Roquefort

The winner of the 1885 Grand National would be Roquefort, who would take the race at the second time of asking, going better than his good effort the year before.

He was a Grand National regular during his era, running a total of six times in the race, and ending with a win and two other top-four finishes to his name. He would complete four out of the six times he ran and would showcase excellent stamina and also great jumping ability throughout, of course, two vital ingredients for Aintree.

The horse would have two trainers during his career, but Arthur Yates was the man in charge when he won this contest. He was also responsible for the third and fourth-place finishes he got, so he was undoubtedly the man to get the best from this horse.

With 11 stone on his back, Roquefort was nicely weighted in 1885, and after travelling well throughout the race, he was able to pull away from others in the closing stages to win by two lengths.

The public certainly fancied his chances. Although fields were much smaller during these years, his winning SP of 10/3 shows just how strongly he was as favourite, and he didn’t let supporters down.

A year earlier, he finished third in 1884, which was another strong run and an early sign that this horse would be able to compete in this race. He would then leave the Yates yard, moving to W.Wilson, who would have him for three runs in the race, without success.

The first would see him fall in 1886, before running out in 1887. He competed for Wilson in 1889, but could only finish 12^th.

On his final run in the Grand National, Roquefort returned to Yates, and he got him to have one more good attempt, finishing fourth.

 

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