Red Rum: The Legend of Aintree

There’s a grave at Aintree Racecourse that thousands visit every year. Not beside the winning post. Not near it. At it.

This is where the greatest steeplechaser in Grand National history crossed the line three times as a winner. Red Rum earned his place in racing immortality.

His statue stands in the Red Rum Garden. Frozen mid-gallop. Head low, legs extended. It captures the power and determination that made him a household name in 1970s Britain.

When he died in 1995, aged 30, his passing made front-page news. Television bulletins led with the story. A nation mourned a horse.

Red Rum wasn’t just a racehorse. He was a phenomenon. The only horse to win three Grand Nationals. The only horse to finish first or second in five consecutive runnings of the world’s toughest steeplechase. A horse that transcended sport and became part of British culture itself.

This is his story.

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The Unlikely Champion

Red Rum was never supposed to be a National Hunt legend.

He was born on 3 May 1965 at Rossenarra Stud in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Breeder Martyn McEnery designed him to be a sprinter. His sire, Quorum, and dam, Mared, produced a horse built for short, fast races on the flat. McEnery gave him a clever name. He took the last three letters from each parent: marED + quoRUM = Red Rum.

His early career reflected his breeding. He dead-heated in his first race at Aintree – ironically, the course that would define him. This was a five-furlong flat race as a two-year-old. The legendary Lester Piggott rode him twice. He won three flat races and three hurdle races. He showed moderate promise. Nothing special. Just another horse moving between training yards, trying to find his level.

But Red Rum had a problem. A serious one.

He suffered from pedal osteitis. This is an incurable bone disease affecting the pedal bone in his hoof. It caused intermittent lameness. Previous owner Tim Gillam had been told by a vet: “Few horses get over it.” Physiotherapy and special hoof pads were recommended. The prognosis wasn’t good. Most horses with pedal osteitis ended their racing careers early.

In August 1972, Red Rum was put up for sale at Doncaster. He could have been bought by anyone. Tim Gillam considered buying him back. Captain Tim Forster, racing’s magnificent pessimist, was bidding.

But the hammer fell at 6,000 guineas to a Southport car dealer named Ginger McCain. He was buying on behalf of an octogenarian millionaire called Noel Le Mare.

That sale changed racing history.

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The Beach, the Sea, and the Miracle

Donald “Ginger” McCain wasn’t your typical racehorse trainer.

He was born in Birkdale, Southport, in 1930. He drove taxis at night and ran a second-hand car dealership to fund his racing passion. His stables sat behind his used-car showroom on Upper Aughton Road. He’d taken out a training permit in 1953. He waited 13 years before saddling his first winner. Money was tight. Dreams of Grand National glory seemed impossibly distant.

But McCain had something unique: location. His yard was closer to the sea than almost any training establishment in Britain.

When Red Rum arrived and went lame on his first morning out, McCain had an idea.

He’d noticed as a child that horses used by shrimpers seemed to benefit from working in seawater. So he took Red Rum into the Irish Sea. The horse returned sound.

McCain built a training regime around Southport beach. He harrowed the sand himself. He marked out a gallop and softened the hard-packed surface. This came after another of his horses cut a tendon on a broken bottle. He galloped Red Rum on that beach regularly. Before each Grand National attempt, he took him for therapeutic swims in the cold seawater.

The salt water worked wonders on Red Rum’s problematic feet. The pedal osteitis never went away – it was incurable – but the beach training managed it.

Racing journalist Ivor Herbert later reflected: “Of all the hundreds of people who could have bought him, it just happened to be a man who had only the beach to train on.”

Red Rum won his first five races for McCain. The transformation was complete. The lame horse with the incurable foot disease was ready for Aintree.

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Donald “Ginger” McCain leading Red Rum along Southport beach during training.

Portrait of Donald “Ginger” McCain standing beside Red Rum at his stables.

1973: The First Triumph

On 31 March 1973, Red Rum lined up for his first Grand National. He carried 10st 5lb with Brian Fletcher in the saddle. He was sent off 9/1 joint-favourite alongside Crisp, the Australian chaser carrying top weight of 12 stone.

What happened next became racing legend.

Crisp dominated from the start. He built a lead that reached 30 lengths at one stage. At Becher’s Brook on the second circuit, fallen jockey David Nicholson shouted at Crisp’s jockey Richard Pitman: “Richard, you’re 33 lengths clear, kick on and you’ll win!”

At the same time, commentator Michael O’Hehir’s voice boomed across the course: “And Red Rum is coming out of the pack, Brian Fletcher is kicking him hard!”

At the final fence, Crisp was still 15 lengths clear. But he was exhausted. Carrying 23 pounds more than Red Rum, the big Australian horse was running on empty.

Red Rum began closing.

Peter O’Sullevan’s commentary captured the drama: “Just a furlong to run now, 200 yards now for Crisp, and Red Rum is still closing on him! Crisp is getting very tired, and Red Rum is pounding after him. Red Rum is the one who’s finishing the strongest. He’s going to get up! Red Rum is going to win the National. At the line Red Rum has just snatched it from Crisp!”

Three-quarters of a length. That’s all that separated them. Red Rum had won in a course record time of 9 minutes 1.9 seconds. This record would stand for 17 years.

Twenty-one days later, still buzzing from Aintree, Red Rum won the Scottish Grand National at Ayr. He beat Proud Tarquin by four lengths. He remains the only horse to win both Nationals in the same season.

Brian Fletcher sitting outside a stable while Red Rum looks out from the doorway at Aintree.

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1974: Carrying History

Red Rum returned to Aintree in 1974 with a target on his back. The handicapper loaded him with 12 stone. This was the heaviest weight any horse has carried to Grand National victory in modern times.

It didn’t matter.

Brian Fletcher rode a masterclass. Red Rum took the lead at the second Becher’s. He never came off the bridle. L’Escargot, who would win the following year, closed to three lengths. But after the second-last fence, Red Rum powered clear.

Seven lengths. Comfortable. Dominant.

He became the first horse since Reynoldstown in 1936 to win back-to-back Grand Nationals. Red Rum was no longer just a winner. He was a champion.

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The Near-Misses: 1975 & 1976

In 1975, Red Rum met L’Escargot again. This time, L’Escargot – a two-time Cheltenham Gold Cup winner – was receiving 11 pounds from Red Rum. The ground was soft. Red Rum hated soft ground.

He led until the last fence. But L’Escargot wore him down in the run-in. Fifteen lengths separated them at the finish.

Second place.

The 1976 race brought more heartbreak. Brian Fletcher had angered Ginger McCain by telling the press after a poor run away from Aintree that Red Rum “no longer felt right.” McCain replaced him with Tommy Stack.

Red Rum was carrying 11st 10lb – top weight for the third successive year.

He ran brilliantly. He took the lead at the fourth-last fence. But Rag Trade, trained by Fred Rimell, gathered him in. Red Rum fought back in the final hundred yards. He couldn’t quite get there.

Two lengths. Second place again.

Five consecutive Grand Nationals. Two wins, two seconds. What more could this horse possibly achieve?

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1977: When Heroes Are Made

Red Rum was 12 years old. Few horses win the Grand National at that age. Many thought McCain was going to the well once too often.

But the trainer knew his horse was in great form. Red Rum had one more miracle in him.

On 2 April 1977, Red Rum went to post carrying 11st 8lb with Tommy Stack aboard. He was 9/1 joint-favourite for his fifth consecutive Grand National. Forty-two horses started.

No horse had ever won the race three times.

After Becher’s Brook on the second circuit, Red Rum moved smoothly into the lead. The race was effectively over. He came clear. Twenty-five lengths clear.

At the elbow, with one furlong to run, the roar from 70,000 people shook Aintree to its foundations.

Peter O’Sullevan’s voice cracked with emotion: “They’re coming to the elbow, there’s a furlong now between Red Rum and his third Grand National triumph! And he’s coming up to the line, to win it like a fresh horse in great style. It’s hats off and a tremendous reception – you’ve never heard one like it at Liverpool!”

Red Rum galloped past that winning post for the third time as a winner. Eleven of the 42 runners completed the course. Red Rum finished 25 lengths clear of Churchtown Boy, who had won the Topham Trophy two days earlier.

It remains one of the greatest moments in British sporting history.

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The Retirement That Never Was

McCain prepared Red Rum for a sixth Grand National attempt in 1978. Even at 14, the horse was the ante-post favourite.

But the day before the race, after a canter at Aintree, Red Rum was found to have a bruised foot. He was withdrawn.

His retirement was the lead story on the BBC’s Nine O’Clock News. It made front-page headlines in newspapers the next morning.

Red Rum’s racing career was over. But his public life was just beginning.

A Nation’s Horse

Red Rum became a celebrity. Not just within racing, but across Britain.

He opened supermarkets and bookmakers. He appeared at summer fetes and charity events. He always drew crowds. In 1977, he became the first animal to switch on the Blackpool Illuminations. That same year, he helped open the Steeplechase rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. He appeared as a studio guest at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony.

His image graced playing cards, mugs, posters, models, paintings, plates, and jigsaw puzzles. A song called “Red Rum” was released by a group named Chaser in 1975. Several books were written about him. Children who’d never been to a racecourse knew his name.

From 1978 until the 1990s, Red Rum led the Grand National parade at Aintree every year. He paraded in front of the crowd that loved him.

Comedian Lee Mack, who worked as a stable boy at McCain’s yard, had his first riding lesson on Red Rum.

When surveyed in 2006 – eleven years after his death – 45% of the British public named Red Rum when asked to name a horse. Black Beauty came second with 33%. No other racehorse came close.

Illustration of Red Rum at Aintree Racecourse with a crowd in the background and the title “A Nation’s Horse”.

The Final Chapter

On 18 October 1995, Red Rum died peacefully at McCain’s yard. He was 30 years old.

His death was front-page news. Television bulletins led with the story. Tributes poured in from around the world.

Ginger McCain made a decision. Red Rum would be buried at the Aintree winning post, where he’d crossed the line three times as a winner, where all future winners would race past him on their way to victory.

The epitaph on his grave 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”

A life-size bronze statue by former jockey Philip Blacker was installed at Aintree in 1987. Blacker had finished fourth behind Red Rum in 1973 aboard Spanish Steps. The statue stands in the Red Rum Garden, a permanent tribute to racing’s greatest champion.

In 2022, the statue was lovingly restored by Talos Art Foundry. It will endure for generations.

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Why Red Rum Matters

Red Rum’s career statistics tell part of the story.

Over ten years and 100+ races, he won 27 times: three flat races, three hurdle races, and 21 steeplechases. He was placed 37 times. That’s a 64% in-the-money record maintained across a decade. He never fell in 100 races. He earned £146,409.80 for owner Noel Le Mare.

But numbers don’t capture what made Red Rum special.

He was the horse with the dodgy feet who became a champion. The sprinter who won over four miles. The veteran who won at 12 when others had retired. The horse trained on a beach behind a used-car dealership that conquered Aintree.

Red Rum’s story intersected with Aintree’s darkest period. In the mid-1970s, the racecourse was fighting for survival. It was threatened with closure and demolition for housing development. Attendances were dropping. The Grand National’s future looked uncertain.

Red Rum changed that. His popularity transcended racing. He reminded Britain why the Grand National mattered. He gave Aintree hope when it needed it most.

Horse and racecourse saved each other.

Twenty-time champion jockey Tony McCoy said it best: “Red Rum’s feats, of three Nationals and two seconds, are legendary. They will never be equalled, let alone surpassed. They say records are there to be broken, but Red Rum’s at Aintree is one which will stand the test of time.”

In 2002, a UK poll voted Red Rum’s third Grand National victory the 24th greatest sporting moment of all time. Not the greatest horse racing moment. The greatest sporting moment. Alongside World Cup finals and Olympic golds.

Illustration of Red Rum racing at Aintree in his red silks during the Grand National.

The Legacy Lives On

Today, Red Rum’s memory permeates Aintree.

The Red Rum Handicap Chase honours him. “The Red Rum” bar – formerly “The Sefton” – carries his name. Statues stand at Aintree, Southport, and Ayr. A Merseyrail train was named after him. Streets in Liverpool and Virginia, USA bear his name.

Visitors to Aintree still make the pilgrimage to his grave at the winning post. They stand quietly, paying respects to a horse many never saw race but whose legend endures.

Ginger McCain, who died in 2011, once said: “I’m comforted by the thought that all future winning horses will race past Red Rum on the way to their own victories.”

A one-and-a-half times life-size bronze statue of McCain was unveiled at Aintree in 2012. It overlooks the parade ring. Trainer and horse, forever linked, forever part of Aintree.

Red Rum ran his last Grand National in 1977. Nearly fifty years later, no horse has matched his three victories. Tiger Roll won back-to-back Nationals in 2018 and 2019 – the first since Red Rum – but couldn’t secure the treble.

The record stands. Perhaps it always will.

Because Red Rum wasn’t just about winning races, he was about resilience. About defying expectations. About a horse that refused to quit and a trainer who never stopped believing. About salt water and sand, about Southport beach and Aintree glory, about impossible dreams that came true.

When you visit Aintree, find the winning post. See the grave. Read the epitaph. Remember the horse with problematic feet who became the greatest Grand National champion of all time.

Red Rum. Three-time winner. National treasure. Legend of Aintree.

His feet flew. Our spirits soared. We earned his love. He earned ours.

Forevermore.

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Visit Red Rum’s Memorial at Aintree

Red Rum’s grave is located at the Aintree winning post and is accessible to visitors on race days and during course open days. The life-size bronze statue stands in the Red Rum Garden in the Tattersalls enclosure. When you attend the Grand National Festival or other Aintree fixtures, take a moment to pay tribute to the horse that defined the course and captured a nation’s heart.