|
Unfortunately in horse racing, like all sports there is sometimes foul play to be found, and it was discovered in the first ever Grand National in 1839. An Irish challenger Rust, ridden by William McDonough was running so well that a crowd invaded the course and hemmed in the horse until all the other runners had long since passed. McDonough was foiled again four years later when a spectator invaded the course on horseback and knocked him from the saddle. In 1842 hooligans again made their way onto the course and made Peter Simple flinch and draw back; throwing his rider from the saddle; all because he had taken the lead beyond Valentine's second time around. The rider remounted and finished third. In 1854 the heavily backed Miss Mowbray was withdrawn one hour before the race as someone had managed to apply a blister to her fore-leg. In 1885 devastating foul play occurred when former winner Zoedone, the 5-1 second favourite was 'got at'. Her rider-owner Count Charles Kinsky had received a number of anonymous letters prior to the race warning him that an attempt would be made on his mare. He therefore hired detectives to watch over her 24 hours a day and all her food and drinking water were scrupulously checked. On the day of the race all was going well until Zoedone was led down to the course where she was to be mounted. In the scramble that took place of racegoers attempting to get a better view of the runners, it was some time before her rider got to his horse on the course. When Kinsky prepared to mount he noticed a smearing of blood on his white jacket which came from a small puncture mark near Zoedone's nostril. This could not be evidence that she had been doped until she fell at the first practice hurdle on the way to the starting line. When she was remounted she became lethargic and crashed into the fence before Becher's second time around. There she lay motionless for several minutes and could only be led away after a quarter of an hour had elapsed. The eight year old mare never raced again. Finally, in 1910 the National Hunt Committee declared the doping of horses to be illegal. There has never been an instance of a Grand National runner being found to have been given illegal drugs but rumours of foul play continued to arise every now and again. The most outrageous allegation of foul play has to have been when Eddie Dempsey; who had won the 1947 National on Caughoo, a 100-1 chance , by 20 lengths from Lough Conn; was accused by the runner up of having taken a short cut through the Aintree fog, missing at least 15 of the 30 fences. As you can imagine a right royal punch-up ensued, followed by a very ridiculous law suit which was of course almost instantly dismissed. Just goes to show how passionate people get about the Grand National! For more on the great race go to grand-national.me.uk Latest 2010 Grand National odds Plus tips, runners and a free guide to picking a winner.
Related Articles -
2010 Grand National odds,
| 
