Liverpool Icons: Read about Red Rum as Aintree gets set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first Grand National success

Red Rum is one of the world’s most iconic horses having won the Grand National on three separate occasions.

Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. 

Tony Bellew and the Smith Brothers. 

Gold-medal Olympians Katerina Johnson Thompson and Sam Quek.

There’s no question that Merseyside is blessed with many sporting superstars to admire. 

But whilst all these heroes reached remarkable heights in their respective sports, it can be argued that none captured the country’s collective imagination quite like Red Rum. 

With an unparalleled three victories in the world’s most famous steeplechase, Red Rum is a Liverpool Icon like no other. 

Here’s the story of how he conquered the equine world to become one of the most famous racehorses in history. 

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Foaled on May 3rd 1965, near a place called Kells in County Kilkenny, Red Rum’s early days gave little indication that he would go on to become the King of Aintree Racecourse. 

After being sold for 400 Guineas in Dublin along with his companion Curlicue, the awkward juvenile affectionately known as ‘Rummie’ made his racing debut in 1967. 

(In a pair of remarkable coincidences, the race was at Aintree, and Rummie dead-heated the 5-furlong seller with his old friend Curlicue!) 

Over the following years, Red Rum took part in nine more races on the flat and completed four seasons of National Hunt racing. However, his form was unexceptional and in a downward spiral, leading to him being sent to Doncaster sales in 1972. 

Former airforce pilot Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain had recently obtained his full training license and duly paid 6000 Guineas to bring the horse to his small yard in Southport on behalf of his new owner Noel LeMare. 

With limited resources at the time, McCain favoured the Southport coastline as the place to exercise his stable, running them up and down the dunes and in the sea. 

Two days after purchasing Red Rum, McCain led the future champion to the beach for a run-out, only to discover that the horse was lame. 

Diagnosed with Pedal-Osteitis, it looked increasingly likely that Rummie, now aged 7, wouldn’t impact racing much at all, let alone go on to become a future star. 

McCain had different ideas, though, and confident that Southport’s waters and sands would rejuvenate the steed, he continued his exercise routine unperturbed. 

It was a call that would pay off in some style. 

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After a series of improved performances, Red Rum entered the 1973 Grand National to take on Crisp, one of the finest steeplechasers to come out of Australia. 

In what remains one of the race’s most dramatic finishes, Red Rum came from some 20 lengths behind to overhaul the giant Crisp just before the line and win the National by ¾ of a length, breaking the course record in the process. A star was born. 

The following year was more straightforward for our hero when, despite carrying a hefty 12 stone, he trounced dual-Gold Cup winner L’Escargot by 7 lengths to win the Grand National a second time. 

A mere three weeks later, Rummie was at it again, winning the Scottish Grand National under jockey Brian Fletcher and becoming the only horse to win both races in the same season. 

In the following two years, 1975 and 1976, Red Rum could only manage second place in the big race, finishing behind L’Escargot and Rag Trade, respectively. 

But the stage was set for his most remarkable achievement of all. 

Returning to the track in 1977, the now 12-year-old Red Rum won the Grand National for an unprecedented third time, a record that still stands today. 

Though winning the National three times is an exceptional achievement in itself, it’s the manner of the victory that lives long in the memory. Carrying top weight, Red Rum pulled clear to win the race by an astonishing 25 lengths, securing his place in the annals of history. 

Such was Rummie’s enduring popularity that a 2002 UK poll voted his third National victory as the 24th greatest sporting moment of all time.

As the nation’s favourite racehorse, Red Rum appeared on BBC Sport’s Personality of The Year 1977, charming viewers up and down the country by recognising the voice of jockey Tommy Stack, who steered Red to his most famous victory. 

Injury sadly meant that his 1977 victory would be his last race at the famous old course, with the hairline fracture he suffered on the eve of the 1978 National putting him into retirement. The country was so shocked to hear of Red Rum’s demise that the story was the headline on the 9 o’clock news. 

No longer racing but still a national celebrity, Rummie opened supermarkets, turned on the illuminations in Blackpool and has his face emblazoned on all kinds of products, from playing cards and mugs to plates and jigsaw puzzles. 

He also had the honour of leading the Grand National parade from 1978 until his death in October 1995. 

Our hero now rests in his rightful place at Aintree Racecourse, with an epitaph that reads:

Respect this place

This hallowed ground

A legend here

His rest has found

His feet would fly

Our spirits soar

He earned our love

For evermore

And love him for ever more we shall. 

Aintree will celebrate Red Rum’s 50th anniversary at this year’s Grand National with the horses’ trophies on display and the renaming of one of its bars to the Rum & Ginger bar. Find out more here.

Find out more about this year’s Grand National HERE.