The 1847 Grand National Steeplechase was the ninth official annual running of a Handicap Steeple-chase Horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse

Aintree Racecourse

Aintree Racecourse is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England.It was served by Aintree Racecourse railway station until the station closed in the 1960s....

 near Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 on 3 March 1847 and attracted a then record field of twenty-six runners. It was won by Mathew

Mathew (racehorse)

Mathew was a racehorse which won the 1847 Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree near Liverpool. He is regarded as the first Irish-trained horse to win the race having been prepared for the race by John Murphy at The Curragh for County Cork-based owner John Courtenay. He was ridden on the day by...

, ridden by Denny Wynne in the colours of County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

 landowner, John Courtenay.

Finishing order

position	name	rider	age	weight	starting price	dstance or fate
Winner	Mathew Mathew (racehorse) Mathew was a racehorse which won the 1847 Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree near Liverpool. He is regarded as the first Irish-trained horse to win the race having been prepared for the race by John Murphy at The Curragh for County Cork-based owner John Courtenay. He was ridden on the day by...	Denny Wynne	9	10-06	11/1	1 length
Second	St Leger	Tom Olliver Tom Olliver Thomas 'Tom' Olliver , born Oliver or Olivere, was a steeplechase jockey and racehorse trainer, who won three Grand Nationals as a rider in the 1840s and 50s....		12-03	14/1	1 length
Third	Jerry Jerry (racehorse) Jerry was a racehorse. He won the 1840 Grand National, defeating twelve rivals. He was ridden by Bartholomew Bretherton, trained by George Dockeray and owned by Henry Villebois.-External links:*...	J Bradley	13	11-06	12/1
Fourth	Pioneer	Captain William Peel	7	11-12	13/1
Fifth	Culverthorpe	Horatio Powell		11-06	10/1
Sixth	The False Heir	G Wilson	13	11-04	Not quoted
Seventh	Brunette	Alan McDonough	13	12-06	20/1	Last official finisher
Unplaced	Ballybar	T Turner	7	11-12	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 8th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Young Lottery	John Butler	5	10-07	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 9th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	The Pluralist	W Denby		11-04	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 10th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Frederick	J Abbott	6	11-02		Refused or fell but completed 11th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	St Ruth	Charlie Canavan		12-10		Refused or fell but completed 12th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Latitat	Charles Bevill		11-00	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 13th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Avoca	Captain J Broadley		10-10	15/1	Refused or fell but completed 14th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Cavendish	William Scott William Scott (jockey) William Scott was a British jockey. Known as "Bill", he was a brother of the renowned trainer John Scott who frequently conditioned horses that he rode....	7	10-10	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 15th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Midnight	W D Gardner	5	10-10	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 16th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Barmaid	W Lockwood	7	10-08	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 17th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Grenade	Ratcliff	6	10-08		Refused or fell but completed 18th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Gayhurst	Mr Wesley			Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 19th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Tramp	William Archer	7	10-06	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 20th of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Quicksilver	Rawson	7	10-04	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 21st of 23 to finish
Unplaced	Valeria	James Dally	6	10-03	Not quoted	Refused or fell but completed 22nd of 23 to finish
Unplaced	The Roarer	Jem Mason Jem Mason James "Jem" Mason was a champion English jockey. On February 26, 1839 he won the Grand National in Liverpool on a brown-bay racehorse called Lottery....		10-07	4/1 favourite	Refused or fell but completed last of 23 to finish
Non Finishers
Not recorded	Saucepan	William McDonough	8	12-02	12/1
First circuit, near Anchor Bridge	Cumberland Lassie	J E Maddox	8	10-04	Not quoted	Ran out
Second circuit	Red Lancer	Lord Strathmore		10-08	20/1	Pulled up
Second circuit	Clinker	Maloney	12	10-07	Not quoted	Fell
Fence 3	Marengo	P Barker		11-00	Not quoted	Fell

The Race

During the first circuit there were several refusals but only Marengo, who fell heavily at the third fence and Cumberland Lassie, who ran out in the vicinity of Anchor Bridge, did not make it back to set off on the second circuit.

Jerry led over the water jump and back out into the country the second time where several rivals issued challenges only to refuse or fall. Despite this only Clinker who fell and Red Lancer, who was pulled up were not persevered with.

St Leger led over the final hurdle but was caught and passed on the long run in by Mathew who scored by 1 length with Jerry a further length back in third place. Pioneer was fourth, Culverthorpe fifth, The False Heir sixth and Brunette last of seven officially recorded finishers.

Sixteen other horses have been officially recorded as non finishers as they had not reached the distance judge's chair, positioned beside the plain fence in front of the stands, alongside the elbow, by the time Brunette had past the finishing post. In modern times they would still have been classed as finishers and are recorded as passing the post in the following order. Ballybar, Young Lottery, The Pluralist, Frederick, St Ruth, Latitat, Avoca, Cavendish, Midnight, Barmaid, Grenade, Gayhurst, Tramp, Quicksilver, Valeria and last to finish, the favourite The Roarer.

Aftermath

The win has gone down in history as being a hugely popular one among the Irish, bearing in mind that this was at the height of the potato famine in the country. In truth the Irish press largely ignored the race in those days and it was only the wealthy friends of Mr John Courtenay in and around the County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

area who benefited from the victory. In actuality Courtenay was considered among the most ruthless of the landowners who were, at this time forcibly evicting their tenants for being unable to meet their rent and as a result the rank and file Irishmen had placed heir support with another Irish entrant Brunette.

Much of the early history of the Grand National was told many years after the events and often from memory with the result that the winner, Mathew appears on the winners board at Aintree carrying the modern spelling of Matthew. The sixth horse The False Heir is often recorded as a non finisher while the favourite The Roarer, along with Young Lottery are not recorded as having taken part at all. As a result many modern books and websites state six finishers in a field of twenty-six runners instead of the seven from twenty-eight recorded by the press of the time.

Sources

The Irish Newsletter 4 March 1847

The Times 4 March 1847

The Liverpool Mercury 4 March 1847

www.hometown.aol.co.uk/captainbeecher/1847MATHEW.html