Specify

Specify would run in the Grand National a total of three times during his career and would taste success in one of those. The winner of the 1971 Grand National did so by the smallest of margins, with just a neck recorded as the official winning distance.

A year earlier, in 1970, he was brought down at fence 22. A year later, in 1972, when trying to defend his crown, he finished in sixth place, which is respectable given the extra weight on his back.

Bred and raised in Norwich, he was initially in the ownership of a former Grand National winning jockey, Arthur Freeman, who rode the 1958 winner Mr What. However, after winning the 1969 Plate Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, the horse was bought by Fred Pontin, who wanted him for the Grand National.

This would turn out to be an excellent buy, taking a horse in his prime and then seeing him develop further to win one of the biggest races on the calendar.

John Sutcliffe would train Specify for the last two of his Grand National runs, including the win, while the winning rider was John Cook, who also took the mount in 1970 but not in 1972.

Some regarded Specify as an unlucky runner in 1970. He was brought down when still going well, heading into the final stages of the race. However, that didn’t stop him from coming back and being one of the outsiders, winning with an SP of 28/1.

Specify’s Big Race Wins

The Grand National’s success in 1971 was the highlight of Specify’s career and was the reason why new owner Fred Pontin bought the horse, so it was very much mission accomplished.

Earlier in his career, he was owned by a former Grand National winner, so the horse had always been in the hands of someone who had the Grand National in mind for him.

A couple of years before winning the Grand National, Specify would add a Cheltenham Festival win to his name, landing the Plate Handicap Chase, one of the most competitive handicaps at the Cheltenham Festival, and a tough race to win.

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