The Liberator

The Liberator was a regular in the Grand National during his career and would amass an impressive seven runs in the race.

Perhaps even more remarkably than that, there was a 11 year difference between his first and last runs in the race, He was firmly a veteran by the time he reached that final run.

His race record was very strong. He would win the contest, finish second, and finish third, among those seven runs. The three impressive runs all came together, at the peak of his career, in 1877, 1879, and 1880.

His win came in 1879, when he was trained by J.Moore and ridden by Garrett Moore. The horse would end up going off well fancied, with an SP of 5/1 on the day. That was no doubt after his good showing in finishing third two years earlier.

In the end, the horse would reward those punters that followed him, he came home to win the race very nicely by 10 lengths, clear of those behind.

The first time we saw The Liberator in the Grand National was in 1876, but he would fall in that race and fail to complete. In 1877, he put those mistakes aside to finish third in the contest, and this was the first time many took note of him as a potential winner.

Then came his win, and after it, he returned in 1880, looking to win back-to-back Grand Nationals. He almost did it too, finishing second despite having more than a stone of additional weight on his back, which obviously took its toll.

This would be followed by 9^th in 1881, a fall in 1882 and then a gap until his last run, which came in 1886 and would see him finish down the field in 13^th.

A real stalwart of the Grand National of the time, seven runs in the race is an excellent achievement alone, boosted by the fact there were 11 years from first to last, showing unbelievable longevity to not only be racing for that long, but at the top level too.

Of course, his record was strong and that only adds even more on to the top for us. A win, second placed effort when trying to go back to back, and a strong third placed effort, a great return for a horse that remained at the top level of the sport for so long, and achieved plenty.

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