The Grand National

Grand National

The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...

 is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually 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...

, England. It was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the Waterloo Hotel, on land he leased in Aintree

Aintree

Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, about north of Liverpool city centre, in North West England....

 from William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton

William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton

William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton , also known as Lord Dashalong, was a sportsman, gambler and a friend of the Prince Regent.-Personal life:...

. The course was laid out and a grandstand built in 1829. There is some debate as to when the first official Grand National took place but it could have been as early as 1836

1836 Grand National

The 1836 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the first of three unofficial annual precursors of a handicap race which later became known as the Grand National....

. By 1839 it had become a national event. Initially a chase, it became a handicap in 1843

1843 Grand National

The 1843 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the fifth official annual running of a handicap Steeple-chase, later to become known as the Grand National Steeplechase handicap horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Wednesday March 1st 1843 and attracted a field of sixteen...

.

The 1882 Grand National hunt was held on the 24th March in some of the worst conditions ever seen in the race's history. The heavy snow and freezing conditions had put many off and there were only twelve starters including: Cyrus, The Scot, Eau de Vie, Zoedone, Fay and Seaman. Seaman was not a fit horse and he and his owner, Lord Manners

John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners

John Thomas Manners-Sutton was born on the 15th May 1852 to John Thomas Manners-Sutton, 2nd Baron Manners and Lydia Sophia Dashwood. On 12 Aug 1885, Manners married Constance Edwina Adelaide Hamlyn-Fane with whom he had twin daughters; Angela Margaret and Betty Constance Manners, born 15 June 1889;...

, had only come to be in the race as the result of an extraordinary wager.

An extraordinary wager

In late 1881, the 3rd Baron Manners bet a large sum of money that he could buy, train and ride the winner of the 1882 Grand National. With just four months in which to prepare, he managed to procure Seaman, a six year old gelding, for £1,900. The vendor, an Irishman called Lindt, expressed his concerns over the sickly Seaman and didn't believe the horse was capable of such a feat, even if there had been sufficient time in which to train him. It was widely held that Manners lacked the riding ability and experience necessary to win such a tough race. Lord Manners, recognising his own short comings, set about entering as many amateur races as he could in order to gain some experience. He had limited success until three weeks before the National, when he won the Grand Military Gold Cup at Sandown, riding a horse called Chancellor.

The race

On the 24th March, in heavy snow, twelve horses lined up for the start of the 1882 Grand National. The dreadful conditions caused some of the more cautious riders to hold back and it was another outsider that took an early lead. Eau de Vie was jumping well despite the heavy going and managed to maintain the lead until the second lap when his rider's stirrup broke on the approach to Becher's Brook. By this time, there were only six runners left as many had retired, and as Eau de Vie swerved off into the crowd, Zoedone took the lead, with Fay, Cyrus, Seaman and The Scot following. With only two fences left before the home straight, Cyrus moved out in front and looked certain to win. Seaman in second place looked exhausted and was starting to go lame but with just 300 yards to go, Seaman managed to find something and with the determined Manners driving him on, won the race by a head; much to the amazement of the crowd. A long way behind was the only other horse to finish the course, Zoedone, who went on to win the 1883 National. Seaman never raced again but lived with the family at the family home for the rest of its life.