Year

1991 Grand National Result

Admin October 25, 2025 No Comments

1991 Grand National – Saturday 6th April 1991

Finishing Order

Run on good to soft going, on April 6, 1991, the 1991 Grand National featured a then-maximum 40 runners, including the first three home from the 1990 renewal, Mr. Frisk, Durham Edition and Rinus. Favourite, though, was Bonanza Boy, trained by Martin Pipe and ridden by Peter Scudamore, who could race off the same handicap mark as when winning the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter, by 20 lengths, unchallenged, three weeks beforehand.

As it happened, Bonanza Boy was soon outpaced and well behind, and, while he made headway under pressure over the last half a dozen fences, a well-beaten sixth, 38 lengths behind the winner, was the best he could manage. That winner was Seagram, trained by David Barons and ridden by Nigel Hawke, who had already beaten Bonanza Boy by three lengths at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day, but was 8lb worse off at Aintree and hence closely handicapped with the favourite.

Seagram fared by far the better of the pair on this occasion, although halfway up the run-in it appeared that he may play second fiddle to the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Garrison Savannah, who was attempting to become the first horse since the legendary Golden Miller to win both premier steeplechases in Britain in the same season. Trained by Jenny Pitman and ridden by her son, Mark, Garrison Savannah weakened in the last hundred yards or so, allowing Seagram to surge past and win by five lengths. Two 50/1 outsiders, Auntie Dot and Over The Road, filled third and fourth places, beaten eight lengths and 25 lengths by the winner, respectively.

Later reflecting on winning the Grand National at his first attempt, Hawke said, “It just all happened so quickly with Seagram that I couldn’t really appreciate it. You never catch up with yourself. I wouldn’t mind trying it again.”

1992 Grand National Result

Admin October 25, 2025 No Comments

1992 Grand National – Saturday 4th April 1992

Finishing Order

The 1992 Grand National was run, on good to soft going, on April 4, just five days before the general election that year and produced a topical winner, in the form of Party Politics, trained by Nick Gaselee and ridden by Carl Llewellyn. Incidentally, it was also the last time that the late Julian Wilson commentated for the BBC on the world-famous steeplechase.

A distant second, behind Carvhill’s Hill, when well-fancied for the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow the previous December, Party Politics had been beaten on both starts since, but was always prominent at Aintree. He took the lead from the eventual second, Romany King, at the fourth-last fence and ran on well on the run-in to win by two-and-a-half lengths. Laura’s Beau stayed on well from the final fence to finish a never-nearer third, a further 12 lengths away, while the favourite, Docklands Express, could find no extra in the closing stages and finish fourth, eight lengths further back.

A maximum 40 runners went to post, of which 22 completed the course without mishap. Those that did not, though, included the marginal second-favourite, Brown Windsor, who fell at Becher’s Brook on the first circuit and the 1991 winner, Seagram, who was always struggling to keep up and was pulled up, when tailed off, before the third-last fence.

An imposing individual, who stood nearly 18 hands high, Party Politics was reportedly bought by owner David Thompson for £80,000 48 hours before the Grand National, but his share of the £99,943.20 winning prize money offset at least some of that purchase price. Party Politics ran in the Grand National three more times, including the infamous debacle that became known as ‘The Race That Never Was’ in 1993; in more ‘orthodox’ times, he finished second behind Royal Athlete in 1995 and fell at the third fence in what proved to the final race of his career in 1996.

1993 Grand National Result

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Saturday, April 3, 1993 was a red-letter day in the history of the Grand National for all the wrong reasons. A disastrous sequence of events began when animal rights protesters invaded Aintree Racecourse, close to the first of the National fences, such that the start of the race was delayed. When the runners did eventually line up, problems with the starting tape caused not one, but two, false starts to be called. Crucially, after calling the second false start, starter Keith Brown waved, but did not unfurl, his red flag, such that it went unnoticed by the recall man, Ken Evans, positioned further down the track, and he took no action to stop the race.

Consequently, 30 of the 39 jockeys set off, oblivious to the fact that the second false start had been called, and continued to race, despite the best efforts of all and sundry to bring the race to a halt. Amid shambolic scenes, in what BBC commentator Sir Peter O’Sullevan described as “one of the greatest disasters in the history of the National”, seven horses – Esha Ness, Cahervillahow, Romany King, The Committee, Givus A Buck, On The Other Hand and Laura’s Beau – completed the course in “the race that surely never was”.

The immediate reaction of “winning” jockey, John White, spoke volumes about the farce that had ensued. He said later, “I could see there were only a few horses around, but I thought the others had fallen or something.” Likewise, “winning” trainer Jenny Pitman was reduced to tears, saying, “This is no Grand National, even though I have won it.” With nine jockeys still waiting at the start, the Jockey Club had little option to declare the Grand National ‘void’, for the first time in its history, forcing bookmakers to refund an estimated £75 million in stake money.

1994 Grand National Result

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1994 Grand National – Full Finishing Results

Date: 9 April 1994
Course: Aintree Racecourse
Going: Heavy
Distance: 4 miles 4 furlongs 856 yards
Runners: 36
Finishers: 6
Winning Time: 10 minutes 18.8 seconds

• Winner: Miinnehoma (trained by Martin Pipe, owned by Freddie Starr)
• Winning Jockey: Richard Dunwoody
• Winning Margin: 1¼ lengths over Just So
• Favourite: Moorcroft Boy (5/1) – finished 3rd
• Prize for 1st Place: £115,606

In the wake of the infamous ‘Race That Never Was’ in 1993, in 1994, for the first time in a decade, the Grand National attracted fewer than the then-maximum 40 runners. Just 39 entries stood their ground overnight and, with the going at Aintree rendered ‘heavy’ by torrential rain, three late withdrawals reduced the final number of starters to 36. For once, there was no previous winner in the field and the market was headed by confirmed mudlark Moorcroft Boy, trained by David Nicholson and ridden by Adrian Maguire.

Amid heightened security at Aintree, the favourite made a decent showing, too, leading over the second-last fence and only weakening from the elbow, halfway up the run-in, to finish third, beaten 21¼ lengths by the winner. Victory, through, went to Miinnehoma, owned by comedian Freddie Starr, trained by Martin Pipe and ridden by Richard Dunwoody. Sent off at 16/1 after finishing seventh in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on his previous start, the 11-year-old cruised past the weakening Moorcroft Boy on the run-in and ran on under pressure to hold off the renewed challenge of Just So in the closing stages and win by 1¼ lengths.

Just So, owned and trained by Henry Cole and ridden by Simon Burrough, had finished fast when sixth in the 1992 Grand National, from 17lb out of the handicap but, from a further 5lb out of the handicap this time around, did remarkably well to finish as close as he did to the winner. Just six horses completed the course, with Ebony Jane 25 lengths behind Moorcoft Boy in fourth, Fiddlers Pickle – ridden by ‘The Galloping Granny’, Rosemary Henderson – nine lengths further back in fifth and Roc De Prince a distance behind in sixth and last place. Unsurprisingly, the winning time was a rather pedestrian 10 minutes and 18.8 seconds, the slowest since 1955.

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