Reynoldstown

Reynoldstown was a hugely popular horse of his time, and a big reason for that was because he would win the Aintree Grand National, not once, but twice.

He would also complete the feat in back-to-back seasons, firstly taking the race in 1935 before going back to Aintree and winning again 12 months later in 1936.

He had no further attempts at the Grand National, immediately after winning at Aintree for the second time, the horse was retired from racing and allowed to enjoy a peaceful rest of his life.

The first victory for Reynoldstown in 1935 was one where he would break the record for the winning time, which at the time was held by Golden Miller, one of the greats of the game.

The time in which Reynoldstown won the Grand National was nine minutes and 20.20 seconds. The record would stand for almost 40 years, and it took Red Rum, the greatest Grand National horse of all time, to break it.

He would win by three lengths on the day, and as the story goes, he was only entered in the race because his trainer, Major Noel Furlong, travelled to Aintree to watch the race a few years earlier. While Furlong was heading to Aintree on the train as a spectator, he heard some nearby people claiming they had a chance to win the Grand National, which got him thinking.

Furlong went home afterwards and decided to buy a horse to train for the race, which completes the story of how he got Reynoldstown in his training yard.

It was a family affair with this runner. The horse was bought and trained by Noel Furlong, while his son, Frank Furlong, was a regular rider and would ride him to success in the first of his two wins.

The second time around, he was still trained by Noel Furlong, but he was a changed horse. He had been held off the track for some time due to leg problems. However, he was eventually fit and ready to go again just in time for Aintree.

Frank Furlong couldn’t do the weight for his ride, so a new jockey was found for the horse, and Fulke Walwyn was the man who would take over the ride.

The horse would win again, but this time around, it was by a bigger margin, though with more drama attached to it. He was clear in the end and would win the race by 12 lengths, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of his success.

Heading to the last, it was a close contest, but chaos ensued in the race, with Davy Jones mounting a challenge when the reins would break. Jockey Anthony Mildmay could do nothing about it, and the horse ran out, off the track and into the crowds that were stood nearby.

Reynoldstown was left clear, and while he was handed his second success in the race, fans were sadly not able to see what would likely have been a great finishing battle between the two runners.

After his second win, Reynoldstown was retired, given his injury issues and the tough task to get him to the race for a second time. But it was worth it, a real top-quality training performance and leaving Reynoldstown with a perfect record of two runs in the Grand National and two wins.

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