No horse was more synonymous with a race than Red Rum was with the Grand National – and it's now been 50 years since his first victory at Aintree.
The great racing legend was born on May 3, 1965 at the Rossenarra stud in Kells, County Kilkenny in Ireland and like many who crossed the Irish Sea, he made Merseyside his home. There have been many theories about how Red Rum was given his name, but it was breeder Martyn McEnery who used the last three letters of the mare and sire – Mared and Quorum – to make up the name Red Rum.
What makes Red Rum's story even more remarkable is that before he cemented himself in racing history, he overcame the bone disease Pedal Osteitis in his hoof – something which should have rendered him unraceable. Bred to be a sprinter, Red Rum would go on to become one of the greatest long-distance chasers.
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Owned by Noel Le Mare, it was Southport car dealer Ginger McCain who spotted Red Rum and famously trained the horse on the sands at Southport beach. During his career, Red Rum was ridden by 24 different jockeys, jumped something like 1800 fences and covered close on 300 miles in his races.
But he is most remembered for his hat-trick of Grand National successes, winning his first National in 1973 with Brian Fletcher in the saddle. This victory would have been a fairytale ending in itself – but the legendary racehorse had won again the following year.
Breaking Golden Miller’s course record, Red Rum claimed a second victory at Aintree in 1974 and from there Ginger McCain’s star travelled to Aintree Racecourse every year in the mid-1970s with high expectations. After back-to-back successes in the early 1970s and coming second in two intervening years in 1975 and 1976, it was thought that Red Rum's glories were behind him.
But on an emotional day on April 3 1977, partnered now by Irish jockey Tommy Stack, the then 12-year-old powered to his hat-trick. To this day, he remains the only horse to have won three Grand Nationals.
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Speaking in 2003, the late McCain recalled the moments after Red Rum had become the first horse to win the race three times. He said: "The owner and trainers’ area at Liverpool goes right up all those wooden steps at the top of the stand.
"But I came down them without touching a step – it was a magic feeling." For years, Red Rum was as much at home on a racetrack as when mixing with his adoring public.
Even after his last race, Red Rum was a familiar figure around Merseyside, from playing the celebrity guest at local events to accepting sugar lumps from delighted children. He was led in to the after-race party in the Bold Hotel in Lord Street, Southport, the same night as his historic third win and a month later he was ridden down Lord Street by Stack as Southport threw a civic reception in his honour, seeing thousands of people lining the streets.
His charisma was never more in evidence than on a memorable appearance at the BBC Sports Review of the Year in December 1977. Red Rum's success also did so much for the town itself.
Back in 2013, the Southport Visiter reported how Red Rum brought thousands of admirers and tourists to the town’s sands. A decade ago, Phil King, who was director of tourism and attractions for Southport at the time of Red Rum's victories, said: "Red Rum brought in millions of pounds of free publicity for Southport, people came to just walk on the beach that he had trained on.
"I arrived in Southport in 1977, which was an important year for Red Rum. There was a tremendous atmosphere in the town, everyone was talking about Red Rum.
"There were bars set up in his name, drinks and cocktails in his honour and we had hundreds of requests for memorabilia which we would pass on to Ginger McCain. I remember one request from the USA that asked for some of Red Rum’s manure, so there is probably some good tomatoes growing somewhere in America."
If you walk through Southport town centre, you will see nods to the legendary horse throughout the seaside town. This includes the Bold Hotel on Lord Street, with a woven statute sitting above the entrance of the hotel and a small mural found on Seabank Road at the side of the building depicting Red Rum winning the Grand National.
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The most recent addition to Southport was the mural painted by the Liverpool based artist Paul Curtis facing onto Southport Promenade. The mural depicts 'Rummy' galloping along the waterfront.
A true legend, McCain was due to saddle Red Rum in an incredible sixth National in 1978. But the day before the race the then 13-year-old pulled up lame.
He had suffered a hairline fracture and was immediately retired. Red Rum, though, was still the people’s champion in retirement and graced all manor of memorabilia from jigsaws to china, records to tea towels.
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A life-size bronze statue of him by Philip Blacker was unveiled at Aintree in 1988 by the Princess Royal and today stands proudly in what is known as the Red Rum Garden. On his 30th birthday in May 1995, he was a special guest at Aintree, the racecourse having provided a special carrot cake for the occasion. Red Rum turned his nose up at this, much preferring his favourite treat of Polo mints.
Red Rum stayed with the McCains until he was 30, initially at stables on Upper Aughton Road in Birkdale in Southport and then at Bankhouse Stables in Cholmondeley in the Cheshire countryside following the move in 1990. But a few years later, Red Rum died at the age of 30 on October 18 1995 and is buried, fittingly, by the winning post at Aintree racecourse.
His death made the front pages of all the national newspapers and Red Rum is still up there with best-known horses in Britain. Many still make the pilgrimage to visit his final resting place at Aintree where the epitaph reads: "Respect this place, this hallowed ground, a legend here, his rest had found, his feet would fly, our spirits soar, he earned our love for evermore."
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