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Just another bit of Grand National fun .Who’s you’re nomination for worst runner. The likes of Brit and Brown Veil in 97 would have been more at home in a Devon and Exeter plodders marathon but my nomination goes to Greenhill Hall a non stayer who also turned out to be a jelly legged faint hearted baby over the fences and pretty sure his initial weight was around the 7 12 mark
Judged on the write-up of him in Chris Pitt’s excellent book Go Down to the Beaten, I’d have little hesitation in nominating Elsich, a runner (briefly) in the 1946 renewal.
Frequently given to testing both the fencebuilder’s craftmanship and the bendiness of his riders’ bones, this complete liability qualified for the race – during a previous era in which place finishes at 3m-plus were required – by finishing a 50-1 last of three in a three-runner Worcester chase, all of four fences behind the winner.
On most outings either side of that he’d managed to bury either himself or the rider, and did so in the National itself, giving hapless rider Bill Balfe no chance of staying in the plate at the first.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I nominate Martin Pipe’s Art Prince, who fell at the first on both of his National appearances (2000 & 2001).
I remember Hettinger from selling hurdles at Plumpton with Penny Ffitch Heyes on board, wonder what happened to her ?
“I am a jockey agent in Chicago. I used to show-jump in England and represented England in Belgium. Then made the transition to thoroughbreds winning races over hurdles and fences. Have been in U.S.A since 1993 and have a beautiful daughter called Bella”
Source – Penny Ffitch Heyes’s Facebook account.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I’d love to see a list of racecards for the race over the years.
I remember Huperade running in it often in the 70s, in the days where the top 8 were in the handicap and the rest out of it, when nobody considered any horses with a numbercloth over 25. Huperade may have been 25s/33s one year, but was 100s when he was older and somehow scraping in when he was 12 and 13 still.
I did “Huperade ” as a two year old at Willie Stephenson’s. He was quite a nice horse then but I would never have dreamt that he would run in the National. How unkind you all are to him and I shall never speak to any of you ever again for a little while !
Huperade hardly set the turf alight with his performances at Liverpool. He fell twice and unseated once in the National, but I’m willing to bet the unseat wasn’t his fault.:)
Not sure what Huperade is doing on this thread. He was a more than useful handicap chaser who started favourite for a Topham carrying 12 stone and finished third in a Great Yorkshire (when it was a class race) beating the likes of Spanish Steps and Gay Trip.
^ Read the thread title, which suggests that performances other those achieved in the Grand National are not pertinent.
…by which standard anyone who has read about Elsich would conclude he was still truly awful!
I only recall a horse called Abba Lad, who did’t produce any form during three runs prior to the 1991 Grand National (Seagram GN won by Seagram) or any in form in his 8 runs after the National. Abba Lad was a big horse, good looking workman, and one of the three horses I served at J S Pitmans (3 months only). Garrison Savannah finished runner up for the Boss.
Abba Lad: http://www.racingpost.com/horses/horse_home.sd?horse_id=9910#topHorseTabs=horse_race_record&bottomHorseTabs=horse_formBest Wishes
SilkIt can only be based on other form, otherwise you could have a Gold Cup horse falling at the first in the National being a prime candidate.
I think King John Castle has to be the worst. From being a brilliant second one year, to being planted at the start the next. Which demonstrates you can’t force a horse to do anything it doesn’t want to do.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.
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