Some horses win big races. A very few become part of the national story. Red Rum is the second kind, the bay gelding who turned the Grand National into his own personal stage and became, arguably, the most famous racehorse Britain has ever produced.
Three wins and two seconds
Between 1973 and 1977, Red Rum ran in five consecutive Grand Nationals and never finished worse than second. He won in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and was runner-up in 1975 and 1976, a record of consistency over Aintree's unique fences that has never been matched. To this day he remains the only horse to have won the modern Grand National three times.
The 1973 miracle
His first victory is the one every racing fan knows. Set a stiff task by the long-time leader Crisp, who was carrying far more weight, Red Rum looked beaten as the pair came to the elbow on the run-in. Yet he kept finding more, reeling Crisp in stride by stride to snatch victory on the line in what was then a record time for the race. It is routinely voted one of the greatest finishes in the history of the sport.
An unlikely champion
Part of Red Rum's legend is how ordinary his beginnings were. Trained by Donald "Ginger" McCain from stables behind a car showroom in Southport, he was famously worked on the local beach and in the sea, a regime that helped manage a bone condition in his feet and, the story goes, toughened him for Aintree's demands. He was ridden to his first two Nationals by Brian Fletcher and to his third, aged 12, by Tommy Stack.
A national treasure
After racing, Red Rum became a genuine celebrity, opening supermarkets, switching on the Blackpool Illuminations and appearing on television. When he died in 1995 he was buried at the winning post at Aintree, where his grave and a nearby statue remain a focal point for the crowds who return for the race each spring. For the modern roll of honour he sits atop, see our Grand National previous winners page, and for everything on the next renewal, our main Grand National hub.