What use is the form book?

The form book, which is available online, free-of-charge from ‘Racing Post’, ‘Sporting Life’ and other sources, provides a ‘potted history’ of the performance of a racehorse in all its previous races. While it is often stated that ‘past performance is no guarantee of future results’, the form book is considered the punters’ bible insofar that, in the absence of privileged, ‘inside’ information, reading form is the only way to form an opinion on the likely outcome of a race.

At a basic level, the form book provides a ‘snapshot’ of recent form in the form figures – that is, a series of numbers representing the last five or six finishing positions – alongside the name of each horse. However, form figures alone only tell part of the story. Further investigation of detailed form is usually required to reveal distance and going preferences, any disparity in class, value or weight between previous races and the race under consideration and so on. Only by examining all these factors can the serious punter be confident that a horse has the conditions under which it can run to the best of its ability and, indeed, that the best of its ability is actually good enough to win the race in question.

How many horses with colours in their names have won the Grand National?

The Grand National may be less of a lottery than was once the case, but many once-a-year punters still rely on horses with significant or topical names, rather than the formbook, in their search for a winner. In many parts of the world, colours such as gold, silver and red are commonly associated with good fortune, wealth and prosperity, so it is no surprise that many racehorses have one or other of these colours in their names. As far as the Grand National is concerned, in 173 runnings so far, a total of 10 colourfully-named horses have graced the hallowed winners’ enclosure at Aintree.

‘Red’ has been far and away the most successful colour, with five winners, including the most successful National horse of all time, Red Rum, in 1973, 1974 and 1977. The other ‘Red’ winners were Red Alligator in 1968 and Red Marauder in 2001. ‘Silver’ is next best with three winners, namely Ascetic’s Silver in 1906, Nicolaus Silver in 1961 and Silver Birch in 2007. ‘Gold’ makes just one appearance on the roll of honour, but the 1934 winner Golden Miller remains the only horse in history to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season. Interestingly, the only Grand National winner with a colour other than red, silver or gold in its name was Royal Tan who, in 1954, was the second of three consecutive winners for Vincent O’Brien.

How many jockeys have recorded back-to-back victories in the Grand National?

In 2021, Rachael Blackmore made history by becoming the first female jockey to win the Grand National and, although currently sidelined with injury, may well attempt to become the first female jockey to record back-to-back victories in 2022. In the history of the Grand National, which dates back to 1839, nine of her male counterparts have already done so and one of them, George Stevens – the most successful jockey in the history of the Grand National – actually did so twice.

The first jockey to win the Grand National in consecutive years was Tom Olliver on Gaylad in 1842 and Vanguard in 1843. He was followed by Stevens, on Emblem in 1863 and 1864 and, again, on The Colonel in 1868 and 1869. ‘Gentleman’ riders John Richardson and Tommy Beasley won on Disturbance and Reigny in 1873 and 1874 and Empress and Woodcock in 1880 and 1881, respectively, as did Ted Wilson on Voluptuary in 1884 and Roquefort in 1885.

Bryan Marshall, who rode Early Mist in 1953 and Royal Tan in 1954, was the next back-to-back winner, followed by Brian Fletcher on Red Rum in 1973 and 1974 and Leighton Aspell on Pineau De Re in 2014 and Many Clouds in 2015. The most recent back-to-back winner was Davy Russell, who rode Tiger Roll in both 2018 and 2019.

Which was the first British-trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup?

Billed as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is a handicap run over 3,200 metres, or approximately two miles, at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria on the first Tuesday in November each year. Worth A$8 million, or £4.3 million, in prize money, it is, unquestionably, the most famous horse race run in Australia.

The first horse trained in the Northern Hemisphere to win the Melbourne Cup was Vintage Crop, trained by Dermot Weld at The Curragh, Co. Kildare, in 1993. Vintage Crop tried, and failed, to win the race again in 1994 and 1995, but Weld did so in 2002, courtesy of Media Puzzle.

However, the first horse trained in mainland Britain to win the Melbourne Cup was Cross Counter, a 3-year-old owned by Godolphin and sent out from its Moulton Paddocks yard by trainer Charlie Appleby in 2018. Patiently ridden by Australian jockey Kerrin McEvoy, who was winning his third Melbourne Cup, Cross Counter produced a strong run in the final furlong and a half to win, readily, by a length.

In so doing, he led home a 1-2-3 for British-trained horses, with Marmello, trained by Hughie Morrison, in second place and A Prince Of Arran, trained by Charlie Fellowes, in third, a further 2 lengths away. In an eventful race, Hugh Bowman, jockey of Marmelo, received a lengthy ban for various infringements, while five other jockeys, including McEvoy, were fined for excessive use of the whip.

 

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