1995 Grand National – Full Finishing Results
Date: 8 April 1995
Course: Aintree Racecourse
Going: Soft (Good to Soft in places)
Distance: 4 miles 4 furlongs 856 yards
Runners: 36
Finishers: 15
Winning Time: 9 minutes 29.9 seconds
| Position | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Age | Weight | SP | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Royal Athlete | Jason Titley | Jenny Pitman | G. Barlow | 12 | 10-06 | 40/1 | Won by 7 lengths |
| 2nd | Party Politics | Carl Llewellyn | Nick Gaselee | David Stoddart | 11 | 11-07 | 14/1 | 7 lengths behind |
| 3rd | Over The Deel | John Cullen | Arthur Moore | Mrs. J. Cullen | 10 | 10-03 | 33/1 | 2½ lengths behind |
| 4th | Master Oats | Norman Williamson | Kim Bailey | Paul Matthews | 10 | 11-10 | 5/1 F | 1½ lengths behind |
| 5th | Earth Summit | Peter Scudamore | Nigel Twiston-Davies | The Summit Partnership | 7 | 10-03 | 20/1 | 8 lengths behind |
| 6th | Dun Belle | Adrian Maguire | Jimmy Fitzgerald | D. Thompson | 10 | 10-04 | 16/1 | 3 lengths behind |
| 7th | Antonin | Peter Niven | Mary Reveley | H. C. Jones | 11 | 10-02 | 33/1 | 1½ lengths behind |
| 8th | Lusty Light | Chris Maude | John Edwards | M. L. James | 10 | 10-00 | 66/1 | 1¼ lengths behind |
| 9th | Lo Stregone | Jamie Osborne | Josh Gifford | Mrs. M. R. Gifford | 10 | 10-00 | 50/1 | 3 lengths behind |
| 10th | Willsford | Charlie Swan | Jenny Pitman | G. W. Barlow | 12 | 10-09 | 33/1 | 4 lengths behind |
| 11th | Superior Finish | Philip Robinson | G. Harwood | A. J. Harwood | 10 | 10-00 | 100/1 | 2 lengths behind |
| 12th | Back Bar | Brendan Sheridan | Pat Hughes | D. L. Smith | 9 | 10-00 | 100/1 | 5 lengths behind |
| 13th | Run For Free | David Bridgwater | David Nicholson | Mrs. J. C. Harris | 11 | 10-00 | 40/1 | 1 length behind |
| 14th | General Chandler | Simon McNeill | T. J. Bill | T. J. Bill | 9 | 10-00 | 200/1 | 1 length behind |
| 15th | Beau Ranger | Declan Murphy | Josh Gifford | Mrs. M. R. Gifford | 12 | 10-03 | 25/1 | Last finisher |
Race Summary
- Winner: Royal Athlete (trained by Jenny Pitman, ridden by Jason Titley)
- Winning Margin: 7 lengths over Party Politics
- Favourite: Master Oats (5/1) – finished 4th
- Prize for 1st Place: £115,606
For the second year running, the 1995 Grand National, run on good going, featured fewer than the maximum allowed number of runners, with just 35 horses heading to post. The weights and the betting were headed by the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Master Oats, trained by Kim Bailey and Norman Williamson; despite the welter burden of 11st 10lb, the nine-year-old was sent off 5/1 favourite to become the first horse since Golden Miller, in 1934, to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season.
He didn’t, weakening on the run-in to finish seventh, 15¾ lengths behind the winner, Royal Athlete, trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by Jason Titley. One of six Pitman-trained entries, Royal Athlete, a 12-year-old, was sent off at 40/1, having been beaten on all five starts since winning a handicp chase at Cheltenham, off a 6lb higher mark, the previous November. However, having led or disputed the lead from early on the second circuit, the Roselier gelding ran on strongly approaching the final fence and was driven clear to win by seven lengths. As BBC commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan put it, “They’re coming into the final hundred yards and Royal Athlete is sprinting! Royal Athlete cannot be caught now.”
Party Politics, the 1992 winner, chased Royal Athlete from halfway up the run-in, but could make no impression in the closing stages. He still finished clear second, six lengths ahead of 100/1 chance Over The Deel, who just got the better of Dubacilla, Romany King and Into The Red in a three-way photograph for third place.
At the time of his death, in 2003, Pitman said of Royal Athlete, “…he was as brave as a lion, and if he ever landed over the last in front, he was never beaten.”