Ally Sloper

The 1915 Grand National would be the final one to be run at Aintree Racecourse before World War I when the race moved away to Gatwick for a three-year period. Winning the final race before the switch was Ally Sloper, a horse that would be a regular in the race during the period.

At the time of his win, Britain was in conflict with Germany, and many people had plenty of other things on their minds, away from horse racing, which means winners during this period are some of the lesser celebrated ones.

Aubrey Hastings would train the horse to success, a second winner for him, and he would go on to be a hero of the time, with a total of four Grand National wins during his career. Not too far behind him was Jack Anthony, winning rider of Ally Sloper, this would be the second of three race wins for him, another one who made a name for himself with this race.

The race would have another big talking point, and this would be to do with the ownership of the winner. He was owned by Lady Margaret Nelson, and his win would make history in the Grand National as she was the first-ever female to own a Grand National winner.

Don’t forget, this was a time when women had very little to do with sport, especially when the money side of things was involved, such as ownership, so it was a groundbreaking moment.

Ally Sloper would run in the Grand National for the next four years, three of them coming at Gatwick, then finally, when the race returned to Aintree in 1919. A third-placed effort in 1917 would be his next best effort. He would not be able to repeat his success from 1915.

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