racehorse — was celebrating the 40th anniversary of him winning his third Grand National, it took me straight back to my childhood memories of me and my family, huddled around a small TV in the 1970s, urging him on to win,” Paul told H&H.

“Horses are such magnificent and powerful creatures — I have often painted them.

“But I was really inspired to make a tribute to Red Rum and get my hands on to physical steel bars and wire to create this legendary racehorse.

“I have called him ‘To The Wire’ to reflect that poise, that grit, that determination of heading towards the winning post, that all racehorses and jockeys face as they race towards the finishing post.”

He added he has enjoyed working with the racecourse and is “very much looking forward” to seeing the sculpture at the Grand National.

Article continues below…

You might also be interested in:

Creative photographer captures horses in new light

Under-Horse, by photographer Andrius Burba, pictures horses from

Celebrate Red Rum Day: 12 fascinating facts about this legendary steeplechaser

More than 40 years may have elapsed since

Red Rum is the most successful horse in the history of the race. He took top honours three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1977. He also finished runner-up in the two intervening years (1975 and 1976).

Christine Wheatcroft, the Jockey Club’s north-west regional marketing manager, said Aintree is always keen to add new features and showcase work that has a connection to the racecourse and its legends.

“When I discovered Paul’s work and his passion for capturing animals in poses depicting speed and motion, I was very intrigued to learn more about his Red Rum-inspired sculpture,” she told H&H.

“As an Aintree hero, Red Rum is the epitome of an elite athlete, being the only runner to have won the Grand National race on three separate occasions.

“This year, Aintree will mark the 40th anniversary since his last win in 1977 and therefore, as part of various tributes taking place across the festival, Paul Tavernor’s sculpture will be positioned close to ‘Rummy’s’ grave, located near the finishing post.

“Whilst there is artistic license in every artwork, I know Paul has spent endless hours studying Rummy to get as true a likeness as possible.”

There will also be a chance to meet Paul during the festival. Click here for details.

For all the latest news analysis, competition reports, interviews, features and much more, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, on sale every Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Today (13 October 2016) has been declared Red Rum Day at Carlisle racecourse, as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of the legendary steeplechaser’s final victory in Cumbria in 1976. And to celebrate, racegoers are being invited to ‘Wear Red For Rummy’, with free entry being offered to anyone born in 1976 and a free red fizz cocktail for anyone who wears red on the day. Follow the action at #RedRumDay

12 things you need to know about Red Rum

1. “Rummy’s” association with Liverpool began long before his reign as National hero, when, as a two-year-old, he made his debut at Aintree, dead-heating on the flat in a five-furlong selling plate.

2. The 400gns yearling, bred to be a sprinter by Martyn McEnery in Co Kilkenny, was bought and broken in by Champion Hurdle-winning jockey Tim Molony and later switched to the ownership of Lurline Brotherton, whose ambition was to own the winner of the Grand National.

3. Deterred by Red Rum’s escalating vet bills due to the bone disease pedalostitis and mixed fortunes in his races until then, Mrs Brotherton entered him for Doncaster’s August Sale of 1972, just eight months before the gelding would realise this dream for his new owner.

4. Snapped up for 6,000gns on behalf of Noel le Mare, the seven-year-old began his long tenure at the late Donald “Ginger” McCain’s Upper Aughton Road stables that summer, a partnership that would continue for 23 years.

5. The trainer, like Mrs Brotherton, had long dreamed of winning jump racing’s biggest prize at what was his local racecourse, but even McCain could not have imagined the phenomenal run his new arrival would achieve in the ensuing five years.

6. He recorded back-to-back victories in 1973 — when he broke Golden Miller’s course record — and 1974 in what was arguably his best season, also landing the Scottish National and narrowly losing out to Red Candle in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury.

7. The following two years, he was second to Ireland’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L’Escargot and Rag Trade.

8. Rummy’s emotional hat-trick in The Queen’s Silver Jubilee year, this time in the hands of jockey Tommy Stack, made him a household name.

9. Rummy was entered to contest a sixth Grand National in 1978 and worked well in the build-up, but, with the requisite drama that routinely surrounds the race, was declared a non-runner the night before due to lameness. He was subsequently found to have a hairline fracture and never raced again.

10. In retirement, Rummy was as popular as he had been throughout his racing career and seemingly relished the attention from his fans. “Everybody thought the world of him, and the little devil knew it,” said McCain affectionately of his star.

11. He made numerous public appearances, most memorably walking calmly on stage for the BBC Sports Review of the Year and pricking his ears when he heard the voice of Tommy Stack coming from the big screen.

12. Appropriately, after his death in 1995 at the age of 30, Red Rum was laid to rest in the shadow of the winning post at Aintree, the course he had made his own.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Three-times Grand National winner Red Rum has finished in the top 10 of a poll of Britain’s sporting heroes.

The vote, run by Sport Relief, was on the sporting hero Brits are most proud of.

Hepthathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill came out on top with 27% of the vote. But Red Rum made it into the top 10 with 13%.

Tennis star Andy Murray was second with 26%, rower Sir Steve Redgrave took third with 22%.

The popular gelding won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977. He also came second in the famous Aintree race in 1975 and 1976.

He was trained by Ginger McCain and the horse became a national celebrity.

The research showed that two thirds of Brits that voted (66%) feel proud to be British when it comes to the nation’s sporting accolades.

Aside from sport, one in three Brits (37%) said The Queen is the icon of which they are most proud, closely followed by Winston Churchill (31%) and Sir David Attenborough (30%).

“From sporting champions to British icons, we, as a nation, have a host of reasons to feel proud,” said Michele Settle, director of UK campaigns and brands at Comic Relief.

“We believe there’ll be an increase in Brits feeling the emotion this spring by taking part in the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games and making a massive difference to people living incredibly tough lives.”

The results were released today (Friday 29 January) in the run up to the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games. This aims to inspire people to sign up to “walk, run swim or cycle themselves proud”, at the events across the weekend of 18-20 March.

Half of all the money raised by the public for Sport Relief is used to make a difference, right here at home in the UK. The other half is used to transform lives across the world’s poorest communities.

Visit: www.sportrelief.com to sign up to your nearest event.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Red Rum has been named the greatest Grand National horse of all time in a virtual race of champions.

Ginger McCain‘s legendary chaser, who won the race in 1973, 1974 and 1977, came out top after the big race sponsor Crabbie’s enlisted the support of racing experts Timeform to answer one of horse racing’s burning questions — who is the greatest Grand National winner of all time?

The result was calculated via an in-depth research process, taking into account the age and weight of each runner from their first National-winning performance – thereby retaining the handicap element of the National.

The results were determined by their chance on the weights at Timeform ratings, with other factors considered, including overall Aintree record and jockey form.

The virtual ground was in good condition, while the fences used were the same as those in service during 1976 and 1977.

The field included other greats, such as Reynoldstown (who finished 2nd), L’Escargot (who came 3rd), Manifesto, Ballabriggs, Hedgehunter, Corbiere and Neptune Collonges.

Watch Red Rum winning his 3rd Grand National in 1977

12 fascinating facts about Red Rum

Read all the latest Grand National news

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Races can be won and lost in the paddock, let alone at the start or a crucial fence. But in terms of public scrutiny, the finish has the greatest significance.

A rider who demonstrates strength with finesse and rhythmical use of the stick is admired.

They must win races — not just look good — but riders who are consistently neat and effective, conveying fitness, balance and rhythm, will be popular with owners and trainers, thus increasing their percentage of likely winning rides.

We look back at three memorable race finishes.

• Red Rum’s first Grand National victory in 1972 is perhaps remembered as much for Crisp’s defeat as the beginning of the winner’s incredible Aintree record. A two-mile champion, Crisp pulled a fence in front of his rivals on the second circuit and was 20 lengths clear at the final fence. But on the long run-in, jockey Dick Pitman failed to keep his weary mount on a straight line and they lost valuable momentum and rhythm, easing Red Rum’s path to glory.
• Honourable Man was favourite for the 1982 Christie’s Foxhunter Chase at Cheltenham, having finished runner-up 12 months earlier to Grittar, a subsequent Grand National winner. However, rider Tony Fowler had injured a shoulder and was unable to give more than token assistance from the final fence, allowing The Drunken Duck to catch him and score by a head. Winning amateur Brod Munro-Wilson had a unique style — one critic likened it to a man conducting an orchestra.
• At Cheltenham’s evening hunter chase meeting in 2009, Tessa Good had her first ride under Rules and took a safety-first policy, saying later: “I was just determined to get round and didn’t want to fall off at the last.” Approaching that fence on The Baillie, Tessa was last of five, trading at 999-1 on Betfair. She was almost 20 lengths behind Brer Bear and Hambaphambili, who were duelling for the lead on the run-in. However, on touching down, Tessa became active, The Baillie took off and won by a length. Hambaphambili, who had been so close to winning 10 strides from the post, finished last of the five. He was ridden by Mark Wall, a rider many consider one of the strongest on the circuit.

To read the full feature about riding a finish plus the rest of the point-to-point special including a full fixtures list see the current issue of H&H (15 November 2012)

Read all the latest racing news

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Donald “Ginger” McCain (21 September 1930 – 19 September 2011) was an English National Hunt trainer.

Famously plain-speaking and politically incorrect, he won the Grand National four times – three times with Red Rum (1973, 1974 and 1977) and a fourth time with Amberleigh House (2004).

When Ginger left school aged 14 he helped his grandfather, John Wright, drive his horse-drawn float.

He was often allowed to ride local tradesmen’s horses that he jumped at local shows.

After National Service Ginger returned to Southport – where he was born – to work in a wallet factory, but lasted only three weeks.

He then took up a job at a stables in Cheshire owned by Frank Speakman. However, at 12st he was too heavy to become a jockey.

Ginger began training in 1962, using stables behind his used-car garage in Southport. Before his Grand National successes he supported himself by taxi driving.

His first winner came in 1965 with San Lorenzo at a selling chase in Liverpool.

In August 1972 he bought Red Rum for 6,000 guineas.

Despite vets thinking he had an incurable bone disease – pedalostitis – Red Rum won six out of his nine races in the 1972/73 season.

Ginger put Red Rum’s recovery down to exercising him on the sands and in the surf of Southport beach.

It was Brian Fletcher who rode him to his first Grand National victory in 1973, narrowly beating the Australian chaser Crisp.

And in 1974 Red Rum became the first horse to win successive Nationals since Reynoldstown in the 1930s.

After an incredible third National win in 1977, Red Rum was forced into retirement just before the 1978 race with a hairline fracture in a heel. He died in October 1995.

Ginger moved from Southport to Bankhouse, Cheshire in 1990.

He took the National for a fourth time with Amberleigh House in 2004.

In 2005 he handed what was now a very full yard to his son Donald, who claimed the McCains’ fifth Grand National in 2011 with Ballabriggs.

Ginger died on 19 September 2011, aged 80. His memorial service was held at Liverpool Cathedral in November 2011 where a 1000-strong congregation celebrated his life.

A 1,000-strong congregation packed out Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral last week (15 November) to celebrate the life of Ginger McCain.

Owners, trainers and jockeys past and present paid tribute to the man who won the Grand National four times.

His relationship with Red Rum did much to rescue the race when it was in the doldrums in the1970s.

Ginger’s widow Beryl said: “It was absolutely fantastic, memorable and wonderful. The cathedral was full.”

His son Donald had been concerned that it was too large a venue. “When Aintree said they wanted to come here, the first thing I said was ‘Will enough people turn up?’

“They told me off for being stupid,” he added.

Richard Pitman gave an address, as did former commentator and Ginger’s old friend Jonathan Turner.

As friends and family filed out, the organist played the Bob Hope song Thanks For

the Memories.

Channel 4 racing’s Alastair Down told H&H why he made the pilgrimage to Merseyside.

“Ginger was a living monument to political incorrectness and no loss to the diplomatic corps,” he said.

“But his handling of Red Rum leaves lovers of the horse forever in his debt. In those five years [in which he won three times and came second twice], he reconnected the general public with the horse.”

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (24 November 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Ginger McCain is to be remembered at a service in Liverpool Cathedral next month.

The colourful National Hunt trainer, who won the Grand National four times – three times with Red Rum in the 1970s – was synonymous with the race and Aintree racecourse.

He died last month at the age of 80 after a period of illness (news, 22 September).

In a statement the McCain family said they would like to thank “everyone for their wonderful tributes and messages, which have made a very tough time much easier”.

The memorial service will be held on 15 November at 2.30pm.

This news stroy was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (27 October, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Racing fans and industry figures are calling for Aintree racecourse to honour Ginger McCain with a permanent memorial.

The trainer, who died on 19 September, was synonymous with the Grand National – having won with Red Rum (1973, 1974,1977) and Amberleigh House (2004).

Ideas include running the 2012 Grand National in his name, naming a fence or a race after him, or erecting a statue on the course next to the one of Red Rum – which has the support of local Labour MP, Bill Esterton.

Aintree has opened a condolences book, but a spokesman said they are in “no rush” to decide how to honour him.

“Ginger has done such great things for Aintree so we want to ensure whatever we do is a fitting tribute,” she said. “After his funeral we will talk with his family to get a feel for what he would have liked.”

And Sefton Council is considering how to honour Ginger’s contribution to Southport – where he used to train Red Rum on the beach.

“Ginger was highly regarded in Sefton and often said Southport remained his true home,” a spokesman told H&H.

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (29 September, 2011)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Grand National legend Donald “Ginger” McCain has died aged 80.

The trainer, who famously won the Aintree race four times – three of those with Red Rum – died in the early hours of this morning (Monday, 19 September) aged 80 at his home in Cholmondeley, Cheshire.

He would have turned 81 on Wednesday (21 September).

The colourful trainer celebrated Grand National victory with Red Rum in 1973, 1974, 1977 and Amberleigh House in 2004. He retired in 2006 and handed the training reins over to his son Donald, who in April carried on the family legacy winning the race with Ballabriggs.

“Ginger passed away peacefully in his sleep after a short illness,” his wife Beryl said today. There will be a private family funeral followed by a later memorial service, for which there will be more information in the coming weeks.

“Joanne, Donald Jnr [his daughter and son] and I appreciate all the kindness we are being shown and, at this difficult time, would appreciate it if we were afforded some privacy.”

Joanne tweeted earlier today: “I love you Dad. You are the best, You’ll always be with us. Xxx”

A real character, the often outspoken trainer used to be a taxi driver to supplement his training income. It was through driving he met Noel le Mare, whom he went on to buy Red Rum for. Ginger famously exercised the horse along the beach at Southport.

“We are deeply saddened at the news of Ginger’s death and our thoughts are very much with the McCain family,” said Aintree chairman Lord Daresbury.

“Ginger was a local man and a true ‘National legend’. His four Grand National victories was an unbelievable achievement and brought the race even closer to the nation’s heart. Ginger was a terrific supporter of the racecourse; we will badly miss him at Aintree on raceday.”

He added that staff at the racecourse will be speaking to Ginger’s family to agree how to best remember his achievements.

Tributes from the racing world have poured in on Twitter.

Jockey AP McCoy: “Sad to hear about the death of Aintree legend Ginger McCain trainer of the great Red Rum. My thoughts are with his family, RIP”

Trainer and former jockey Brendan Powell: “Sad to hear of Ginger McCain’s passing. Tough but fair man to ride for. Thoughts are with his family. RIP,” Brendan Powell.

Jockey Sam Twiston-Davies: RIP ginger McCain true legend.

Presenter Clare Balding: “Very sad. He was an old-fashioned type and said what he thought but he was a character alright. Whenever I approached Ginger with a microphone it raised the heart rate. He might swear, say something offensive or be pertinent and funny.”

For more reaction and a comment from H&H columnist Marcus Armytage see Thursday’s issue of H&H (22 September).

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Jenny Pitman and Sir Peter O’Sullevan are among eight Aintree racing greats to be named as “Grand National legends”.

The eight “legends” are to be honoured in an awards ceremony at Aintree racecourse on Grand National day, Saturday 10 April.

They will be inducted into the inaugural John Smith’s Grand National Legends Hall of Fame.

A short list was created by a panel of racing experts and then voted on by the public.

Five of the legends were selected by the public:

Ginger McCain and Red Rum — who won the race three times in the 1970s

Jenny Pitman — the first woman to train a national winner, Corbiere in 1983

Sir Peter O’Sullevan — who commentated on 50 Grand Nationals

John Buckingham and Foinavon — who won on their National debut in 1967 despite being 100-1 and famously avoiding a pile-up at the 23rd fence

Manifesto — who ran in the national eight times in the late 1800s, winning twice, finishing third three times and fourth once

Three were chosen by a racing panel:

Edward Topham — whose who’s family dynasty led Aintree for 125 years

Captain Martin Becher — who famously fell into the brook

George Stevens — the jockey who won five times between 1856 and 1870.

Aintree’s managing director Julian Thick said: “The John Smith’s Grand National always seems to produce a great story and we have been delighted by the public response to this vote.

“We also felt it was important to recognise the contributions made in the very early days of the race, with Captain Becher and Edward Topham playing a huge part in creating the race we know today and George Stevens’ record as a jockey unlikely to be surpassed. We now look forward to celebrating these first inductees to Aintree on John Smith’s Grand National Day.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Red Rum galloped into the history books when winning the Grand National for a record-breaking third time in 1977 and now he has been crowned the nation’s most famous horse.

In a survey commissioned by The Brooke Hospital for Animals, 45% of the 1,945 people polled opted for the Aintree specialist, with fictional equine hero Black Beauty taking second spot (33%) and abducted Derby winner Shergar in third (23%).

But the survey had a more serious side as the Brooke endeavoured to discover what the public consider to be the toughest job performed by equines in some of the poorest parts of the world.

Ferrying sand and gravel from riverbeds received 22% of the vote, but 20% of those polled believed all such physical work to be equally as bad.

The Brooke Hospital for Animals website

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now