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gc
In 89, Mr Chris was due to carry 6-10, followed by Smartside on 7-01, and Mearlin on 7-04. Mr Baker was due to carry 8-13.
I hope that helps?
Spleeeeendid, Mr Venture, much obliged! So Mr Chris was rated the equivalent of 96, still a whole stone adrift of the required since 1990. From memory he fell or unseated at the water jump, didn’t he? Bit of a rarity, though I believe Zabenz might have repeated the feat last year.
Interesting that neither of the race’s two fatalities, Seeandem or Brown Trix, fell under the sub-110 barrier on that evidence. If the introduction of the 110 ratings floor was predicated to any extent on stopping bad horses getting killed in the race, 1989 couldn’t have been cited as a compelling case study.
In any event, the suggestion of many at the time was that Brown Trix had been killed not by his being unsuited by Aintree per se, but rather by his rider David Pitcher’s astonishing disregard for the pre-race pep talk wherein all riders were asked not to go off too fast for their or their charges’ own good.
gc
Adoptive father of two. The patron saint of lower-grade fare. A gently critical friend of point-to-pointing. Kindness is a political act.
GC, your memory serves you well. Mr Chris fell at the water in 1989 when in contention. Zabenz emulated this last year. Speaking of Brown Trix, in the 1987 race he got rid of Mr Pitcher early on, and I think he then ‘won’ as a loose horse, so he showed some aptitude for the place. Two years later and Mr Pitcher certainly set off too quickly, though he’d dropped back a bit by Becher’s. If this early speed was to blame for his fatal fall…who knows? Other outsiders to belie their odds over the years – Charles Dickens, Yer Man, Philson Run…and Pukka Major certainly belied his suspect temprament! While I’m on a roll, who are the unluckiest losers? Might Loving Words have got close to Grittar had he not been hampered and unseated Richard Hoare four out?
Big Brown Bear in 1987 ran a lot better than a 200-1 shot had the right to.
Ahhhh, Big Brown Bear – think my dad had his 50p each-way on him that year!
The gelding was part of that entire "brown bear" axis either owned or trained (in earlier instances both) by G B Barlow, wasn’t he? Big Brown Bear himself was a half-brother to former Edward Hanmer chase winner Golden Friend, I notice.
Barlow also owned Little Brown Bear (half-brother of Free Gift and Bally Conn) and Brown Teddy – the last-named of whom was still arseing about (runs: 11, wins: 0) in East Anglia Area point-to-points for Alex Embiricos until recently.
gc
yes and earlier than that Bears Paw and Bears Slipper .
Plus there is a pub in Frodsham called The Bear which i`m sure has something to do with the Barlows .
i’ll give a quick mention for fiddlers pike and the evergreen sexy minx that is rose henderson
You’re welcome gc
The thing about Mr Chris was, his owner, Chris Liveras, had, years earlier, bet a horse called Mr Chris to win the Grand National at, if memory serves me, 1000-1. I think he stuck a good amount on, £500 possibly. I don’t think he had even owned a horse, when he struck this bet, before buying one and calling it Mr Chris. Imagine the poor guy, placing the bet, buying the horse, getting it entered, and sneaking in off 6-10….only to see it cantering along and falling at the Water Jump. He must have been gutted………nearly gutted as I was last year. As I mentioned on a previous thread, I was on Zabenz at a silly price, and he too cantering, falls at the water. Not good!
As for unlucky losers, yeah, you’d have to go something to beat Loving Words, in recent times anyway. He would have went close! There’s been loads of others, one of the most well known being Clan Royal getting carried out in 2005. Colnel Rayburn was also brought to a standstill in this incident, and he was going very well, with my money on him, couldn’t believe it. Mind you, I don’t think either of them would have beaten Hedgehunter that day!
Does my memory serve me right? Wasn’t Scu cruising on a good horse one year and fell and hurled his whip down in disgust or frustration or both??
Was it called something to do with Gold maybe?
My memory is going I am sure!! LOL Or Time maybeYou are right, but I can’t remember the name either. One of his sons mentioned it a while ago. Strands of Gold?
Yep, it was Strands of Gold in 1988, fell at Bechers 2nd time around. Think it went on to win the Hennesey in November…
Infact provided us with one of the Grand Nationals greatest bit of commentary work. When Julion says "Strands of Gold is down!" i still get goosebumps.
Was it the same year that Tom Morgan was rocket launched from Little Polveir??
I shouldnt laugh but that was funny and once again I dont know why I laughed cos I backed it cos I used to follow John Edwards horses.Was it the same year that Tom Morgan was rocket launched from Little Polveir??
I shouldnt laugh but that was funny and once again I dont know why I laughed cos I backed it cos I used to follow John Edwards horses.The very same.
Shame Little Polveir was denied a double win because there’s no doubt he had that race won…
The funny thing is, if Little Polvier had won in 88, West Tip, would prbably have become the double winner in 89!
was it bounce back, who fell or UR in a national, continued as loose horse and fell again?
vf
It was indeed Bounce Back, he fell a further twice during the race, quite unusual for a loose horse!
Bounce Back – has a special place in my heart – after his horrendous time at Aintree I contacted the Pipes to see how he was and they sent me a card with his photo on – at the time I had to have an operation and I took the photo to the hospital and he was the first thing I saw when I came to – we "Bounced Back" together! Sadly he died sometime later due to an accident at home.
i didn’t know he was no longer with us- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.