Shaun Goilin

Many Grand National winners have a great story around them, with most being due to the fact they were top-class racehorses and had plenty of big wins elsewhere. But the story of Shaun Goilin, who won the race in 1930, is very different and full of intrigue which only adds to his success on the course.

Shaun Goilin’s triumph in the 1930 Grand National at Aintree remains a fascinating tale of an underdog’s rise. With a mysterious family history and an unknown sire, he won the race as a 100/8 shot, owned by Walter Midwood, a cotton trader who had a successful business in Liverpool.

He was trained by Frank Hartigan and ridden by jockey Tommy Cullinan, who added with the horse, combined for an Irish trio, and if you believe the story, this is part of the reason why the horse was so well backing on the day.

Plenty of punters would come and bet on Shaun Goilin to win the race, seeing the fact that the horse, trainer and jockey were all Irish-based. That would push down his odds, and at the time of the race, he was second favourite in the betting.

Despite his modest background and start to life, Shaun Goilin had shown promise on the track, notably winning the Grand Sefton Steeplechase in 1929, which uses the same tough fences as the Grand National.

In the National, he surged through the pack, navigating Aintree’s fences in style and not putting a foot wrong.

A close battle at the end of the race saw Shaun Goilin come out on top, beating Melleray’s Belle, who was with him all the way. The winning distance was officially called a neck, and it took a photo finish to separate the runners.

The Horse with No Sire

Shaun Goilin, meaning “John the Fairy” in Irish Gaelic, was a chestnut gelding with a white blaze. Due to an unusual breeding incident, his sire remains unknown, a rarity among Grand National winners and, in fact, rare for any decent race winners.

His dam, Golden Day, was reportedly impregnated by one of three colts that jumped a fence. Speculation pointed to Shaun Aboo being the horse to jump the fence, so he would be the sire of Shaun Goilin, though this was never confirmed, meaning it says unknown on the horse’s records.

At the time, things like DNA testing were not available, so there was no way to prove which horse sired Shaun Goilin, and even when he became famous by winning the Grand National, nothing more was done to find out which horse it was.

This is something that just simply wouldn’t happen in the modern era, but it is a really nice quirk around this particular horse and his win at Aintree, further adding to the story of his success.

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