The 1845 Grand National was won by Cure-All, a horse who was not fancied to win the race and almost didn’t run in it if you believe the stories from the time. He does not have an official SP returned because he was not quoted by the bookmakers.
This is what used to happen for outsiders in a race, meaning they were given at any odds the bookmaker fancied, usually between 66/1 and 100/1. If they won, the payout would be so low that it would not make a difference to how much money a bookmaker made on the race. It’s safe to say this result was a good result for the bookmakers, based on that.
The winner almost didn’t take part in the race, which was delayed due to a protest. Two owners with runners in the race, the owners of Cure-All and Crocus, put in a complaint about the state of the course, causing the delay. Heavy rain the night before, followed by a deep frost, made parts of the course unsafe, according to these two owners.
The owner of Crocus pulled his runner out of the race due to his concerns, but the owner of Cure-All allowed his runner to stay in, and he would come home in front. Eventually, after a vote where every other owner voted to race, the contest would begin at a much later time of 5 pm.
With tough conditions, the race officially had just four finishers from the 15 that began the race, although there is some debate as to how many other finishers there was. Some other horses crossed the line a long time after the winner, in amongst the crowd that had gone onto the racetrack to greet the winner. There is no official confirmation that these late runners completed the course correctly and jumped every fence, so due to that, they are not classed as official winners.
The winning rider of the race was William Loft, and according to official records, that’s all he did. However, he was the owner of this horse initially but leased that out for the race, and he also trained the runner but was not the officially named trainer for reasons unknown.
Loft would have two Grand National rides, both on this horse, firstly when winning here, and then secondly when he came back to defend his crown a year later, though the pair would pull up and not complete the course.
Christopher Crisp was down as the official trainer of this horse and, just like Loft, would only have a trip to the Grand National twice, both when this horse was a runner. It is said that his involvement with the horse was minimal, with Loft doing most of the work.
Results
| Result | Horse | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Prize Money | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cure-All | Unknown | 7 | 11-5 | £585 | William Loft | Christopher ‘Kitty’ Crisp |
| 2 | Peter Simple | 9/1 | 11 | 11-12 | - | John Frisby | Unknown |
| 3 | The Exquisite | Unknown | 10 | 11-00 | - | Larry Byrne | Larry Byrne |
| 4 | Tom Tug | 5/1 | 9 | 10-2 | - | John Crickmere | Unknown |
Non Finishers
| Horse | Fence | Reason | Starting Price | Age | Handicap | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boxkeeper | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | Unknown | Unknown | 11-4 | J Bradley | Unknown |
| Brilliant | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | 10/1 | Unknown | 10-4 | William Noble | Unknown |
| Ceremony | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | Unknown | Unknown | 11-00 | Terry Abbot | Unknown |
| Clansman | Water Jump | Fell | 12/1 | Unknown | 11-6 | J Kelly | J Kelly |
| Peter Swift | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | 9/1 | Unknown | 10-12 | Horatio Powell | Unknown |
| The Page | EARLY 2ND CIR | Refused | 7/1 | Unknown | 11-10 | William Holman Snr | William Holman Snr |
| The Stranger | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | 9/1 | Unknown | 10-10 | J Hill | Unknown |
| Nimrod | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | 9/1 | 10 | 10-8 | Joseph French | Unknown |
| The Romp | LATE 2ND CIR | Pulled Up | Unknown | 10 | 10-4 | J Thompson | Unknown |
| Vanguard | RUN IN | Pulled Up | 4/1 | 10 | 12-10 | Tom Olliver | Tom Olliver |
| Brenda | 2 | Ran Out | 6/1 | 8 | 11-7 | J Abbott | Unknown |