The 2025 Grand National Festival in Aintree is almost upon us and at NetBet, we can give you the very best horse racing odds at our betting site for some of the meeting’s biggest races.
With that in mind, we take a look back at some of the greatest ever wins in the prestigious Grand National race, first run in 1839 and won by the aptly named Lottery!
Read on to find out more!
1: Red Rum (1977)
There is no better starting place than the legendary Red Rum. The Ginger McCain-trained chaser had already won two Nationals in 1973 and 1974, having also finished second in 1975 and 1976, but came back once again as a 12-year-old, an age where horses are often seen as past their best. What happened next went down in Grand National folklore as “Rummy” defied the odds to become the only horse to win the Grand National three times, producing a scintillating performance around a sun-kissed Aintree track to beat off the challenge of Churchtown Boy by a whopping 25 lengths. Red Rum is now buried beside the winning post at Aintree, having passed away at the age of 30 in 1995. A true Liverpool legend!
2: Tiger Roll (2019)
The Irish-trained Tiger Roll became the first horse since the aforementioned Red Rum to win more than one Grand National, winning his second in 2019 having triumphed the previous year. Sent off the hot 4/1 favourite under regular rider Davy Russell, the nine-year-old was prominent throughout as a searching gallop was set. Although only small, Tiger Roll was a superb jumper, spring-heeled at every challenging fence before finding himself five lengths clear at the Elbow, in sight of the finishing line. The scenes in the winner’s enclosure after were joyous but a third Grand National tilt was cancelled due to the pandemic. Would Tiger Roll have emulated the great Red Rum with a triple success? Who knows, but thankfully we got to witness history over 40 years on from “Rummy”.
3: Foinavon (1967)
The 1967 edition of this great race was one of the most dramatic ever as Foinavon won at the outrageous odds of 100/1 – with the luck all going his way! With all fences except for The Chair and Water Jump leapt twice, 28 runners came towards the 23rd fence, eight fences from home. Popham Down, the leader, fell and hampered numerous horses with a melee ensuing. Foinavon, amongst the stragglers, avoided the trouble and jumped to the lead with jockey John Buckingham on board. The horse kept on to win by 15 lengths, as many horses were remounted after the melee (which is not allowed now). In 1984, the fence where the incident happened became known as “Foinavon” after the 1967 victor. Despite being the smallest fence on the course, jockeys still approach it with much trepidation.
4: Aldaniti (1981)
Arguably the biggest tearjerker of them all, Aldaniti’s win in 1981 was hugely emotional, as both horse and jockey had undergone many physical setbacks in their lives. The horse was hugely talented but had an injury-hit career, being off the track during the peak of his powers due to numerous leg problems. His jockey, Bob Champion, was diagnosed with cancer but was fully recovered to take the ride on the Josh Gifford-trained horse. Gifford felt the horse was in the best condition of his career and so it proved as Aldaniti won by four lengths from the favourite, Spartan Missile. Tears were shed in the winner’s enclosure as Champion saluted the crowd. A day never to be forgotten at Aintree.
5: Don’t Push It (2010)
Tony McCoy, the winning-most jockey of all time, had never won the Grand National before he took the ride on the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Don’t Push It. McCoy had many a hard luck tale when it came to the National. Falling when ahead and going well on two or three occasions previously, many felt that this was one of the champion’s best opportunities to break the hoodoo and win the race that eluded him for the best part of 15 years. Sent off joint favourite, Don’t Push It beat off the challenge of Black Apalachi by five lengths as McCoy yelled out a scream of delight as he crossed the line, the relief expressed across his face as that elusive prize was finally his.
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