Red Rum - A Grand National Treasure

Red Rum, was foaled on the 3rd of May 1965 and bred at Rossenarra stud in Kells, County Kilkenny, Ireland by Martyn McEnery. His sire was Quorum and his dam Mared. McEnery gave Red Rum his name by taking the last three letters of the names of his dam and sire, respectively.

This is the beginning of an unlikely tale of how a horse with dodgy legs came into the care of a man who combined racehorse training with a second-hand car business. Ginger McCain was born in Southport and first attended the Grand National, 15 miles away at Aintree, at the age of nine. His earliest experience with horses came through driving horse-drawn floats for a local butcher, and after national service, he started with trainer Frank Speakman in Cheshire. In February 1953 he initially took out a licence to train racehorses as a 'permit holder', a licence confined to horses owned by the trainer’s immediate family before taking out a full licence in 1967. Ginger McCain's stables were tucked behind the car showroom in a former brewer’s yard off Upper Aughton Road in Birkdale, near Southport. In the early 1970s, McCain, then a trainer on a very small scale, was also a taxi driver and used to drive elderly local businessman Noel le Mare to the Prince of Wales hotel in Southport for the dinner-dance every Saturday night. He was the founder of the Norwest Construction Company, and Ginger recalls, "It cost three or four shillings each way and he always gave me a pound tip." recalled Ginger. They struck up a friendship as Le Mare was also desperate to own a Grand National winner and put a few horses in training with McCain. After mistakenly withdrawing Le Mare’s horse Glenkiln from the 1972 National, McCain paid 6,000 guineas at Doncaster sales in August that year for a seven-year-old gelding. The horse had endured a tough racing schedule from his two-year-old days and had already been through the hands of four trainers. It arrived lame due to pedal osteitis, an inflammatory bone condition generally thought to be incurable. However, as a boy, Ginger had observed old shrimpers buying horses destined for the knacker's yard and then reviving them by sending them into the sea at Southport. Galloping through sea water on the sands proved highly beneficial to Red Rum’s hooves and a regular dip in the salt waters proved similarly transformative for Red Rum, who was restored to full health in short order. The beach itself was the primary training ground and Ginger prepared the sand with a harrow attached to the rear of his van, softening up the sand and clearing a long track between Ainsdale and Birkdale. He started his career running in low-value races as a sprinter and dead-heated in his first race in 1967, a five-furlong flat race at Aintree racecourse. In his early career, he was twice ridden by Lester Piggott and his stable boy, the comedian Lee Mack, had his first riding lesson on Red Rum. He then switched to National Hunt in 1968-69 but didn't enjoy sustained success until 1972 when his first five runs under McCain and Le Mare brought five wins. The Aintree spring showpiece became his target. The day before the 1973 Grand National, Le Mare appealed to racegoers through the Liverpool Echo not to unsettle his horse by providing 'an ovation too soon', as he believed premature cheers had frightened Devon Loch into collapsing 40 yards from the finishing post in 1956. He pleaded; "Red Rum is a Liverpool horse. Half Liverpool and half Southport will be on it. For God’s sake keep quiet until he’s past the post."

Sweeping to the three-quarters length victory over Crisp

 

In 1973, ridden by Brian Fletcher, Red Rum won his first Grand National. In an extraordinary contest, Crisp built up a massive lead and with half a mile to go Red Rum was in remote pursuit. Crisp still had a long lead at the final fence, but his stride shortened dramatically on the run in and Red Rum caught him a few yards from the winning post to win by three-quarters of a length, demolishing the course record in the process in the record time of 9:01.9. Le Mare, then aged 86, was exultant, saying; "I’ve had three ambitions in life. To marry a beautiful woman, to be a millionaire and to win the National. Now my life’s complete." He may have felt he could die a happy man, but of course there was more joy to come.

Beating L’Escargot by an impressive seven lengths

 

He returned to Liverpool a year later and this time carrying top weight, and with 11-to-1 odds against repeating his victory, Red Rum won again, this time by 7 lengths, beating dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner L’Escargot to become the first dual National winner since 1936 when Reynoldstown had won in 1935 and 1936. Only three weeks later, ridden by Fletcher, he entered and won the Scottish Grand National at Ayr, beating Proud Tarquin by 4 lengths after taking the lead with three barriers to go. Red Rum finished runner-up in the next two Grand Nationals; to L’Escargot in 1975 and Rag Trade in 1976 but by then his trainer was well established as one of the great characters of the sport.

Landing the hat-trick in 1977 aged 12 under Tommy Stack

 

Then in 1977 the 12-year-old gelding came back to achieve a stunning third victory in this historic race. Ridden by Tommy Stack and carrying 162 pounds, Red Rum won by an astonishing 25 lengths. When Red Rum lined up for his fifth consecutive Grand National in 1977, no horse had ever won the race three times, but McCain’s now 12-year-old won with ease, prompting commentator Peter O’Sullevan’s famous call: "It’s hats off and a tremendous reception – you’ve never heard one like it at Liverpool." His owner, Noel Le Mare, won a total of $193,800 by his horse's three triumphs.

In 1978, a few days before the race, a hairline fracture ruled Red Rum out of a sixth National run and he was retired, but continued in the public eye as the first racehorse to turn his celebrity to commercial use, opening betting shops and making regular public appearances. Red Rum died on 18 October 1995, aged 30. His death was one of the lead items in television news bulletins and also made the front pages of national newspapers the next day. He was buried at the winning post of Aintree Racecourse which is still a destination for his fans and the epitaph reads:-

Respect this place - This hallowed ground

A legend here - His rest has found

His feet would fly - Our spirits soar

He earned our love - For evermore