Frigate

Frigate was a very regular Grand National runner in her era and made a real name for herself on the racetrack through this particular race.

Forgetting her record for a moment, the fact that she was a mare was enough to raise her profile on its own. We don’t see too many mares in racing, and those that do, don’t often stick around, but Frigate bucked that trend, stuck around, and got rewarded by having plenty of fans.

She would amass a total of seven runs in the Grand National, remarkable on its own, but on top of that, these would all come in consecutive years, starting in 1884 and finishing in 1890.

As for her overall record, well, it was strong, and when she completed the race, even better. From seven runs, she would fail to complete three of them, which is, of course, not great.

But in the other four, she would win once and finish second on the other three occasions, a real model of consistency in the years she managed to get around Aintree. This, of course, put the horse in the spotlight, and she became a real fan favourite for her longevity and being able to keep coming back to Aintree for more.

Her win would come in 1889, when she would land the contest by just over a length. This would be her sixth attempt in the race, so she certainly had to wait for it, which probably only made her more popular.

The first two attempts, 1884 and 1885, both resulted in second-place efforts, but she would then fall twice in 1886 and 1887. After that, it was back to second again, in 1888, before finally making it sixth time lucky with the 1889 win.

One more run would come after that, but she was unable to complete the course in 1890.

This was a real warrior of a horse, running seven times in this race alone is an exceptional feat, but to also win one, and finish second on three other occasions, puts her right up there with horses that have the best Aintree Grand National records.

And she did it all as a mare, generally not as good as the boys, but Frigate was certainly one that bucked the trend. Mares are often forgotten about in a race such as this one, but the way in which Frigate competed means we’ll certainly not forget her.

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