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“Being preceded by only loose horses” part of Peter O’Sullevan’s legendary commentary of the 1977 Grand National.
But does anyone know who were the two loose horses that ‘preceded’ Rummy home that famous day?
Was one of them Sebastian V who fell at Bechers first time round and was to finish 2nd in the National the following year?
Be interested to see some of the names .
Had look at past winners the other day ,some of them live to decent old age , Hedgehunter i think oldest still going .“Was one of them Sebastian V who fell at Bechers first time round and was to finish 2nd in the National the following year?”
I think it was Sebastian V.
“But does anyone know who were the two loose horses that ‘preceded’ Rummy home that famous day?”
The other one might be Andy Pandy but that is unofficial, it’s comments from a few youtubers under the race video.
Hard to make out the saddle cloth numbers but one appears to be 5 which doesn’t make sense as that was Forest King who didn’t fall and it can’t be 15 as the same applies to The Pilgarlic.
The more I know the less I understand.
I’m 99% sure that one of them is Sebastian. Pretty sure I’ve read something confirming this.
The other one is a little more ambiguous, but I think the cloth reads 9, which would make him Andy Pandy. The loose horse also appears to have a very small star on his head, which marries up with Andy Pandy (the 1977 Whitbread offers better viewing of his finer features).
So the two (admittedly) loose horses who beat Rummy home that day both fell at Bechers when leading. It’s easy to forget how fortuitous that third win was when you consider the two falling leaders mentioned, Boom Docker’s bizarre refusal at the 17th when well clear of the remainder, Sage Merlin’s fall at the Chair who was Boom Dockers main persuer at the time and himself quite a way clear of the others (though his rider once replied to a comment of mine on Facebook that he was all out at the time!), and of course the shuddering mistake by Churchtown Boy at the second last.
You could write dissertations on some of those old Nationals. Wonderful stuff.
Definitely Sebastian V with his distinctive white face and noseband. Made up a huge amount of ground on the second circuit.
If you inch the recording back frame by frame, I’m pretty sure the other horse is Andy Pandy who came down at Bechers, but got up pretty quickly to rejoin just behind the leaders.
....and you've got to look a long way back for anything else.
I did receive a couple of messages a while back from Boom Docker’s jockey John Williams and Sage Merlin’s Ian Watkinson.
Williams thought Boom Docker refused because he saw the loose horses running back in the opposite direction. It does make you wonder how far Boom Docker would have stayed in front but for refusing.
Watkinson said Sage Merlin was terrified of the fences before coming down at The Chair. He said he probably would have refused with Boom Docker at the 17th.
Having a closer look it does look like Andy Pandy as the other loose horse. Those loose horses must have wondered what that roar from the crowd was as they preceded Rummy from the last.
I still believe Rummy could have won a 4th National at the age of 13.
When you think he beat The Pilgarlic by 39 lengths the previous year giving him 18lbs.
The Pilgarlic was then only beaten by 3 lengths in 1978.
Perhaps fate saved Rummy in 1978 from not going lame during the race.
Andy Pandy was number 9 and that number was one of the two loose horses passing the post in front of Red Rum.
Here’s a guess from Bluesky:
Definitely Sebastian V in the sheepskin noseband. I’m pretty sure the other is Roman Bar who fell at the 21st fence. He had a similar shaped white star, wore a bridle with no noseband and was no 6 on the card.
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