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With all the talk of course being about this Saturday’s National, I have just read George Kinberley’s article on Racing Post.com about recurring bloodlines in National winners, or nearly winners.
Red Rum was obviously THE Grand National horse of all time, and it made me wonder if there was ANYTHING at all in his bloodline which indicated that he would be the chaser that he was.
Did anything show up in later decendants, or off-shoots, of his line, or was he really a total one-off, a freak of nature if you like, in his amazing abilty to dominate those Aintree fences?
Even now it brings a little lump to my throat just thinking of the way he made that race his own.
Apologies if this is a very old topic, and already been done to death.Don’t think there was anything to speak of. He was by Quorum out of Mared and won his first race, appropriately as it turned out, at Aintree (2yr old, 5 furlough selling plate – dead heated with Curlicue).
Altogether he started 110 times, won 26, second 15, third 23 and, although it sounds ridiculous these days earned a grand career total of £146,409.80.
Doubt we’ll ever see his like again. What a horse.
red rum was a very specil horse, we will never see the likes of again, he was unique and made aintree his own, nothing special in his blood line, but he was truely a legend himself
vf
Just like to add that Red Rum or Rummy as he was as known as had a foot infection and it was only because Ginger trained on southport beach that he was cured. Don’t know what happened exactly but the sea did something to cure rummy.
Before Ginger bought Rummy for Noel Le Mare he was owned by the lady who owned Freebooter the 1950 winner and she wanted to win again, but had sold Rummy the year before.
Ginger paid a little bit more than he intended and only bought it because he mucked up Le Mare other runner in the race.
The other runner in 73 came down at the chair and had to be put down.
Red Rum best year was in 1974 where to this day he is the only horse to win the English Grand National and the Scottish Grand National in the same season. Beating the horse who was first past the post in the Whitbread (Bet 365) chase. Ginger wanted to do the treble but his wife persuaded him otherwise.
Hi RR77, a few interesting facts there.
It’s well known the curative properties of salt water, and running on sand toughens their legs. Does Donald McCain also train on Southport beach? He does seem to have a knack of getting previously dodgy horses to run better.
Lovely Rummy. Whoever would have thought that a horse bred for short distance on the flat would turn out like that? You just never know.
Hi RR77, a few interesting facts there.
It’s well known the curative properties of salt water, and running on sand toughens their legs. Does Donald McCain also train on Southport beach? He does seem to have a knack of getting previously dodgy horses to run better.
Lovely Rummy. Whoever would have thought that a horse bred for short distance on the flat would turn out like that? You just never know.
Think they moved to bigger stables before Amberleigh House won, which McCain Junior (trainer of Ballabriggs) assisted his father.
A woman who used to work with me said she saw Red Rum galloping on southport sands. I only saw him at the 1989 national leading the parade.
Ginger on a videotape I bought in the nineties also gives credit to the blacksmith at the time.
Name of whom escapes me for now.
Yes, the stable had moved to Cheshire by the time Amberleigh House ran. Must have been some time in the 80s or early 90s I would guess. I remember seeing a part time job advert for them during the 90s and they were based in Cheshire then.
I do recall some mention of a half brother to Rummy at one point, but never heard anything further of him so certainly didn’t have Rummy’s ability.
If I recall correctly, Quorum – Red Rum’s sire – won the Sussex Stakes over a mile in 1957, while his dam, Mared, was a sprinter who was also as mad as a mongoose.
The fact that between them they produced the greatest long-distance staying chaser ever, bar none, does look like a complete fluke of breeding.
The foot condition that Red Rum suffered was pedalosteitis – as earlier posters have said, the salt water seems to have effected a miraculous cure.
I saw an interview with Ginger recently where he said he’d been back to Southport and reckoned it wouldn’t be possible to train on the beach there now.
By the way, his stable-mate Glenkiln did fall at the Chair in 1973 but wasn’t put down. He took a clout on the head and was a bit groggy for a while, but made it home safe and, I think, ran in the race the next year.
But it is true that one of the reasons Ginger got Red Rum was he messed up Glenkiln’s entry for the 1972 race.Red Rum will always be remembered for his 3 Grand National wins but just out of interest did Rummy ever win any other races of note.
I read above that he also won a Scottish National …..is there more ?
Red Rum himself started life as a cheap sprinter, and his National victories (3 English, 1 Scottish) were his only "major" wins. Here is his race form http://www.famousracehorses.co.uk/redrum/redform.htm. The only other National winner I can think of who started out in such humble circumstances is Jay Trump.
Red Rum will always be remembered for his 3 Grand National wins but just out of interest did Rummy ever win any other races of note.
I read above that he also won a Scottish National …..is there more ?
He won 3 races on the flat. Including a 2yo race at Liverpool which he deadheated in 67.
He also won 3 hurdles races, but it was as a chaser that he’s best remembered winning 21 chases including 3 grand national and a scottish national.
In a 100 race career he fell only once, well you’ve got to try everything at least once, guess it wasn’t to his liking.
In the 1973/4 season before his second victory he was a short head second to Red Candle in the Hennessy.
Oh Yer, nearly forgot he had a special award to him in the 1977 BBC sports personality of the year. Tommy Stack joked that he had human intelligence when he Rummy ears twitched to Tommy on the screen. Saying something like "Not that man, again."
First and only horse to win that as well. It’s taken from 1977 with Rummy getting the Sports Personality to this year for McCoy to even get a jump racing star into the ten top nominees. He was simply unique – in his own way another Arkle.
First and only horse to win that as well. It’s taken from 1977 with Rummy getting the Sports Personality to this year for McCoy to even get a jump racing star into the ten top nominees. He was simply unique – in his own way another Arkle.
Not quite I thought Tony was 3rd the previous year.
Red Rum’s breeder was deliberately trying to produce an early, commercial 2-y-o sprinter, a plan which succeeded admirably.
All his later exploits over jumps were a bonus!
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