Grand National history: Timeline of the most memorable moments
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Famous landmarks in Grand National history
There have been many famous moments in Grand National history and our timeline of milestones looks back at the most memorable.
1837: THE DUKE wins the first Great Liverpool Steeplechase at Maghull, some three miles from the present site of Aintree racecourse.
1839: Aintree becomes the new home for the event, with LOTTERY carrying off the prize and Captain Martin Becher christening the now-famous brook as he crawls in for safety after a fall.
1847: MATTHEW records the first Irish-trained victory on the day the race is officially named the Grand National.
1897: MANIFESTO, the 6/1 favourite, records the first of his two wins in the race. He ran eight times up to the age of 16, also finishing third three times and fourth once.
1927: Ted Leader rides SPRIG to a popular victory in the first National to be covered by a BBC radio commentary.
1934: The legendary GOLDEN MILLER becomes the only horse ever to win the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, carrying 12st 2lb to victory in record time.
1956: DEVON LOCH and jockey Dick Francis, looking certain to give the Queen Mother victory when clear on the run-in, suddenly sprawls flat on the ground yards from the winning post, allowing ESB to win.
Today marks 64 years since one of the most remarkable moments in #GrandNational history… The Devon Loch belly flop!
The Queen Mother’s horse, Devon Loch jumped all the fences, battled clear on the run-in and then belly flopped with just yards to go 😲pic.twitter.com/5ATtRGQUq7
— Aintree Racecourse (@AintreeRaces) March 24, 2020
1967: The year of the horrific pile-up at the 23rd. John Buckingham and complete outsider FOINAVON avoid the melee and gallop on to a 100/1 win.
1977: The incomparable RED RUM rewrites the record books with his historic third victory. ‘Rummy’ had five runs, with three wins and two seconds, from the age of eight to 12.
1979: RUBSTIC makes Grand National history by becoming the first Scottish-trained winner. His homecoming party was heralded by a piper leading him back to the hamlet of Denholm, Roxburghshire.
1981: ALDANITI, nursed back from career-threatening injury three times, wins a fairytale National ridden by Bob Champion, who fought, and beat, cancer.
1982: Dick Saunders, at the age of 48, becomes the oldest winning jockey on GRITTAR. Geraldine Rees becomes the first woman to complete the course, riding the leg-weary CHEERS.
1983: Years of doubt about the National’s future are ended when the Jockey Club, helped by public donations, buys the course. CORBIERE’s victory ensures Jenny Pitman goes into the Grand National history books as the first woman to train the winner.
1987: Jim Joel becomes the oldest winning owner at 92. He is on his way back from South Africa when MAORI VENTURE wins a thrilling race from The Tsarevich.
1993: Arguably the darkest day in Grand National history. There is chaos after a second false start as most of the field continue. John White passes the post first on the Jenny Pitman-trained ESHA NESS, only to discover the race has been declared void.
1994: MIINNEHOMA, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, gives multiple champion trainer Martin Pipe his first National victory, and 51-year-old grandmother Rosemary Henderson completes the course on her own horse FIDDLERS PIKE, who finishes fifth.
1995: Jenny Pitman, the first lady of Aintree, gains her second success – two years late – with ROYAL ATHLETE.
1997: A bomb hoax causes Aintree to be evacuated, but the great race is staged two days late and is won in spectacular style by LORD GYLLENE.
1999: Father-and-son trainer-jockey team Tommy and Paul Carberry combine to land a first Irish win for 24 years with BOBBYJO.
2001: RED MARAUDER and Smarty are the only horses to put in clear rounds in a race run in atrocious conditions, though all horses return fine.
2003: MONTY’S PASS lands a massive gamble, with owner Mike Futter netting close to £1million from ante-post bets.
2004: Ginger McCain, veteran trainer of Red Rum, enjoys an emotional victory as 12-year-old AMBERLEIGH HOUSE lands the spoils, having been third in 2003.
2005: HEDGEHUNTER becomes the first horse since Corbiere in 1983 to carry more than 11st to victory in the great race, romping clear in great style under Ruby Walsh to slam Royal Auclair by 14 lengths.
2008: COMPLY OR DIE allows David Pipe to join his legendary father, Martin, in the record books as a National-winning trainer in just his second season.
2009: MON MOME becomes the biggest-priced winner since Foinavon when powering home at 100/1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell.
2010: DON’T PUSH IT, trained by Jonjo O’Neill and owned by legendary gambler JP McManus, provides perennial champion jockey Tony McCoy with his first success at the 15th attempt.
FINALLY! 🙌
In his 15th Grand National ride Tony McCoy had his moment with a glorious victory partnering Don't Push It 💯 pic.twitter.com/qZ1YwUZewF
— Aintree Racecourse (@AintreeRaces) January 21, 2022
2011: DONALD McCAIN, son of Ginger, follows in the footsteps of his four-time National-winning father as he sends out Ballabriggs to glory under Jason Maguire.
2012: NEPTUNE COLLONGES becomes the first grey to win since Nicolaus Silver in 1961, getting up right on the line to beat Sunnyhillboy by a nose. KATIE WALSH finishes third on SEABASS to achieve the best placing yet by a female rider.
2015: It is a moment Leighton Aspell will never forget as the victory of MANY CLOUDS makes it back-to-back wins for the jockey after Pineau De Re in 2014. Also one Tony McCoy will remember, albeit for different reasons, as his honourable fifth-placed finish on SHUTTHEFRONTDOOR is his last ride in the great race before retirement.
2017: ONE FOR ARTHUR becomes the first Scottish-trained winner since 1979 as he triumphs for Lucinda Russell and Derek Fox.
2019: The remarkable TIGER ROLL becomes the first horse since Red Rum to win back-to-back Nationals as he defies a 9lb rise for owner Gigginstown House Stud and trainer Gordon Elliott, who was winning his third National after Silver Birch in 2007.
2020: For the first time since World War II, the race is cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2021: Rachael Blackmore makes Grand National history by becoming the first female jockey to win the race on Minella Times. The race took place behind closed doors for the first time due to the ongoing pandemic.
