Lovely Cottage Grand National Wins
- 1946 - ridden by Capt R Robert ‘Bobby’ Petre trained by T Rayson
Lovely Cottage could be the answer to quite a niche Grand National question in a quiz. He was the first horse to win the Grand National when it returned to racing after World War II.
The race was run for the final time in 1940 before the war, and after an absence, it returned in 1946. Though there was not much appetite for the contest, runners were low for the period, and the crowd wasn’t much better.
But of course, that shouldn’t take anything away from Lovely Cottage, who was winning the race at the first time of asking. He would return two years later but was unable to get the job done that time, finishing 14th.
He should have run in 1947, but while he had been going along nicely in preparations, he was a last-minute withdrawal from the race.
Just six runners out of the 34 that set off in 1946 were able to complete the course, and Lovely Cottage came home four lengths in front of the second-best, returning with an SP of 25/1.
There wasn’t much else to shout about in the career of Lovely Cottage, who was especially lightly raced after winning the Grand National. But he will always be known as the winner of the first Grand National when the race resumed after the war.
Full Results
| Year | Result | Prize Money | Handicap | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 14 | - | 11-4 | Charles Hook | J Morant |
| 1946 | 1 | £8805 | 10-8 | Capt R Robert ‘Bobby’ Petre | T Rayson |