Russian Hero

Russian Hero ran in the Grand National four times, all in consecutive years between 1949 and 1952.

He only completed the course at Aintree once, on his very first attempt at the race, which he was lucky enough to win.

That success in 1949 was the biggest day of his career, and while he would return to Aintree on three occasions afterwards, he fell at the first fence in two of those and on the first circuit in the other.

This record prior to his win and the fact that he was sent off at 66/1 for his success both lead people to think his victory was a fluke and in many ways, that’s probably a fair assumption to make.

Russian Hero was prominent throughout on the unusually quick ground. The Grand National this year wasn’t as tough a test as we’ve seen before. While the runners behind may have expected him to slow in the closing stages, the fact this wasn’t a tough test enabled the runners at the front to keep going.

A four-time runner but only a one-time finisher, Russian Hero would cross the line in first place on the occasion he did complete.

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