Regal

Regal would run in the Grand National a total of six times, which in itself is a remarkable effort and a testament to longevity and consistency.

He would put up his best performance on the very first time he entered the race, winning it in 1876.

James Jewitt trained the horse throughout his career, and he got him back time and time again to Aintree, a great training performance. It was almost made better in 1881, in what would be the horse’s fifth run in the race, where he would finish second.

In total, he would complete four out of the six times he ran in the race, with two sixth-place finishes to go alongside his first and second.

Going back to his win, 19 runners would take part in 1876, and Regal was not really fancied by punters, sent off at 25/1 with the bookmakers.

However, he would prove them wrong with his performance, which was very strong. Conditions were challenging, with the ground officially soft on the day, which made it tough for many of those taking part. It wasn’t quite survival of the fittest, but it wasn’t far away, and Regal was a super strong stayer who toughed it out.

It was a close finish, but Regal would hold on and win by a neck officially. It was very close between him and Congress, who was second here and also second 12 months later, too, so he really was an unlucky runner.

The six runs from Regal would come over a period of eight years in total, but 1876, when he won, and 1881, when he finished second, were the highlights. His final run in the race came in 1884, at a time when he was very much in the veteran stage of his career, and he pulled up, unable to complete it.

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