Gamecock

Gamecock was a regular in the Grand National during his career. Forget his win for a moment, the fact that he ran in the race a total of seven times, all in consecutive years, is a feat in itself and deserves to be celebrated.

But from those races, it is 1887 that stands out, the third attempt he had at the race, and the one that was a success. Gamecock would land this Grand National by three lengths, beating Savoyard, and the pair were miles clear of the rest of the runners.

After falling on his first start in the race in 1885, Gamecock showed his liking for the course and his ability when finishing third in 1886. It was a strong run, one that set him up with valuable experience that he would put to good use during his win.

When landing the race in 1887, it would be the final time that he was taken to the race by trainer James Gordon. The horse continued to race afterwards but was taken elsewhere to be trained.

Bill Daniels rode him to success. This would be the only Grand National that he rode him in, and the only race win for Daniels.

After winning the race, trained by A Yates, the horse would be back for a further four attempts. In his title defence a year later, he would finish seventh, which was not as good, but he did have more than a stone more on his back, which certainly slowed him down.

Runs following that saw him finish 10^th in 1889, he fell in 1890 and in his last run in 1891, the horse would finish in 6^th place, to end in good fashion and call it a day in the Grand National.

A seven-time runner, one-time winner, and real stalwart of the race during the last 1800s.

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