Gay Trip

Horses | Last ran in 1972
Dam - Turkish Tourist
Sire - Vulgan
Dam's Sire - Turkhan
Born - 1962

Gay Trip Grand National Wins

  • 1970 - ridden by Pat Taaffe trained by Thomas Frederic Rimell
Gay Trip 1970 Grand national
Gay Trip wins1970 Grand National

A three-time Grand National runner, Gay Trip was successful in the race at the first time of asking, coming home in front to win the 1970 Grand National at Aintree.

He would almost win two titles, though not back to back, as he would finish a good second in 1972. Heading for home after the last fence, Gay Trip looked the winner that day but was unable to stay home the distance and faded.

That certainly wasn’t the case in 1970 when he won the contest. He put up a strong staying performance to come away from the chasing pack and record a wide margin win of 20 lengths. It was a tough National, with just seven runners able to complete the course.

In the middle of those two very positive efforts was a bad one, which ended as soon as it started. Gay Trip would return to the race in 1971 to defend the title he had won 12 months earlier; however, at the very first fence, he fell and was out of the race. Sent off as the 8/1 favourite to win back-to-back Grand Nationals, there was plenty of disappointment at his early exit.

Thomas Rimell was the trainer of Gay Trip for all three Grand National starts, and he became a man who was closely associated with the race after having plenty of success. He would record a total of four Grand National wins as a trainer in his career, this being the third of those.

A note to mention jockey Terry Biddlecombe here, the regular rider of Gay Trip. He rode the horse almost all of his career and did so when running in the Grand Nationals of 1971 and 1972. However, he did not in 1970.

Pat Taaffe took over the ride, as Biddlecombe was injured and unable to go with his regular partner to their biggest test. Biddlecombe would never win the Grand National in his career, and that could have all been different if it wasn’t for injury.

Gay Trip’s Big Race Wins

Gay Trip went into the Grand National having a profile that doesn’t really say Grand National at all. As he went into the contest, he had never recorded a win at anything over two and a half miles, and his only big race success came at that distance, certainly not setting him up to be a National runner.

He would win the Mackeson Gold Cup at Cheltenham in 1969, a few months before his Grand National success. This is a two and a half mile handicap, which is more commonly known as the Paddy Power Gold Cup now, ran at the Cheltenham November Meeting.

Gay Trip would only ever have big race success in these two races, but he was able to add a second Mackeson Gold Cup to his tally when coming back to win the race in 1971, a success that came two years after his first, and before he would almost win the Grand National again in 1972.

Full Results

Year Result Prize Money Handicap Jockey Trainer
1972 2 £7,824 11-9 Terry Biddlecombe Thomas Frederic Rimell
1971 Fence 1 - Fell - 12-00 Terry Biddlecombe Thomas Frederic Rimell
1970 1 £14804 10s 11-5 Pat Taaffe Thomas Frederic Rimell