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The 1973 Grand National produced one of the most spectacular jumping exhibitions by a chaser ever .Although championing a losing cause in the end Crisp carrying top-weight dominated a field in the manner of an emperor leading a victory March.Crisp built up a staggering lead in the race and resembled passenger train cruising along.He was so much in front that it looked as though he was on an excercise gallop.Every fence was jumped perfectly and while in front Crisp looked the closest to a sporting machine giving one of the most superlative athletic displays in sport.It was difficult to describe the majestic strides of Crisp.
Sadly Crisp was caught by Red Rum in the last 50 yards but still the moral hero was Crisp.It was the greatest performance in a big race by a horse defeated.What cost Crisp the race was Richard Pitman’s use of the whip in the elbow that made his mount drift and lose momentum.Crisp had become the most gallant loser in steeplechasing history til this day.Julian Wilson and Peter O’Sullivan call Crisp the morale winner.I would recommend readers to read Julian Wilson’s essay on Crisp in his book title ‘100 greatest racehorses as well as Racing Posts’s 100 greatest races ever.
This year we commemorate this gallant Australian horse’s 50 th Birthday as he was foaled in 1963 and commemorate 40 years since his spectacular run in 1973.Some experts sill put Red Rum’s performance on par but I disagree with that.They praise Red Rum as much for making such a spectacular chase which is correct but remember Crisp had the burden of topweight.On equal terms he later vanquished Red Rum.Never forget his spectacular win in the 2 mile champion Chase.
I would love readers to share their memories of this equine star.Blow I am reproducing some quotes by racing personalities.
31 March 1973, Grand National, Aintree(from The Observer)
Awful yet glorious: that’s how Aintree historian Reg Green described the 1973 Grand National in his book A Race Apart. Even now, it’s hard to think of a better description for one of the most stirring horse races of all time. Thirty-eight horses lined up at the start, but the race was a tale of just two of them, both class performers, but so different in their backgrounds. Crisp, the great Australian chaser, under champion trainer Fred Winter, shared favouritism with Red Rum, trained locally by a former taxi driver called Ginger McCain at the back of a used car lot in Southport. But although both horses started equal in the betting, they did not start on level terms in the race. Crisp, by virtue of his higher rating, had to carry top weight of 12st, a terrible burden.
Crisp showed up prominently from the start, taking a position on the inside. Jumping superbly, he took the lead at the Canal Turn and, when his nearest challenger fell at the Chair (the 15th fence), he was 25 lengths clear. ‘I can’t remember a horse so far ahead in the Grand National at this stage,’ declared commentator Julian Wilson. By the 23rd, Crisp was a fence ahead of most of the chasing pack. But between the last two fences, jockey Richard Pitman felt his mount tiring. After jumping the last he reached for his whip. The horse did not respond. Instead, he veered left, losing around three lengths in the process. ‘It was the biggest schoolboy error a jockey could make,’ Pitman says now of using his whip. In fact, he had given Crisp one of the great Aintree rides.
As the horses entered the finishing straight, Red Rum, with 23lb fewer on his back, was gaining with every stride. Crisp was exhausted but tried to rally, and held on until the final few strides of the race when Red Rum passed him to record a dramatic victory, in a then record time. ‘I watch it occasionally on video and one day Crisp is going to beat him,’ says Ginger McCain. ‘It was only bang on the line that he got there.’
I, too, watch the race occasionally and never fail to be moved by the extraordinary courage shown by both horses and their respective jockeys. It took a special horse to overhaul Crisp in 1973, a very special horse indeed, as we discovered when, 12 months later, Red Rum carried 12st to victory in the National, the knowledge of which, for those close to Crisp, probably makes his anguished and unforgettable defeat a little easier to bear.
Richard Pitman: There was an eerie silence during the second circuit. You can normally hear hooves rattling or bellies scraping birch, but it wasn’t until we got closer to the stands that the silence was broken. I thought we had it won.
Then everything changed. At the second last, Crisp went from full to empty in a matter of strides. It was like a balloon being pricked. Suddenly he was going up and down on the spot. His ears were limp. He had nothing left. I hoped we were far enough clear to hang on, but when I sensed Red Rum catching us I made a silly mistake. I went for the whip with my right hand, forcing Crisp to veer away from, rather than towards, the Elbow. It cost us two or three lengths, crucial momentum and, ultimately, the National.
Crisp tensed up and made a final effort when he spotted Red Rum passing us in the dying strides, but it was too late. He had given everything. Despite my despondency, I realised that Crisp had given me the ride of anyone’s lifetime. No amount of money could buy the exhilaration his spectacular jumping had provided.
From the Roar(Australia)
Crisp last raced in November 1973, four days after Gala Supreme won the Melbourne Cup. And it was another 17 years before I entered the world. Nevertheless, I still remember finding out the story of Crisp for the first time.
It surprised me that it wasn’t well known, for his achievements were quite remarkable.
I’d hoped, with his induction into the Hall of Fame last week, his story would be told. And some news outlets did choose to focus on Crisp, most notably The Australian. Still, it is a tale that intrigues me.
To me, Crisp – also known as the Black Kangaroo – is Australia’s forgotten sporting hero.
Crisp was bred and raced by Sir Chester Manifold, one of racing’s most prominent administrators. He served 11 years as chairman of the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), from 1951 to 1962, and was also the first chairman of the Totalisator Agency Board – our modern TAB – in Victoria.
Manifold was a successful owner and breeder, with Crisp his best galloper.
Foaled in 1963, Crisp was by Rose Argent – a black type winner in the United Kingdom – out of the well-bred mare Wheat Germ.
His sire won at an average distance of just 1400m, so obviously he was an exception from the start. Trained by Des Judd, he showed very little on the flat at two and three and his future was in doubt.
However, in 1968, he won five races over the hurdles, before he was switched to the bigger fences as a steeplechaser. Battling the handicapper, he managed to win the Hiskens Steeplechase at Moonee Valley two years in a row, winning by 20 lengths under 70kg in 1969 before winning by 12 lengths under 76.5kg in 1970.
By this time, the handicapper had the better of Crisp and so it was decided to give the Black Kangaroo his opportunity on the National Hunt scene in England, where (arguably) jumps racing is bigger than flat racing.
Transferred to Fred Winter, but still owned by his Australian connections, Crisp made an impact straight away.
His first major victory was the the 1971 Cheltenham Festival when he won what is now the Queen Mother Champion Chase, for the best two mile chasers around. He demolished his opposition, racing away for a 25 length victory.
The following year, he was entered for Cheltenham’s premier race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup over a distance of 3 miles 2 1/2 furlongs (approximately 5300m). However, he seemed to find the distance too far, grinding home for fifth behind Glencaraig Lady.
Incredibly, the following season, the plan was to step Crisp up in distance, with the Grand National the target.
The Grand National is one of the world’s most arduous races. Run at Aintree, just outside Liverpool, it is a gruelling four miles and four furlongs (approximately 7250m) taking in two laps of the infamous National Course.
It is the Melbourne Cup of the National Hunt season, run under handicap conditions, with the Cheltenham Gold Cup the Cox Plate equivalent.
Racing doyen Max Presnell once described Aintree as “the most demanding track in the world for horse and rider, with obstacles that loom like Mount Everest. Horses are at some points required to turn and twist in mid-air or lose vital ground. Plus there’s the odd water jump or ”brook”, which is a leap that has everything bar a hungry crocodile at the bottom.”
Many of these obstacles are notorious.
There’s Becher’s Brook, a “drop jump” where the landing side is lower than the take-offside, forcing the horses to literally drop; The Chair, which is the reverse of Becher’s Brook in that the ground on the landing side is higher than the take-offside; the Canal Turn, where riders have to make a 90 degree turn as soon as the fence has been jumped; and Foinavon, named after the winner of the 1967 Grand National who won in a similar fashion to Steven Bradbury after most of the field fell at the fence now named in his honour.
To describe Crisp’s performance as extraordinary is quite simply a devastating understatement. He was brutal, bold and brave. And yet, he didn’t win.
Yet it was as good a run, if not significantly better, than any of his wins.
The sheer brilliance of the run only becomes clear once the context of the run is understood.
Crisp was allotted 12st (76kg), a weight which is now forbidden. These days, the topweight is generally given 11st 10lb (about 74.5kg).
By the time the field had reached the fence after Becher’s Brook the first time (the seventh of 30 fences), Crisp had assumed a front running role.
And throughout the first circuit, his lead grew larger and larger. When they reached The Chair (marking the first lap completed), the nearest galloper to Crisp – a grey named Grey Sombrero – fell fatally, leaving the Black Kangaroo the best part of 30 lengths clear of the field.
It was at Becher’s Brook the second time around that the race began in earnest, as out of the pack came the lone challenger – Red Rum, one of racing’s finest chasers ever. In 1973, his reputation was nowhere near what it would become, and he carried 10st 5lb (about 65.75kg) – almost nine kilograms below Crisp.
Slowly, Red Rum wore down Crisp. Forget the other 38 runners – this was a two horse war.
Two flights from home, Crisp looked certain to record a historic victory for Australia in the Grand National. He still held a 15 length margin on Red Rum, who was chipping away but looked to have left his challenge too late.
But as the Black Kangaroo jumped the final fence, his stamina reserves hit rock bottom.
Never has there been a more agonising 450 metres in sport. Crisp, out on his feet, flailing wildly from left to right, losing focus. Jockey Richard Pitman pulled the whip – it seemed to startle Crisp more than anything.
And a dozen lengths back, Red Rum was still determinedly wearing him down.
With 100 metres to go, Crisp was still out by five lengths, but he could barely put one hoof in front of the other. Red Rum took the lead with less than 15 metres to go, winning by three quarters of a length at the line.
Amazingly, they had smashed the race record by 19 seconds, a mark that had stood for 40 years.
It was not broken again until 1990.
Words cannot describe such a monumental race.
Think Our Waverley Star versus Bonecrusher, or Australia II versus Liberty, or the Australia versus United States men’s 4x100m in the swimming in Sydney, or even Kerryn McCann versus Hellen Cherono Koskei. It was truly a great, great contest.
Red Rum would go on to become an Aintree immortal, winning his second Grand National in 1974 before a historic third victory under topweight in 1977. Incredibly, he also ran second in 1975 and 1976.
As for Crisp, he would race once more at Doncaster in November 1973. Red Rum was also among entries, and rival trainers – scared to take on these two formidable chasers – withdrew their horses one by one.
In the end, only two entries remained, with a Grand National rematch taking place at Doncaster, this time under level weights.
To the roar of the crowd, Crisp avenged his Grand National defeat with a 10 length victory.
However, an injury sustained during the run curtailed his career and he was retired.
Intriguingly, not much is known about Crisp’s post-racing life. It is said he became a fox hunter, dying sometime around 1981 while out hunting.
Pitman told the media upon the 30th anniversary of the race in 2003 that Crisp had been buried at the entrance of his then-owner’s estate. A cherry tree was planted over the grave, and it is said to blossom every year at Grand National time.
Crisp is Australia’s forgotten hero, who deserves his place among the greatest thoroughbreds this country has produced.
And his performance at Aintree in March 1973 deserves to rank as one of Australia’s finest sporting moments, even in defeat.
Well, they always say no one remembers who came second but I think this is the exception to the rule, because it’s impossible to think of Red Rum without thinking of Crisp.
I have never forgiven Red Rum!
I used to blame Pitman but my views have softened, after all he did contribute to a spectacle that anyone who saw will never forget.
Crisp treated the National fences like hurdles in a way no other horse, that I have seen, has anywhere approached.
Colin
Pitman was very poor and cost the horse the race. He was a passenger for the vast majority of the race and when Crisp required a bit of help he was unable to provide it. Pathetic use of the whip on the run in.
If Johnny Francome had ridden Crisp he would have hacked up but catching Crisp could have been instrumental in making Red Rum the horse he was, so I’m quite happy with what occurred.
Richard Pitman admits that he gets embarrassed every time a clip of the run-in is shown on TV. He will freely concede that he was to blame for Crisp’s defeat.
Even allowing for the fact that Pitman was as knackered as Crisp was, his ungainly style did not help the horse one bit. He made John Thorne look like Ruby Walsh.
Yes, Crisp was a very tired horse, but I still maintain after all these years, that if Dick Pitman hadn’t panicked and resorted to his giidy-up, yee haaaa style on the run-in, then I think Crisp would have held on.
I take nothing away from Red Rum, but the real hero of that day was undoubtedly Crisp.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Richard tells his own story of the race in this video. I spoke to him,sitting on the bench outside Uplands where the great horse was trained, and where Richard worked for so many years.
You’ll have to allow for the noise of a few passing horseboxes!
Enjoyed that video, thank you very much.
You are welcome. I’ve re-edited it now with some better footage.
Crisp last raced in November 1973….
As for Crisp, he would race once more at Doncaster in November 1973. Red Rum was also among entries, and rival trainers – scared to take on these two formidable chasers – withdrew their horses one by one.
In the end, only two entries remained, with a Grand National rematch taking place at Doncaster, this time under level weights.
To the roar of the crowd, Crisp avenged his Grand National defeat with a 10 length victory.
However, an injury sustained during the run curtailed his career and he was retired.
Great recollections, but I have to correct you on Crisp’s post Grand National career.
Crisp reappeared the following season in a 2m hurdle race at Worcester on 17th October. Having led to 2 out, he faded to finish 3 lengths third.
Ten days later he was turned out again at Newbury for the Hermitage Chase over 2m 4f. Charlie Potheen had led over the first ten fences, where Crisp took over. Left clear at the 14th, he came home clear to win by an easy 10 lengths.
The afore mentioned match at Doncaster over 3m 2f followed on 10th November.
That indeed was his last run that season. But he was back the following season, his first outing being in the Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup at Cheltenham on 7th December 1974, finishing 6th of the 9 runners.
Next up was the Great Lancashire Chase over 3m at Haydock. This time a third place finish behind The Benign Bishop, but just ahead of Spanish Steps, who like Crisp was now a 12-y-o.
He was not suited by the heavy going at Ascot for his next run on 12th February 1975 and was eventually pulled up behind the very easy winner Ten Up.
Eight days later Crisp ran in the Jim Ford Challenge Cup at Wincanton, but was a well beaten last of four finishers. Richard Pitman however, had won the previous race, the Kingwell Hurdle, on the 1-4f Lanzarote.
Crisp was back at Ascot on 10th April for a 2m 4f handicap chase. Under 12-4 he finished a respectable 4th of 10 behind Game Spirit.
His swansong was on 26th April 1975 in the Whitbread Gold Cup at Sandown. He ran a great race and was in contention until his jumping let him down at the second last, eventually finishing 4th of the 12 runners, beaten a total of nine lengths behind April Seventh, Captain Christy and Barona. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTIPDUkFo_c
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
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